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Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

Nepal: Pokhara

The Annapurna Range from Pokhara
The Annapurna Range from Pokhara

The return to civilisation from the Annapurna Circuit came as a shock. Burning through the last few days of the 21-day trek, Bob and I managed to arrive in Pokhara soon after experiencing the first inclement weather of the trek, which was lucky timing. Rain smattered the windscreen of the bus as we wound our way from the track end at Beni, smudging the dirt into impenetrable patterns for the driver to negotiate on the hair-raising journey through the paddies and ponds of the foothills.

A view over northern Pokhara
Northern Pokhara from the nearby hills
Two water buffalo having a bath
Pokhara's water buffalo enjoying a bath

100 PER CENT SAFE SAFETY MATCHES

  • Flame only eminates leaving splint

  • Sticks completely put out with one puff

  • No burning tips

  • So no dropping on clothes etc.

Or take the countless posters of pretty houses and manicured gardens that dot the country's restaurants and offices, carrying meaningless idioms like 'The true use of Speech is not so much to express our Wants as to conceal them', or 'Financial security is the guarantee of spiritual bankruptcy' (the latter turning up on a picture of a particularly glorious house).

A view of the Annapurna range from the lake at Pokhara
The Annapurna range as seen from a boat on the lake at Pokhara