Pokhara, Nepal

On return from trekking I wanted to spend a few days sightseeing in Pokhara, so I hired a motor scooter for 3 days. I didn’t think I would ever drive on the roads in Asia, but Pokhara is actually quite tame (by Asian standards). The tourist area in particular is very quiet and it’s a great way to zip up and down to restaurants and cafes. It’s like driving in the UK, except you need to watch out for scabby dogs, chickens, horses and cows which just wonder across the road and even go to sleep in the middle. Oh and you have to hold your breath when a big old bus or truck comes toward you with a plume of black smoke pouring out its exhaust. Most of the vehicles in Nepal look to be 30 years old and made in India, so they go very slow and it’s easy to overtake on a new scooter. I went; all around Pokhara, up the mountain to the Sarangkot viewpoint at sunrise, to the Gurka Museum and the huge Mountaineering Museum, a bat cave, a Tibetan refuge camp, a place called Bagnes Tal (which is think is the Skegness of Nepal). I even went off into the middle of nowhere to find a lake which was down a very sandy and rough windy road. When I got to the lake I found a little place where the lady offered to cook me some fresh fish – it was very nice too!