Pokhara

The town of Pokhara is much smaller than Kathmandu and has about 90% less hustle and bustle going on. It is possible to walk around without fearing you will lose a toe. It's alot quieter and more peaceful and is set on a beautiful lake called Phewa Tal. After I settled into my guest house yesterday I explored around the lake a little bit and rented a small wooden paddle boat for a few hours. All the men milling about the paddle boat rental thought it was quite amusing that a female was by herself and renting a paddle boat without a driver (someone you can hire to paddle you around the lake.) Anyway I paddled around the lake and it was gorgeous! In Pokhara you can actually see some amazing mountain peaks including the Annapurna Range, Machhapuchhare, and Dhaulagiri. Seeing the scale of these mountains is breathtaking! I wouldn't even call them mountains, they are bigger than mountains! Anyway, I paddled around explored some jungle on the other side of the lake and just sat and looked at the sights while bobbing up and down on my green and yellow paddle boat. After a while it started to thunder and lightning so I headed back to shore. Just in time! The monsoon rain started to come! It was TORRENTIAL! The heaviest rain I have ever seen. So I went for a nap and woke up when the rain had stopped. The calm after the storm was quite nice. It left the air feeling clean and crisp and cool. So I strolled around enjoying the cool breeze and stopped for some dal bhaat. At the restaurant I was in I met a Professor from the University of Minnesota. He lives here in the summer and started an orphanage here which he invited me to visit. He said the kids especially like to have visitors after school, so I think I will go to the orphanage tomrrow or the next day. I also want to visit the Leprosy Hospital and the Tibetan settlement that is nearby. And explore the beautiful hills to find some mountain villages.