Walking to the World Peace Stupa
If you've ever seen a more picturesque advertisement for a cement company, you must be better travelled than we are
Since it was our last day in Pokhara (or at least the last day of what would likely be our first visit), we realise that it was now more or less impossible to put off visiting the city's famous World Peace Stupa any longer. Options for traversing the 7km distance from our hotel included getting a taxi for 1000rs (€7.20) one-way (ie the way up) then walking back with the assistance of our old friend gravity, taking a rickety wooden boat from the lakefront for 850rs (€6) across the lake to the bottom of the hill and walking up some 30mins from there, or walking the entire way for the princely sum of very much needed exercise. Being the cheap bastard that we are, the latter option was of course our Huckleberry. We're posting this four days later and our legs are still sore from the ungodly amount of stairs we climbed, but like most trials and tribulations it was totally worth it in hindsight.
Not for the first time, and surely not for the last, Uncle Google took us down some unexpected paths, through what turned out to be something of a village on the outskirts of Pokhara proper and then up the aforementioned ungodly number of steps, upon which we repeatedly had to stop and take a break in order to properly regret our decision to walk up them. Luckily there were ample ‘chautara', a type of holy tree planted in villages to offer shade to wayfarers like us and a place for village elders to gather and discuss whatever village elders discuss (probably who had the better chance in the World Cup Final that day). Anyway, join us on the journey, by clicking the photos below and reading the (typo-filled) captions!
Note: You won't see any stupas anywhere on this page, as this little photo essay is about the journey, rather than the destination....
Additional note: Captions can be funky with Squarespace. To see them either mouseover (computer) or click that white button in the bottom right corner (mobile).
