We spent a wonderful (and very full) day around Pokhara Lake. We arose very early (03:30) and left the Fish Tail Lodge to watch the sunrise.

The Fish Tail Lodge is located on Lake Pokhara. The hotel was set up by the late Princess Jayanti Shah with the proceeds going to support cardiac health in Nepal. The grounds are not accessible from town so you have to take a ferry across that is human powered, the operators pull tow ropes to get up to 12 passengers back and forth between the 2 sides 24 hours a day. The hotel itself is very nice. It reminds me of the architecture I grew up with. If this was located in North America, I would call it mid-century modern. It reminds me of a summer camp for adults. The rooms were comfortable, the air conditioning worked and the masseuse from the spa had hands of iron (in a good way). Definitely a fun experience.

Sunrise on the Annapurna range was spectacular. The lake is located in a valley between rolling hills (most of Nepal is hills and mountains). We drove up out of the city toward the Shanti Stupa aka World Peace Pagoda. We started off at a coffee shop, perched on the hill, overlooking the city, lake and, in the distance, the Annapurna range. We watched as the sun slowly emerged, painting the tips of the mountains with a gentle glowing yellow. The city was also quite beautiful – clouds had covered the valley in a foggy mist that slowly dissipated during the sunrise.

We then walked up the hill to visit the Peace Pagoda. It was built by the Japanese architect and Buddhist monk, Nichidatsu Fujii, to promote world peace. The walk up the hill was fine, the walk down the other side to the lake below, not so much… It was a decrease of 900 m in altitude along a meandering, unstable, irregular and very steep path. To make things worse, it had rained quite heavily the night before and the path was extremely slippery. Almost everyone in the group fell at some point.

We traversed the lake by human powered paddle boat, enjoying the sights and the company of a dog who had followed us from the temple and proceeded to come along for a ride.

After breakfast back at the hotel. we visited the Tibetan Refugee Camp to see women making handicrafts they sell to support the community. It also featured a photo and history exhibit discussing the evacuation of Tibet in 1959.

We had a great lunch at an Italian restaurant, made a mad dash through the Museum of Himalayan History and went back to the hotel to rest for a few hours. The day ended being serenaded with live music at a rather happening restaurant where we enjoyed a Nepali thali before retiring for the night.