This is a series about the attractions of Pokhara.

There are a lot of things that can be seen and experienced in Pokhara. Some include mixing up with the local people, knowing the culture and tradition and enjoying local varieties of foods and delicacies are some of the exciting things in Pokhara.

There are places like Sarangkot, Kahu dada, Santi stupa (world peace pagoda) where you can hike and enjoy the sceneries and the locality. Similar entertainment are available at Bhadaure Tamgi, Foksing hill, Barahi temple, Nirmal Pokhari, Nuwakot, Mattikhan, Naudada and other places. Chandrakot and Pumdikot all also hill stations and sightseeing centre.

Fewa Lake: Pokhara and Fewa Lake are synonymous. The lake lies at the west corner of Pokhsara valley. Approximately 5km long and 1.5 km wide the lake covers an area of 4.4 sq km.


At the west bank of lake, there are rolling hills with thick forest. At the east bank of the lake there are hotels, lodges, restaurants, other travel and trekking attraction. The shops and other tourist related service centers are the most attractive part of the locality. One of the most entertaining aspect of the lake is boating on Fewa Lake.

At the center of the lake there is an island with a temple. The Baharahi temple is not only a holly shrine of Hindu devotees but also a resting spot and observing the surrounding hill and settlements. It takes a five minute boat ride to reach the island.

Geologically, Pokhara is a wonderful place. A river flows underneath the city. The city has natural tunnels and three major caves. The Seti river gorge is one of the attractions in the city. The deep gorge at some sections is more than 200 meter deep and is just 20 meters wide. The best places to observe the unusual feature within the city is at the Seti River bridge – K. I Singh Bridge, Mahendra Pool, Prithivi Chowk Bridge.

World peace Pagoda is another attraction location at the south west bank of Fewa Lake and on the top of Raniban. The World peace Stupa is a best site for a day hike to have a birds eye view of Pokhara valley. It is about an hour of gentle trek to reach the top. This also gives the best opportunity to experience local culture and tradition in the area. The sight of Fewa Lake underneath the stupa and the fishtail mountain by it’s side is one of the best sight seeing experiences in Pokhara.

Pokhara’s Buddhist monastery are located at the three corners of Pokhara valley. One is located at the east, another at the south and another at north –west side of the city. They were built at the time when there was a large influx of Tibetan refugee during the cultural revolution in China. These monasteries gives an opportunity to experience the Tibetian culture and tradition while you are in Pokhara.

Devid’s fall: There is a water fall at the lower end of Fewa dam. The small fall is named Devid’s fall after an ill fated tourist who was swept away by a sudden flood of water from Fewa Lake.

At the end of David’s fall, there is a cave called Gupteshore cave. The naturally made cave has a natural statue of lime stone. There is a belief that lime stone statue is a symbol of Shiva, a Hidu deity. There is a small tunnel that connects Gupteshor cave to Devid’s fall. It is a 10 minutes walk to reach the pond made out of the fall.

3 Caves of Pokhara : In addition to Gupteshore cave, there are two more unexplored caves in Pokhara. Chamere (Bat) Cave and Mahendra Cave are two other attractive caves in Pokhara. Mahendra Cave is the biggest natural cave in Pokhara, that is yet to be explored. Another cave near the Mahendra cave is chamere cave. There are thousands of bats living in the cave.

The oldest temple in Pokhara, Bindabasani temple, is located close to the Baglund Highway. The temple is considered a shrine for Hindu people.

The old Pokhara city with traditional Newari settlement is called Ramkrishna Tole. The Old Bazzar has ancient buildings built in traditional architectural designs. Walking on the streets gives a glimpse of what it used to be to live in the old-day Pokhara.

At the periphery of Pokhara city, there are four a Tibetan refugee camps. One is located at the south side of Pokhara at Chhorepatan. Another camp is located at the city centre at Prithivi Chock, the third camp one is located at the north side of Pokhara at Hemja and the fourth is located at at the east end of the city at Dulegaudea. The Dulegaudea one is located by the highway to Kathmandu. These camps are great place to experience traditional Tibetan culture and tradition.

At the PN Campus, the oldest college in Pokhara is Annapurna museum. Annapurna museum has a collection of more than 500 species of butterflies and also features many species of birds. Natural scholars and researchers would love to visit the museum.

At the city center, there is another museum, Pokhara regional cultural museum, featuring culture and tradition of different ethnic communities in Nepal.

Another museum is International mountain museum (IMM). IMM is the only one museum in the world that features mountaineering history and equipment used by different climbers since the mountaineering history began. There is also a climbing wall and a replica of Mt. Manaslu Himal in the museum.

One more museum in Pokhara is Gorkha memorial museum. Nepal is the country of world renowned Gurkha soldiers. The bravery of Gorkhali and their participation in the first and second world war are collected in the museum. The equipments and dresses used by Gorkhali and medals they earned are preserved in the museum. In addition to Gorkhali, it is also Nepalese army history, dress and equipment collection.