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The newly constructed World Peace Pagoda , which crowns the ridge across Phewa Tal at an elevation of 1113m, provides one of the most satisfying short hikes in the Pokhara area. The views from the top are phenomenal, and since there are several routes up and back, you can work this into a loop that includes boating on the lake and/or visiting Devin's Fall and the Tibetan settlement of Tashiling. A basic up-and-back trip can be done in as little as two hours, so you can leave after breakfast and be back in time for lunch. The easiest approach is by trail from Damside . Cross the river on a footbridge just downstream of the dam, then follow the path as it bears left and passes a small shrine before beginning a gradual ascent up the back (south) side of the ridge. The way is somewhat obscure and littered at first, but soon becomes a fine wide path through chestnut forest until the final, steeper ascent. The climb is steeper and damper from Anadu , the village across the lake (reached by boat from Lakeside). A signposted trail starts at the Typical Guest House, though all trails heading up from the various put-ashore points eventually join this one. If descending this way, you should have no trouble getting a canoe back to Lakeside - you may even be intercepted by a boatman before you reach the lake. There's also a signposted trail ascending straight up from the Siddhartha Highway at Chhorepatan, about 1km past Devin's Fall, but this is probably a better route for descending and continuing on to the falls and Tashling. To make an even longer loop you can keep walking along the ridgeline past Rani Ban Retreat to the village of Bhumdi, where a rough road descends to the highway and a trail curves around the lake and down to the Harpan Khola. Drinks and biscuits are sold near the pagoda, and more substantial food is available at Anadu and Chhorepatan. Standing more than 40m tall, the so-called pagoda looks more like a cross between a stupa and a lighthouse. It seems rather grandiose for a religious shrine, but if it helps achieve its stated aim (world peace) then more power to it. The Japanese Buddhist organization that funded the monument maintains an adjacent monastery with a small meditation hall and monks' quarters. The view from here is just about the best wide-angle panorama you can get of this part of the Himalaya, and certainly the only one with Phewa Tal and Pokhara in the foreground. Over on the far left there's the towering hump of Dhaulagiri and its more westerly sisters, in the middle rises the Annapurna Himal and the graceful pyramid of Machhapuchhre, and off to the right are Manaslu, Himalchuli and Baudha.
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