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The Himalaya form the highest, sheerest rise from subtropical base to icy peaks of any mountain range on earth, and nowhere is the contrast more marked than at POKHARA (pronounced Poke -ruh). Sited at just 800m above sea level, it boasts a nearly unobstructed view of the 8000-metre-plus Annapurna and Manaslu himal, just 25km to north. Dominating the skyline, in beauty if not in height, is the double-finned summit of Machhapuchhre ("Fish-Tailed") - so named for its twin-peaked summit, though only one is visible from Pokhara.
The telephone code for Pokhara is 061.
Basking in the view, Nepal's main resort area lolls beside the shore of Phewa Tal (Phewa Lake), well outside the actual town of Pokhara. This is Nepal's little budget paradise: carefree and culturally undemanding, though extremely touristy, with a steaks-and-cakes scene rivalling Kathmandu's. Whatever you're looking for, it's a buyer's market here - everything comes so easily, the main challenge is sifting through the growing multitude of possibilities. New businesses pop up like mushrooms after each monsoon, and disappear just as quickly; cheap places have a habit of going upmarket, great views get blocked, and what's hot today may be dead tomorrow. No guidebook can hope to keep up with all the changes, so take all recommendations with a pinch of salt. If you're spending more than a week in Nepal, chances are you'll touch down in Pokhara at some point. As the main destination served by tourist buses and internal flights, it's usually the first place travellers venture to outside the Kathmandu Valley. For trekkers, Pokhara is the gateway to Nepal's most popular trails; for rafters and kayakers, it's Nepal's river-running headquarters; and for everyone else, it's the most beautiful place in Nepal that you don't have to trek or paddle to get to. Day trips around the Pokhara Valley beckon, and if the area is short on temples and twisting old alleys, you might find that a relief after Kathmandu's profusion. Despite its shallow hedonism - which definitely gets cloying after a while - Pokhara is a great place to recharge your batteries, especially after a trek or a time in India. By comparison, Kathmandu seems downright claustrophobic. Because it's 500m lower than the capital, Pokhara is a warmer place to be in winter, but rather hot from April onwards. With lower foothills to the south, it's also less protected from the prevailing rains, and receives about twice as much precipitation as Kathmandu. Touring the valley, you'll be struck by the active, shaping presence of water everywhere: lakes and rivers are conspicuous features here, and the paddies are traced by canals of roiling mountain water
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