A few pix of Pokhara 2010
Imagine a perfect triangular mountain, capped by snow and buffeted by the icy winds of the Himalaya. Imagine a millpond calm lake, perfectly reflecting the snowy peaks. Now imagine a village on the lakeshore, thronged by travellers and reverberating to the sound of ‘om mani padme hum’ from a hundred shops selling prayer flags, carpets, masks, singing bowls and CDs of Buddhist mantras. That’s Pokhara.
I found that in the Loonely Planet of 2006. Sounds good – does it? Now this is Pokhara 2010: The mountains you can not kill that easy but now you take hundreds of shops selling all the same: Faked trekking gear, Shawls and stupid souvenirs, maps and used books mixed together with internet cafes, travel organizers. This “same same no different” you mix with and endless stream of noise from the cars, motorbikes, trucks and busses that is mixed with construction noise of more and more restaurants, shops and hotels. Than you imagine the dust that settles on your table while you wait in one of the countless restaurants that have all more or less the same menue. Or you look over the lake and count plastic trash – dreaming of the world like it was a few years ago. If i talk to younger guys that i meet and mention that “in the good old times everything was better” you should see the look on their faces – yes grandpa we know we know – but do they really??
Finally i will start my Annapurna trek tomorrow. So i will not really be on-line for the next 3 weeks or so!
Here a few pix so you see what i am talking about:
View from my balcony – left
View from my balcony – right
what a change’so many new urbanisation
and the lake look like the garbage bin of town…
have a lovely treck♩♫ Ë™· ♥ ·Ë™
♫♩loving hugs♩♫ Ë™· ♥ ·Ë™ ♫♩
argh! yuks! This certainly is not the Pokara I know all those years ago! Now sure’s totally ‘F***ED-UP! Thanks to ‘mass-tourism’ & ‘bizness’ sahib!!!
Hope Annapurna trek isn’t filled with garbage left by can’t be bothered with the enviroment ‘foreign tourists’!!!!
mmhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…
so sad
i been there in 2002, and i don´t remember much from this time, the only picture i have in my remembrance is the good chili-out had in few bares just front the lake, almost we could touch the water, where young nepalis swimming could… and one barber shop,the only one in town where i cut my long and dirty hair, after 3 weeks treking…ahh,and the weeds growing free on the way up to anapurna…from internet shops i don´t remember none,and my camera was a film-camera…yeah it looks long time over missed…
cheers brother!!times changed yes,but just the grandpa knows about…the others even imagine can not…and as Budha says, why to talk and repeat again what is everything already said it?…no matter what we say,also no matter what they think
@ Jose: well well it does change all over the world – remember Pai??
@ Gabe-Man: Without the tourists it would be way less trash. but they never throw the stuff all over the place like the locals. the government should ban all the plastic up in the mountains. that would help! or they should at last use the money i have to pay to go and collect the trash and bring it down somewhere…