AMBLING AND RAMBLING - Tansen, West Nepal

......read about our month in Pokhara here....

Simply stunning Tansen

It was so wonderful to be on the road again, and this particular twisty road led us to the lovely hill town of Tansen, south of Pokhara. Although long and loud, the bus ride was more bearable than the previous ones. After three hours, the sun burst out, clearing away the haze, and the views from the road were stunning. Incredibly, the 126 kms took six hours, and we were very happy to arrive in Tansen, and stretch our legs on the walk to our accommodation. There would be a lot of leg stretching while we were here- the town's streets were among some of the steepest we have come across- great exercise!

Striking Tansen woman

Tansen street image

Chilled out dog, Tansen

Steep Tansen street

Sweet religious statues, Tansen

We immediately discovered a charming home stay in a traditional style old house, with low beamed ceilings, steep steps and plenty of character. Our little room in the home stay was right on the street, and every morning we woke up gently, with the sounds of the town arising- a tinkling bell for prayers, someone sweeping a path or faint music- all from about 5.30am. Our lovely hostess with smiling eyes was a talented cook, and we ate scrumptious food at her table every night. Tansen town wasn't big on food variety- meat momos (dumplings) and chowmein (greasy noodles) seemed like the extent of practically every place's menu.
* An interesting note about basic eateries in Nepal was the dingy little back rooms in almost every eating establishment. We enjoyed eating out the front in the light and sunshine and watching what was going on in the street, but the locals were invariably squashed together in a dark back room.

A glowing Rich, Tansen

Main temple, Tansen

Intricate underside of Tamsen temple

The town of Tansen itself was pleasant, with steep winding streets, and plenty of old style wooden Newari houses still standing- some in quite good condition. The streets were quite busy with school kids, weddings and people just going about their business. There seemed to be quite a bit of creative industry around the town, and we passed several workshops on our walks.

A typical Tansen street

Colour on Tansen street

Plastic man, Tansen

Dusty and neglected, Tansen

What a face, Tansen

Typical street, Tansen

Rubbish area, Tansen

Main street, Tansen

The northern part of Tansen was given over to serene pine forests, with sweeping views to the north and the Himalayas which, luckily for us, got clearer every day we stayed here. Unfortunately, the rubbish problem we had seen everywhere so far in Nepal was no better here. Any rest area was full of litter, and worse still were the huge piles of mostly plastic rubbish we saw in many gullys and rivers on our walks around the Tansen area.

We happened upon one of the many weddings going on in Nepal at the time of our visit. After watching the colourful festivities from the sidelines for a while, we were suddenly swept into the center for a dance by some lovely sisters.

Sisters of the bride, Tansen wedding

Dancing at the wedding, Tansen

Wedding musicians, Tansen

Handsome blokes at a wedding, Tansen

But the highlight was the stunning pastoral country side surrounding Tansen. The opportunities for walking were almost endless. Every day we picked another path, and walked up and down, and ended up in many scenic, pretty villages and viewpoints. Quite often we became lost, but Rich's super sense of direction always got us back home eventually! Little hamlets with basic little mud brick dwellings were dotted amongst tiny farms growing a variety of crops in green terraced fields.

Terraces around Tansen

Happy wool lady, Tansen

Taking a break (not on the bog!), Tansen

Adorable girl in Nepalese top, Tansen

One of our many rest points, Tansen

We knew they'd landed!

View of Tansen town

Common personal transport, Tansen

Village house around Tansen

Tiny shop, around Tansen

One particular village was so tiny and picturesque, and we spent a while sitting there smiling with the people and marvelling at their simple but beautiful homes. One problem being somewhere untouristy like Tansen was that there were no official trails or signs, so we never knew where we were going or the names of places. But we were quite happy to be unaware and simply wander.

Tiny and bewildered village inhabitant, around Tansen

Smiley old village man, around Tansen

Woman making rope in village, around Tansen

Perfect little village, around Tansen

A couple of times we came across some decaying, once magnificent buildings- perhaps a reminder of the area's grand past as the capital of a kingdom. People here were shy and stared at us, and no doubt wondered why we were taking photos of the falling down old buildings and their villages. But their smiles were always large and we felt very happy. And knackered. We felt as though we were becoming quite fit!!

Abandoned old building, around Tansen

Abandoned old building, around Tansen

Abandoned old building, around Tansen

Abandoned old building, around Tansen

The weather was absolutely perfect now, and getting better with every passing day. The warm and sunny days were comfortable, without being too hot for walking, and the evenings cool enough for a jacket, and great for sleeping. People in the town loved sitting out on front steps chatting and warming up in the lovely gentle sun, particularly in the morning. Spring was well on it's way, and many trees were in fragrant blossom, and we loved stopping on our walks to watch the many little twittering birds in the trees.

Girl in the doorway, Tansen

Stunning red traditional house, Tansen

Tansen made fabrics

Tansen alley

Boy in traditional Nepalese gear

After a few days in Tansen, the haze cleared somewhat and we realized we had the most gorgeous view of the Himalayas right on our doorstep. Although not as crisp and clear as it could have been, the view was stunning and quite different from Pokhara's aspect. The range seemed to hang high in the sky above the town and hills, and appeared like a mysterious, magical kingdom about to float away.

Glorious views, Tansen

All in all, Tansen was literally a breathe of fresh air. It was fantastic to be in the "real" Nepal, and we absolutely loved our time there. It was just the sort of place we like- loads to see, largely undiscovered by other tourists, welcoming local folk and cheap food and accommodation. What's not to like?! We felt very humbled when, as we were leaving her home stay, our lovely landlady gave us a present each for staying with her.

Although we had another six hour bus ride back to Pokhara in order to continue our trip, we were in great spirits and couldn't wait to see some more of Nepal!



.....Begnas and Bandipur, Middle Hills, Nepal......

POKING AROUND POKHARA - Phewa Lake and around

.............Gorkha, and our arrival in Pokhara....

Most days in Pokhara our time was spent exploring the town and surrounds on an almost endless amount of day trip walking options. To balance all this exercise and fresh air, we made sure there was an equal amount of chilling out, eating great food, sitting in the sun on our rooftop playing cards, and just enjoying the glorious warm weather. 

Jaw-dropping beauty, Pokhara view

       

The town receives the majority of visitors to Nepal, and during our month stay into February, there was a notable rise in tourist levels around the place. We hate to think what's it like in the high season!

Phewa Lake was the focus in Pokhara, and most days we walked along at least some part of it. The Lakeside area was very much geared up for tourists, with hundreds of souvenir shops, restaurants and hotels. Since we were last here (20 years ago!), a pleasant, simple lakeside pedestrian path had been built, and it was mostly quiet and relaxed there. In the evenings, a few food stalls set up selling momos and sekuwa (meat on a stick).

Stunning morning light, Phewa Lake, Pokhara

A completely different part of  Phewa Lake, Pokhara

Typical way of transporting goods, Pokhara

Taking breakfast, Lakeside, Pokhara

It is possible to walk around the entire lake in a day, but we instead walked various parts on different days (it is huge at 4.43km/sq, but still only the second largest in Nepal). We did make it around to the paragliding landing point, where we watched the hundreds of tourists (mainly Chinese when we visited) landing in a production line. At AU$100 a pop, there is some big money being made there.

Hundreds of paragliders, Pokhara

* An interesting side note- the locals here involved in the tourist industry almost all speak Mandarin to cater for the huge numbers of Chinese tourists who make it here, especially during Chinese New Year. It's quite amazing to listen to them! A group of little local school kids even yelled out to us "Ni hao!", Chinese for hello. Maybe they thought that was how to address all foreign people!

A bus to the north side of the lake proved it wasn't all tourist central in Pokhara. Pame and Ghaticchina villages were only about one hour away from the Lakeside area, but the minute we stepped off the bus people were friendly and welcoming. The contrast to Pokhara town was lovely and we enjoyed a wander around the area.

Village house, Ghaticchina 

Pame village center

Scenery around Ghaticchina 

Village lady and her buffalo, Ghaticchina 

Pame house

Curly horned buffalo

One of the best days was the walk up to the Japanese Peace Pagoda. It's a classic Pokhara walk, but we didn't see any other tourists on the way up or down, and only a few at the top. We'd picked the right morning, and were rewarded with possibly the best mountain views we've ever had, with stunning clear views of the Himalayas disappearing for miles in both directions. We were extremely pleased to see the super clean toilets, as our last visit to a Japanese Peace Pagoda (in Darjeeling), was memorable mainly for the state of the revolting toilets!! We felt so happy sitting with the warm morning sun on our backs watching the changing light on the mountains.

Early morning mist walking up to the Japanese Peace Pagoda, Pokhara

Beautiful fence post, mountainside

The views! Japanese Peace Pagoda, Pokhara

Looking down at Phewa Lake, Japanese Peace Pagoda, Pokhara

So happy, Japanese Peace Pagoda, Pokhara

Another clear morning we spent walking around the southern part of the lake known as Damside, with more gorgeous beauty from the mountains, and once again, no crowds- only the early morning local exercisers. We ended up at Devi's Falls, one of a number of dubiously recommended local sights. Most of the natural attractions within the town limits are spoiled by rubbish including the Seti River Gorge, and pretty much any park or waterway.

We came across these ladies at Devi's Falls, in magnificent tartan

We enjoyed the first part of the walk so much, we regularly strolled down there at day break on clear mornings to watch the mountains appear.

The different moods of the Himalayas

Lined up lingams, Lakeside temple

Early morning puja, Lakeside temple

We visited a couple of local Tibetan communities, and were slightly disappointed to discover no celebrations were held in public during their new year period. In fact, there was less going on than usual because of the holiday, with all the stalls and shops shut! We were, however, given a deeper insight into their struggles when we visited an exhibition of the history of Tibetan refugees in Nepal. The photos and reading about their journey to Nepal in the early 1960's were interesting, as were their views on the Chinese government.

The old part of Pokhara town was predictably small and low key, but the few tiny buildings left from long ago were very sweet, and all still in use as everyday shops. The nicest thing was the ornate wooden balconies. Our first walk in that area was cut short, as the temperature suddenly dropped, sleet started to fall and we could see snow accumulating on the mountains.

Amazingly, a bank! Pokhara town

Banksy in Pokhara?!

Colourful Pokhara lady

Dressed up for a wedding, Pokhara town

Pretty in pink, Pokhara town

Bridge over Seti River, Pokhara

We used the local buses a lot, and got to know a few of the convoluted routes. They were very cheap, at about 20 rupees/AU$0.24 a trip, and a good way to wizz by the busy streets of the town proper. But mostly we walked........and walked.

In amongst the vegan/raw food/organic options around town, we found a few favourite restaurants, mostly away from the expensive lake side area, and enjoyed a wide range of food. We were shocked a the number of restaurants selling (and presumably the number of customers buying) fresh fish from the lake. From what we'd seen on our walks, the lake is full of rubbish in parts and highly polluted. The thought of eating anything contaminated with those waters was revolting.

We kept the beer to a minimum, mainly because of the high cost (300 rup/AU$3.70 for the cheapest option), although Rich did have to taste a few different brands a couple of times, just to check what they were like! We couldn't work out if liquor was extremely popular with the Nepalese, or there was just a huge advertising campaign trying to promote drinking. Everywhere we travelled the overwhelming advertisement signage was for some kind of alcoholic drink, and every second establishment seemed to be a grog shop.

Welcoming menu, Pokhara

Testing the Nepalese beer, Pokhara

The famous Nepalese bakeries showed impressive looking sweet treats in their display cases, but we were disappointed with the stale or wet tasting cakes we tried. An interesting note about restaurants in Nepal- many don't have sinks in which to wash ones hands before eating. We sorely missed this when eating after walking around the dusty towns.

Satisfied the weather had warmed up enough for us to move on, we were looking forward to the next stage of our trip around Nepal.

Couldn't resist a couple more gorgeous views to finish off!

....up next, Tansen.....