ASIANOVERLAND.NET SYDNEY TO LONDON DAY 340/91/3: POKHARA, NEPAL

Pokhara is 200 kilometres west of the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu, on the shore of Phewa Lake, at an elevation of 822m. The Annapurna Range, with three out of the ten highest mountains in the world—Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I and Manaslu—is within 24 km of the Pokhara valley.

Pokhara is on an important old trading route between China and India. In the 17th century, it was part of the Kingdom of Kaski, which was one of the 24 Kingdoms of Nepal, ruled by the Gorkha Shah dynasty. Many of the hills around Pokhara still have medieval ruins from this time. In 1786, Prithvi Narayan Shah added Pokhara into his kingdom. It had by then become an important trading place on the routes from Kathmandu to Jumla and from India to Tibet.

The food kitty for the 11 weeker overland trip was A$181.50 or A$2.35 (about one pound) per passenger per day. The food kitty didn’t cover National Meals, where we all went out to a restaurant which provided authentic national food.

Nepal’s cuisine is based on ethnicity and varies based on geography and culture – Tibetan influenced food in the north, and Indian influenced food in the south, and meals with hybrid Tibetan and/or Indian influence.

Momo is common throughout Nepal and Tibet, a Nepalese style dumpling filled with minced meat in a flour dough, cooked by steaming or fried. Momo were usually filled with yak meat in Tibet and buffalo meat in Nepal, but are also filled with goat, chicken, or vegetarian.

A Nepalese National meal includes Momos; Dal, made of lentils and spices; rice; and vegetable curry, tarkari. Condiments are usually spicy pickle, (mainly dried spinach) and radish (mula ko achar), sliced lemon (nibuwa) or lime (kagati) with fresh green chilli (hariyo khursani), a fried papadom, and roti.

Chow mein is a Nepali favourite based on Chinese-style stir fried noodles. It is one of the most beloved everyday staple lunches in Nepali/Nepalese households, and was my favourite dish in Kathmandu while dining at Durbar Square and/or the Blue Star Hotel.

Gary was a Top Deck driver who didn’t like or eat any rice, so our national meals needed to be held at restaurants which could also service western dishes.

Our westbound DAY BOOK records –

“Big boat rides – thank God we had our passports and traveller’s cheques with us so no one could tip the boat.”

“Skinny men insisted on selling genuine authentic “last week” ivory bracelets.”

“New Zealand naughties are being caught up on.”

“Peter the Courier is still in Kathmandu.

Dinner – National Meal was beaut – but everyone voraciously eyed Gary’s steak & vegies.”

↑ Day 339 ↓ Day 341