Participant Blog Day 12 – Matthew W

Since arriving in Pokhara yesterday, it is very clear that there is a massive contrast in Nepal with how people live. I found that the people were very happy and interested in everything we did while we stayed in Meghauli, whereas in Pokhara most people are really busy and trying to get on with their lives as there is a lot of competition for business. Meghauli was tiny compared to Pokhara, which is full of tourists running around to all of the tourist attractions like the lakes and temples that Meghauli didn’t have. The hotel is very grand and even has a swimming pool which is extremely different to what we were staying in Meghauli as the tents allowed water to go in the inside which wasn’t very fun at all and some of the host family homes were not like anything anyone had experienced before.

Today we climbed up to a temple in the mountains called World Peace Stupa and this gave us a brilliant view over all the snow capped mountains as well as the whole city and lake which we had a boat ride on. On the other hand with Meghauli we were in the jungle which was a very isolated village that didn’t have the fast changing landscape of Pokhara which goes from flat land in the valley into the vast Himalayas.

Overall, in my opinion I think that Pokhara is unlike any other city due to its beauty and terrain. Although Meghauli was very impressive with the way it has developed over the last few decades, Pokhara just stands out as the best city I’ve been to as I’ve never visited somewhere that is so different to what I am used to yet so impressive.