I couldn't get any idea from online sources what Pokhara was... I thought it would be a dusty concrete chaos... with many people wearing tribal garments, like, folks ascended from the mountain villages to sell yak cheese and stuff... But when I arrived, I saw wide sidewalks, clean streets, public buses, and a middle-class population.
You can see colorful traditional outfits in Pokhara, but most people look modern.
The tourist part of the city where most travelers stay, Lakeside, looks as developed as a Thai resort, only without 24-hour stores.
This:
Baidam Road, the main street of Lakeside.
In the 1960s, it was a peaceful Baidam village near Pokhara, and nowadays Lakeside challenges the city center (Chipledhunga).
This is the Northern part, more recently developed and more scenic. The Southern half of Baidam Road is a pure tourist commerce - boring to photograph: souvenir shops, money exchangers, tourist clothing stores, etc.
A view from a hostel where I stayed my first 3 days in Pokhara before leaving for Sedi neighborhood - the Phewa Lake, the soul of Pokhara City.
The lake isn't something to see and die - rather a nice water body.
I saw people swimming in the lake but that's a rare spectacle. Most people rent a boat or paddleboard - there are many agencies on the shore.
Something special - a man uses a sling to fish. As I understand that. But there are always fishermen with fishing rods there, too.
And that's the lakefront pathway, its cutest part - some other places are less neat.
All you can find at the lakefront are restaurants and boat agencies. Not much to do or see there, honestly. But if you want to indulge in cappuccinos with croissants - Lakeside is a perfect place.
Lakeside from the road leading to Sedi. A humble Ferris wheel surrounded by all sorts of restaurants.
The southernmost part of the lake.
Quiet and picturesque.
Apart from views, you can enjoy wildlife at Lakeside - cattle egrets and even these little guys:
Mongooses.
That was a portrait of Lakeside, the most touristy part of Pokhara. Another popular location is Sedi, greener and cheaper than Lakeside. The older part of the city is located around Pokhara Old Bazaar I posted about previously.
Stay tuned - more stories from South Asia are coming!
The photos were taken with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G and a Nikkor 70-300mm on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 in April 2026 in Lakeside, Pokhara, Nepal