Before Lakeside there was this: a merchants' town of carved windows and brick shopfronts, and a white temple on a hillock where the city still comes to pray.
Pokhara grew up as a market on the trade route between India and Tibet. Newar merchants from the Kathmandu valley settled here and built the brick-and-timber houses, with carved wooden windows, that still line the streets of the Old Bazaar north of the modern centre.
Much of old Pokhara has been rebuilt in concrete, but walk slowly through Bagar, Bhairab Tole and the lanes around the Bhimsen temple, a small pagoda to the god of traders, and the old town shows itself in doorways and courtyards.
At the top of a little hill stands Bindhyabasini, Pokhara's best-loved temple. Its white shikhara houses the goddess Bindhyabasini, a form of Durga regarded as the city's protector. Legend says her image was carried here from Vindhyachal in India.
Saturdays are the busy day, with weddings, music, offerings and saffron-red tika. From the temple terrace on a clear morning, Machhapuchhre rises straight above the rooftops.
Temple first, then down through the bazaar.
Take a taxi to the temple and climb the steps while the morning puja is on. Walk round the smaller shrines on the hilltop.
Look north from the terrace for Machhapuchhre above the town.
Walk down into the old streets as the shops open: brass pots, tailors, spices and wedding saris.
Find the small Newar-style pagoda of Bhimsen in the heart of the Old Bazaar, with its carved roof struts.
End at the bridge over the Seti and peer down into the narrow gorge, then ride back to Lakeside.
A 15-minute taxi ride north from Lakeside, or a local bus towards Bagar.
Go early. The temple is liveliest in the morning, and the bazaar is at its best before 10am.
Remove your shoes before entering temple areas, walk clockwise, and ask before photographing worshippers or wedding parties.
Pokhara practical notes →Photographs by Wanderlines and from Wikimedia Commons under their licences.
