Rain Rain Go Away...

We read that Pokhara gets more rain than Kathmandu, but it's feeling just like being back at home in good old Seattle, if you ignore all of the tropical trees and buffalo walking through the streets.  We've been holed up in Pokhara, which is about 200km West of Kathmandu, for the last few days while Colin recovers from his head cold and we wait for the rainy season to truly end.  Today is the actual beginning of Tij, that women's festival that we mentioned in the last post, and locals say that this usually marks the true end on the rainy season.  We've been meeting a lot of very friendly local people and a few shop keeps from Kashmir who we drank tea and talked Indian politics with.  Here are a few photos from our days here:

Major traffic jam on the two lane highway coming out of Kathmandu.  We were stuck for an hour in this traffic jam with buses, trucks and cars making three lanes on narrow passes.

Young girls carry heavy burdens, this time yarn.

Phewa Lake with many boats to rent.  Pokhara is settled along the lake.  Apparently when the skies are clear you can see the Annapurna range in the background.  So far all we have seen is clouds.

Banana flower....delicious!

Dahl batt, the Nepali national dish.  It varies but generally comes with rice and lentils, curried vegetables, pickle and curd.  From left to right (curd, bean curry, curried okra, dahl, curried potato, spicy sauce, RICE)

Having something to drink at a lakeside restaurant.

Devi's Fall, a roaring waterfall outside of Pokhara.  Legend has it that a Swiss woman died here while skinny dipping with her boyfriend.  Sultry lovers beware!

Colin in front of Devi's Fall

Water buffalo marching in front of our guesthouse.  The one in front was huge with curly Q horns.

Sweet treats from our favorite Indian food stall in Pokhara.