Exploring Old Pokhara, A City in the Foothills of the Himalayas

 It is hard to get a real sense of what Pokhara is like until you actually go there yourself. It's probably because almost all tourists stay in the touristy part of Pokhara called Lakeside. It’s a convenient and even charming part of town, but all the buildings here are new - hotels, restaurants, bars - that's good for nightlife, but boring from the point of photography.  *Pokhara [on Google.Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/@28.0594248,84.7247925,8.9z/data=!5m1!1e4?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDQwOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D)* Photos of the recently-built streets of Lakeside are pretty much all you'll see online, even you are searching for "pokhara street photography"... So, I felt there was nothing in Pokhara except for Lakeside and just buildings between 10 and 30 years old, boring for a photographer. Why 10-30 years? Pokhara wasn't a big place until they built the first road to it in 1968. Then, it started growing slowly raising money on the international tourism which boomed in the 1990s and beyond. Check out the streets on Google Maps? I did it, but its street views and panoramas don’t capture the atmosphere at all... Old Pokhara is centered around the Old Pokhara Bazaar, and on Google Maps, those streets look dull. I even thought I shouldn’t go to this Old Bazaar area... But when I got there, it turned out that Old Pokhara is actually a charming place. Sharing.  There are no old quaters in Pokhara, but a series of old buildings blended with newer houses.  However, the general look of this part of the city is beautiful, with many details  and vibes of a quiet, remote mountainous town.  The oldest buildings are plain brick houses decorated with exquisite traditional wooden carvings - windows, balconies, doors, etc.  The carvings of the same style as those in Kathmandu.  And this tiny but charming building is Bhimsen Mandir, an 18th-century Hindu temple. I told that Pokhara is very new but I meant it's new from the point of majority of buildings. The place itself, the Pokhara valley, has served as a center of trade and craft for centuries.  Keep walking further along *Ganeshman Sinha Maarga Street* to see another little Hindu temple:  These are gates to Bhairav Temple. It's new but, of course, reflects the local traditions of art and religion.  Even if buildings aren't that old, they look nice. These ones could be built in the 1980s or 1990s. ![DSC_5936.JPG](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/x-rain/23yJGPFoCwG3ZMps1mJ2bUjfAVpJwcbLbaQ6VGyDSFFoa […]