During our time in Nepal, we hiked up to the World Peace Stupa located on Anadu ‘hill’ across the lake from Pokhara.

The Stupa is at a height of 1,100 meters – which would be absolutely classified as a ‘mountain’ in Cambodia – but is considered a hill in Nepal. Apparently, in Nepal it’s only considered a mountain if it’s snow covered yearlong. We do quite a lot of walking in Cambodia but – as I mentioned when we climbed a waterfall in Thailand last year – the elevation here in the Mekong delta is so flat that we’re really out of shape when it comes to anything uphill.

We started by taking a boat across the lake from Pokhara to the base of the path up to the World Peace Stuppa. It was a beautiful boat ride across the mountain lake.

We found a number of small restaurants at the base of the hill on the other side of the lake. These were full of men drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes (one surprise was how much more people smoked in Nepal compared to Cambodia), so we immediately started climbing up the path to the World Peace Pagoda. This was a mistake because we missed seeing the Phewa waterfall which was hidden a short distance behind the restaurants.

The path up to the World Peace Stupa had steps and tree cover most of the way, which was good because I was already struggling going uphill despite the supports. It was wonderfully still and quiet for most of the hike. The only disruption was the occasional absolutely obnoxious high-pitch electric whine which we later learned was a cicada calling for a mate.

As has been written, I’m not accustomated to hiking uphill after four years of living in Cambodia. So I needed to take many breaks to catch my breath. Fortunately, we had wonderful views at most of our stops.

I read that there were 400 steps up from the lake to the World Peace Stupa but it felt like more than that. We found a heavy coat my size at a Japanese Thrift Store in Phnom Penh but ended up not needing it. October was a wonderful time to visit to Nepal and the temperature was just right for physical activity.

Caleb gave me a good excuse to stop for a break. Yes, Caleb needed a break. That’s why we had to stop. The girls were, of course, tireless and charged up the hill like mountain goats.

The World Peace Stupa was built by a Japanese Buddhist movement called Nipponzan-Myōhōji. After constructing the first World Peace Stupa in Hiroshima, the movement launched an ambitious project to build 100 World Peace Stupas around the world. Nepal is the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, who founded Buddhism, and is home to two of the eighty World Peace Stupas that have been constructed to date.

The World Peace Stupa at Pokhara had a unfortunate history with the local authorities and the original stupa was demolished in the 1970s. The current World Peace Stupa was built in the 1990s when local support for the World Peace Stupa had increased.

The World Peace Stupa in Pokhara has become a popular tourist attraction with a panoramic view of the Annapurna mountain range, Pokhara, and Phewa Lake.

On the other side of the hill from the lake was a lovely country valley. If we didn’t have a baby, I probably would have rented a motorcycle and gone exploring. I was really hoping to see a yak in person while I was in Nepal but my dreams were dashed (I did see a Red Panda and a Himalayan Griffon so I can’t complain too much).

There were a lot of tourists at the World Peace Stupa but it appeared that many of them took a taxi up the windy roads on the other side of the hill.

Caleb was especially impressed by the grass at the World Peace Stupa. He doesn’t get to play in the grass in Phnom Penh.

We stopped at a mountaintop hilltop cafe near the World Peace Stupa for lunch.

I had Mutton Thakali plate, a popular local dish from the Thakali ethnic group, which was absolutely delicious. Caleb helped himself to some of my rice. The lentil soup was especially good.

There was a rickety spiral staircase up to the rooftop that both girls insisted on climbing. There was…quite a drop…and they weren’t quite fearless, but they were brave and aware of the danger. So that was a good experience for them even if it nearly gave poor old Dad a heart attack.

We walked along the mountaintop hilltop from the World Peace Stupa to a nearby overlook. There were so many flowers, dragonflies, and butterflies.

Then we began our hike down the opposite side of the hill from the path we’d taken up. This path was a more leisurely grade that ventured into the countryside and gave us a glimpse at how people live in rural Nepal. In some ways it felt very similar to the countryside in Cambodia, in other ways it was very different.

We had a lovely descent down the mountain hill and just before we got to the bottom, Charlotte hit her limit and suddenly became exhausted. We encouraged her to push through – one of our goals for our time in Nepal was to push ourselves – and we continued on after stopping for some drinks at a local stand.

We had one more goal on our hike. To reach some rapids/waterfalls that lead into a cave in the valley on the other side of the hill. The cave was a bit much for me and I found my stamina bottoming out, despite the drinks. Charlotte and I had the hardest time, while Catherine was Catherining the entire way. She’s really indomitable when she gets going (but she rested well when we got back to our guesthouse).