Pokhara is a city that appeals to many.
Its touristy part called Lakeside resembles a Thai town from the point of infrastructure and cleanliness; there are many bars and cool cafes there (and twice as cheap as in Thailand). And Lakeside is quite concrete and unauthentic, though cozy, and European bakery is amazing there. Love Pokhara has this place, but it's not where I want to stay.
Pokhara also has a more authentic part - the economic center (Chipledhunga) and historic area (Old Pokhara Bazaar's neighborhood).
And the third option is to stay at more rural locations. I chose Sedi Village.
Sedi on Google Maps
It's actually a part of the city - it's only a 15-minute walk to the nightlife of Lakeside. There are frequent public buses from Sedi to Lakeside, Chipledhunga, and other districts. But it's greener, quieter, and cheaper.
I believe that's the best place to stay in Pokhara... Sharing views and info.
Going down the hill slope, my everyday routine.
Passing by corn fields,
Grass thickets,
And bizarre houses -
Houses with kitties.
Many households have cats there - half of them perhaps. But you can't see cats so easily as in the more urban environment since they stay indoors or in the gardens or hide somewhere in thickets. Nevertheless, I regularly meet some of them.
The main street:
Here, I go every day to buy food. Quite urban, with a series of shops, eateries, and even a decent cafe with cappuccino and wifi where foreigners come to hang out with their laptops.
Right behind the main street, there is a lowland on the shore of the lake.
The area is open to everyone. Nothing grows there except for grass in April 2026, and the field serves as a pasture for cattle.
There are dogs as well but Nepalese mongrels are so sweet that they almost have made me a full-swing dog lover.
Apart from dogs, mongooses are regular there. Never seen so many mongooses in my life as in Sedi.
Never ever encountered kites (Milvus migrans) so daring as in Pokhara. Once, one of them, playfully rushing away from an angry crow, flew a couple of meters over me, with his powerful wings wide open.
Kingfishers are another type of feathered hunters here.
There are plenty of shrikes (charming birds!) in Sedi, and specifically on the lowland I am talking about.
Another living beings who immediately attract your attention:
Horses are remarkably perfect from the aesthetic point of view.
Beautiful, but not my favorite hoofed creatures.
They feel too introverted for me (sorry, horse lovers!)
And these are my favorite hoofers:
I don't know their psychology well, so try to keep a safe distance, lol. But love reading their eyes - they talk with their faces... at least to me, lol.
Hope to make friends with a buffalo one day. 😀 And I have a good chance for that - you'll know why below!
Such is the idyll in the valley at the foot of the Himalayas... I'm actually writing this post from the Nepal-India border - getting a three-month visa and then returning to Sedi - I love the place.
My Beautiful Garden - a simple sign of a guesthouse in Sedi I stayed previously ($4 a day, with a shared bathroom). A good place but popular on booking.com - my room was booked by someone and I had to leave... And that's how I found even a better place - a guesthouse ($3.3 a day, with a shared bathroom) next door to its owner's place, where he keeps his own buffaloes... 😍 He also said they have a cat. Looking forward to meeting her! 😀
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 Sedi, Pokhara, Nepal