Rock cleft
Deep and narrow.
Sabina Bajracharya — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sabina Bajracharya — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sabina Bajracharya — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sabina Bajracharya — CC BY-SA 4.0
A strange waterfall on Pokhara's south-west edge that locals call Patale Chhango, the underworld falls, because the water flowing out of Phewa Lake drops into a narrow, deep rock cleft and vanishes into an underground tunnel, reappearing far away on the other side. Visitors stand on a small bridge and platforms above the cleft, watching water rush between polished rocks and plunge into darkness, in a small garden. The flow is huge in the July-September monsoon and faint in the dry season. Across the road is the Gupteshwor Mahadev cave, where steps lead deep underground to the point where the falls' water emerges below the surface, an astonishing sight. The two are seen together. The fee is small and it opens by day. Do not cross the railings: the rocks are slippery and the current strong. The clearest months are October to December and March to April; in the June-September monsoon the mountains hide behind cloud.
Deep and narrow.
Where water emerges.
Huge.
Siddhartha Highway, south-west Pokhara
It vanishes into an underground tunnel, and you can see it emerge inside Gupteshwor cave across the road.
