Maya Devi

Our house. My hut is the smaller one on the right on the top floor.
Maya Devi is just next door on the left. 

View of the lake and front garden from the roof outside my hut.

View from our roof-top patio.
The main house and restaurant of Maya Devi is just visible to the right. 

Welcome to Maya Devi - named after Buddha's mother.

My first morning in Pokhara, I wake earlier in the morning then a bedtime of 3 am requires, but I am excited to see my home for the next 5 months in the daylight. I go to the window of my hut, pull aside the curtain, and catch my breath.

View from one of the windows of my hut

View from the other window of my hut

My hut

I have a view of Phewa Tal a large calm lake upon which Pokhara is situated, and the steep green hills on the other side of the lake. Everywhere I look is lush and green, everything still fresh from the recent monsoon.

There are 6 seasons in Nepal: winter, spring, pre-monsoon, monsoon, post-monsoon, and autumn. It is now post-monsoon moving into autumn. I will stay here until the end of spring. Most travelers avoid Nepal during the dangerous, hot and wet monsoon.

I dress and head downstairs and next door to Maya Devi, the home of Himalayan Raptor Rescue and the Parahawking home base.

I enjoy a chiyaa, the traditional Nepali milk tea, and wander around the grounds. Across from the restaurant patio is a row of aviaries decorated with prayer flags and holding two Egyptian vultures and a black kite – the parahawking stars.

The spiral staircase leading up to the roof and our huts. 

After breakfast, I have a chance to weigh the two vultures (the kite is more wary of new people and is still at his high monsoon weight, he will need to come closer to flying weight before I start to handle him), and get to know their personalities a bit. They seem like great birds, and I’m looking forward to getting to know them better over the season.

Inside my hut

Egyptian vultures

Maya Devi as seen from the other side of the bay.

You can see the main house in the middle, 

and the small huts or houses to the left that are either
rented out or lived in by the staff here.

My house and hut are on the right.