Sun Welcome Pokhara

I would like to tell you a story about Krishna and Lakshmi, a nepalese couple in their late 70s, who run a little restaurant in the city of Pokhara (Nepal). And about a bunch of foreigners who stayed in Nepal during Covid’s 2020 lockdown. All these travellers (including me) had their plans cancelled. They had to choose between paying for expensive repatriation flights…or staying “stuck” in Nepal to wait until everything gets better. Many of us stayed in the city of Pokhara up to 9 months. Although this situation changed my plans of travelling around Asia, I found it an amazing opportunity to get deeper into the Nepalese culture. And it turned out to be the best time of my life.

One of many experiences was helping the owners of the Sun Welcome Restaurant. We made their business more hygienic, a bit more attractive, and made their work a little bit easier. The restaurant is located up in a little hill. It used to have a very slippery and muddy access, the place had no running water, the inside was sweltering with no fans. The place was dark, the walls were not painted and there weren’t enough shelves.

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Many of us loved going there for breakfast or lunch, the owners always had big smiles for us, Krishna put so much love in every meal because cooking gives him lots of joy. And his wife Lakshmi treated us as her own child.

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With a lot of enthusiasm, we decided to do something for them. We raised money between us, friends and family. The fundraising worked very well so we could start doing our work almost inmediatly.

We fixed the access with safety stairs, installed a water tank so they could have constant running water, installed new sink, 2 rotating fans, provided a blender and an oven where Krishna could made his dream of offering delicious pies and pizzas come true.

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We also painted the walls to give the space some more color and made a sign on a street pole, so people could find the place easier.

The designs were inspired by all the nature that surrounds Pokhara, and the warm feeling of being there. It ended up being a colorful spot, with magic jungle vibes that easily stands out up on the green hill.

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We proved that with little we can make a big difference in people’s life in Nepal. We wanted to give something back to the kind and lovely community which made us feel like at home, specially during these pandemic times. We all became a family.

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If you plan to visit Nepal, you shouldn’t miss this place, you can follow Sun Welcome on their Facebook page.

Thank you Betiful World for photos of the process, follow her adventures here 😎

Thank you for reading!