Jiri

This young lad picks his nose in a small town we stopped at on the way to Jiri.  The water below is a popular rafting river, direct from the Everest region.

And the river town from another angle.

Same town.

This was taken out the car window as we were leaving the lunch-stop town shown in the last photo post.  The man, goat and banner caught my eye.

Starting, again…

Wow!  It’s been about 3 months, but I’ve finally decided to get back into posting pictures on the old blog.  Sorry, but I was really busy at work before and after Christmas, and I’ve been rather transfixed by global events in February and March.  I’ve just decided to get back on the horse and get my pictures up. It was a great trip, and I hope you like the pictures I’m putting on display.  Please put some comments.

Lunch Stop

We, my guide and driver, stopped for lunch at a town on the way from Kathmandu to Jiri, the start of my trek.  It was a dal bhat (or is it dhal bat?) place.  This was my first taste of real Nepali food as the Nepalis eat it.  The night before, in Kathmandu, I went to a very nice restaurant that served a 5 or 6 course meal that demonstrated the pinnacle of Nepali Dal Bhat.  But this place was the everyday thing.  I don’t know the name of the town, but I know it was a  busy place where Chinese, Tibetan and Nepali people stop and trade/sleep/eat.   Being new to the (3rd world) country I was germ wary, and the restroom was “basic”, but the food was ok and I didn’t get ill.  

Here, a man tends the rice (bhat) pot.  I went upstairs to use the restroom and found men cooking.  I was glad I brought my camera.  The scene featured the river (from  Everest), the food cooking and the men cooking it.  Oh,and the sunlight.

 

Men tend the dal (lentil) pot.  Lord, I’m glad I snapped this shot.

A crow family bird lingers in the shrubbery at the dal bhat restaurant.  These crows were a common companion on my trip.

Bhaktapur

Kids play in the dirt along the highway in Bhaktapur, a major town outside of Khatmandu.  We stopped here to pick up something from my guide’s home.   From here we set off to drive all day to Jiri.

A very large Shiva statue is being erected overlooking the Khatmandu valley.

To Jiri

More farms terracing the picturesque, pine clad hills between Kathmandu and Jiri.

First View

This was taken on October 25 when we stopped the car on the way to Jiri to start the trek to the Everest region.  It was my first view of the Himalayas.  The hills are inhabited by many terraced family farms.  The houses in this picture would have been built over the years as the family grew and sons/grandsons moved into their own homes.

Locals Waiting, Crossing

Kathmandu locals wait, and cross the street. An everyday event, but one fraught with risk in this city with dense traffic and almost no traffic lights or crosswalks.

School of Thangka Painting

My guide led me to this painting school at the Bodnath stupa,

Inside, several artists worked away their mandalas and other Buddhist paintings.

This woman carefully paints detail on a large mandala.

This is a master painter working on a smaller painting.

The painters use books such as this to guide their works.

Here, a painter hand mixes the pigments, from natural ingredients, used on their paintings 

This is a peace mandala (I think, or is it a maeditation mandala…)  Anyway, it was big and very well detailed.