Long awaited photos

Here are some long awaited photos now that I have been able to down load them.  Enjoy them.....

Housing area in Kathmandu 

Kathmandu is a dirty city.  Most of the city is littered with rubbish as you can see in this photo.  Whilst I was there the garbage workers were on strike and had been for a number of weeks.  By the time I had left they decided to go back to work.  Locals would say to me...'that is just how it is in Nepal"

 

The village houses in Sankhu

Sankhu Village, 17 km from Kathmandu (1.5 hour to get there).  A typical Nepalise child looking out onto the street.

A typical fruit and vegetable stall seen in nearly villages and along roadsides.

Women typically sit in the square selling fruit in a Kathmandu tourist area. 

Below are some of the children of the family I stayed with in the village of Sankhu.  In this family there were two mothers, 5 girls, a boy and their father.  In Hindu culture if the wife is unable to provide a boy with in 10 years of marriage the husband is able to go out and find himself another wife in the hope of producing a son. 

Check out the kitchen in the background of the photo below.

  

  

 Most of the preparing of meals is undertaken on the floor. 

  

It is festival time in the village.  Many Hindus travel from far and wide to worship one of their many Hindu Gods.  Married women wear red.  Mostly Sari's.  Some of them are just so beautiful.  Here the women have grouped together to pray to the God of Wisdom and Education.

One of the local stores.  These can be found on roadside as well as in many of the villages.  Note the roof... it is held down by rocks not nailed down.  Some places I saw tyres on the roof to hold it down.

You will find cattle just roaming the streets not only in the village but in the cities as well.  Cattle are scared animals and seem to have free reign in the cities.  I am not sure who owns them but they are everywhere.  So amongst the congestion of the traffic you are fighting with the cows, motorbikes, trucks, buses, bicycles, rickshaws, people etc for some part of the road to get to where you want to go.  No wonder it to get anywhere takes such a long time.  :-)

Here I am having a rest and enjoying the crisp sunny day on one of the Islands which holds a Buddist temple on Fewa Lake in Pokhara.  

One of the many villages along the hillside.  Their farm pastures are set up the hillsides.  It is pretty amazing.  You see homes like this scattered in various pockets along the mountainside.

Check out the water areas.  You will see these as you drive along the roughly built highways.   One of these water areas every 50 meters.  It is interesting that the women will wash clothes, cooking utensils, themselves in full view with not a care that people could be watching them.  They have no privacy when it comes to bathing.  Also I began to wonder why you would bother as there is just so much dust around.  

This is a common scene.  Women standing around chatting with their community people.  Women in the village wear the traditional Nepalise dress.  Only in Kathmandu will you now see the younger generation wearing more western style of clothing.

For any Engineers.  Check out this construction site.  Most of the work is undertaken by women.  There is no such thing as OH&S.  Bamboo poles are used to brace concrete.  I have seen the same through other parts of Asia. 

Women shovelling sand and stone mix for concreting into baskets which they carry on their back and onto the construction site.  There are no such things as safety shoes.  Plastic bags tired to their feet and the flipflops worn over them.    This is the only protection they have on their feet.

A view from the top of the Buddhist Stupas in Boudhanath Area.  It is one of the World Heritage Sites. 

Neeva was my translator and guide for most of my stay within Sankhu and Kathmandu.  Behind us is the Boudhanath Buddhist Stupas.  This great stupa stands approximately 6 km north east from the centre of Kathmandu valley.  It is surrounded by hills.  Buddhists see the stupa as a jewel point in the centre of a natural mandala, a store of scared energy.  It is one of the most important pilgramage for the Buddhist. 

  With some of my Nepalise friends and family members just outside of Boudhanath

Monkeys roam freely through Kathmandu.  I have seen them cross the streets over electrical wiring.  They reside in a number of temples, and parks close in the city.  In Sankhu I saw a few monkeys but not as many as I did in Kathmandu.  Here the monkeys come in from the forests looking for food.  It was interesting to observe them as they knew what time meal times were and they came across a golf course in large numbers.

Leaving the best for last.  Food....the traditional Nepalise diet consists of rice and lentils.  "Dahl Bhaht").  A number of condiments, chutneys, curried vegetables are also included.  I can't wait to cook this in my own kitchen.  I have not been able to succumbe to eating this dish with my hands.  I have to say in the village that is the only way you will see this dish eaten.