Spending the night at the Sunauli bus stand - the most harrowing experience of my life! Imagine absolute complete darkness and a little bus stand somewhere in the middle of it. No lights anywhwere and about a hundred people sleeping in a shed open on all four sides.
Suddenly around 4:00 a.m. a large group of people gets up and disappears into the darkness. Nobody has any idea about where to go, what to do and whether any transport to the border would be available.
Thankfully we manage to get out of the godforsaken place and across the border around 5:30 a.m. Of course, this too in complete darkness.
Thats a fully zoomed-in photograph of the Swayambhunath temple shot from the terrace of our hotel in Kathmandu. This temple is situated on a hill, a fair bit away from the main Kathmandu city. The obvious and ugly JPEG artefacting that you see is because of the extreme contrast boost that I've applied to get some detail in. This was shot in the morning and very little detail was visible in the original shot.
First stop on our day tour - Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu.
Pashupatinath temple (पशुपितनाथ मन्दिर ) is a Hindu temple located on the shore of the Bagmati river on the eastern part of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. It consists of a large complex with multiple temples and is regarded as the most sacred temple of Shiva (Pashupati) in Nepal.
The main temple at Pashupatinath.
Monkeys at the Pashupatinath temple.
Baoudhanath Stupa entrance.
The dome of the famous Boudhanath Stupa. More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudhanath
Prayer wheel at the Boudhanath Stupa.
Women in traditional costume.
The eyes of the Boudhanath Stupa.
Large prayer wheel.
Same large prayer wheel - stopped.
Boudhanath Stupa.
Beautiful painting inside the observation building opposite the Boudhanath Stupa.
Closeup of the eyes of Boudhanath Stupa.
Outside the temple of the sleeping Vishnu.
Kathmandu cityscape from the Swayambhunath temple.
Prayer Wheels at Swayambhunath. A prayer wheel is a cylindrical 'wheel' (Tibetan: 'khor) on a spindle made from metal, wood, stone, leather, or even coarse cotton. Traditionally, the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum is written in Sanskrit externally on the wheel. Also sometimes depicted are Dakinis, Protectors and very often the 8 auspicious symbols Ashtamangala. According to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, spinning such a wheel will have much the same meritorious effect as orally reciting the prayers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_wheel
The dome of the Swayambhunath temple. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swayambhunath
According to Swayambhu Purana, the entire valley was once filled with an enormous lake, out of which grew a lotus. The valley came to be known as Swayambhu, meaning "Self-Created." The name comes from and eternal self-existent flame (svyaṃbhu) over which a sūpa was later built.
Swayambhunath is also known as the Monkey Temple as there are holy monkeys living in parts of the temple in the north-west. They are holy because Majusri, the bodhisattva of wisdom and learning was raising the hill which the Swayambhunath Temple stands on. He was supposed to leave his hair short but he made it grow long and head lice grew. It is said that the head lice had transformed into these monkeys.
The Bodhisatva Manjushri had a vision of the lotus at Swayambhu and traveled there to worship it. Seeing that the valley can be good settlement and to make the site more accessible to human pilgrims, Manjushri cut a gorge at Chovar. The water drained out of the lake, leaving the valley in which Kathmandu now lies. The lotus was transformed into a hill and the flower become the Swayambhunath stupa.
A cute young kid at the temple complex.
His mother (seen in the background) was selling small souvenirs.
He was excited to see the camera and ran up to see it from up close.
Swayambhunath, is among the oldest religious sites in Nepal. According to the Gopālarājavaṃśāvalī Swayambhunath was founded by the great-grandfather of King Mānadeva (464-505 CE), King Vṛsadeva, about the beginning of the 5th century CE. This seems to be confirmed by a damaged stone inscription found at the site, which indicates that King Mānadeva ordered work done in 640 CE. However, Emperor Ashoka is said to have visited the site in the third century BCE and built a temple on the hill which was later destroyed. Legend has it that the Buddha himself visited Swayambhunath and gave teachings there two hundred years earlier. Although the site is considered Buddhist, the place is revered by both Buddhists and Hindus. 85% of Nepal's population followers of Hinduism. It is also the official religion of Nepal.
The Swayambhunath complex consists of a stupa, a variety of shrines and temples, including a Tibetan monastery, a museum and a library. The stupa has Buddha's eyes and eyebrows painted on. Between them, there is something painted which looks like the nose - but is the Nepali symbol of 'unity', in the main Nepali language dialect. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swayambhunath
Prayer wheels in motion at the Swayambhunath temple.
According to the Gopālarājavaṃśāvalī Swayambhunath was founded by the great-grandfather of King Mānadeva (464-505 CE), King Vṛsadeva, about the beginning of the 5th century CE. This seems to be confirmed by a damaged stone inscription found at the site, which indicates that King Mānadeva ordered work done in 640 CE.
Bell bearing inscription.
Walking towards the old palace complex in the Kathmandu city centre.
The old palace complex in Kathmandu.
This temple is said to be made with wood from a single tree.
The best lemon tea in the world - served in this little cafe on the edge of a mountain on the way to Nagarkot.
Our hired bike.
Brilliant view from the little cafe.
View of the valley from nagarkot.
Colourful flags at the observation tower at Nagarkot.
The only snow-clad peak that we could see through the fog.
Original photo without the contrast adjustment.
A temple complex in Kathmandu. We reached here mistaking it for the old palace complex which we had visited the earlier night.
No complaints though - this was also as beautiful.
If not more...
Another foggy morning ride. This time to Daman to see a view of Mt. Everest.
The first rays of the rising sun breaking through the fog.
Wonder who lives in that house. What an exciting place to live!
Our hired Pulsar 200. Extreme contrast boost to avoid viewers from getting bored looking at just another bike picture.
A little cabin/hut near a bridge across a stream. There was a small waterfall behind this.
The stream flowing behind the cabin.
See the cobweb? No intricate patterns - looks like it was made by one lazy bum of a spider.
Bugger the fog! This is at the Everest observation tower at Daman. Mt. Everest should be right behind the cup. If only Murphy's laws gave us a break once!
The good thing in Nepal is that you get lemon tea EVERYWHERE - even in the smallest of tea stalls.
View of Daman village from the tower.
Waiting for the sunrise at Sarangkot near Pokhara. 6:00 a.m.
Still 6:00 a.m. Thats only a gamma fix in the photo.
6:30 - it is growing brighter.
And brighter.
The hut isn't on fire. Someone's just cooking something in there.
The sky slowly turns red.
The snow clad mountains in the far background. Mr. Murphy is still asleep.
The first glow of the day.
Machapuchare or Machhaphuchhare is a mountain in the Annapurna Himal of north central Nepal. It is revered by the local population as particularly sacred to the god Shiva, and hence is off limits to climbing.
Due to its southern position in the range, and the particularly low terrain that lies south of the Annapurna Himal, Machapuchare commands tremendous vertical relief in a short horizontal distance. This, combined with its steep, pointed profile, make it a particularly striking peak, despite a lower elevation than some of its neighbors. Its double summit resembles the tail of a fish, hence the name "Fish's Tail." It is also nicknamed the "Matterhorn of Nepal".
6:45 a.m. - Here comes the sun!
Machapuchare has never been climbed to its summit. The only known attempt was in 1957 by a British team led by Jimmy Roberts. Climbers Wilfrid Noyce and A. D. M. Cox climbed to within 50m of the summit via the north ridge, but did not complete the ascent; they had promised not to set foot on the actual summit. Since then, the mountain has been declared sacred, and it is now forbidden to climbers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machhapuchare http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150279/machhapuchare.html
Colourful scarves and mufflers on sale at Sarangkot.
Machapuchare in the background.
On the way down from Sarangkot back to Pokhara.
The Seti river gorge.
An aqueduct that takes the water from the dam to the fields.
Bats hanging from the roof of the bat cave.
The exit from the bat cave.
A girl coming out of the exit. It was a lot tighter than I though it'd be. I hardly squeezed through. The fat people have to return the way they came in, I think.
An exhibit on Gurkhas at the Pokhara museum.
A Khukhri at the Pokhara museum.
Devi's falls near Pokhara.
Patale Chhango or Devi's Fall where the water from the Phewa Lake thunders into a hole and disappears.
Shining rocks inside the Gupteshwar cave.
The enormity of this cave is unbelievable.
This is the hole into which the Devi's falls seem to disappear.
Boat at the Phewa lake in Pokhara.
