STL DPB On The Road: Game Time In Nepal

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The steep road from the parking lot to Changu Narayan temple, outside of Kathmandu, is lined with little stores selling things to tourists. There were few visitors on the day we were there and business was slow. These two men passed the time playing a game I saw many times in Nepal - never did figure out the point.

I said I was going to get back to leaving comments on my friends blogs last night. Yeah, right. I fell asleep around 7 o'clock and proceeded stay conked out for the next 12 hours. I got to be over the jet lag now. Back to my duties today. And there's local material to shoot: the annual Dancing In The Streets festival is today. Got some good stuff at last year's event.

More Nepal and Tibet pix gradually being posted here.

STL DPB On The Road: Labor In Nepal

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A woman carries a large sack along a muddy road in the outskirts of Bhaktipur. We saw this kind of labor often in Nepal and Tibet. I can't speculate what this does to the cervical spine.

I apologize for not getting back to leaving comments on my friend's blogs. Eleven time zones of jet lag has been tough to overcome. I've stumbled around work my first two days back and fallen asleep after dinner. Back to that this evening, I hope. Got to get out and shoot some new St. Louis material this weekend.

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An old man at Chengu Narayam, a bit up the valley from Kathmandu. There is a great complex of Hindu temples there with few tourists. His earrings signify that he is at least 77 years and 77 days old.

We're about to board the plane for Lhasa. I won't be able to post again until we are back in Kathmandu on September 19. There will be loads of pictures. See ya later.

STL DPB On The Road: Kathmandu

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Sunday was a fascinating and exhausting day of touring major sites around the city. The frightening relief above is Seto Bhairab, a terrifying manifestation of Shiva in the central Durbar Square. It is kept closed off most of the year except for a festival now getting underway. Unfortunately, we will miss the main event Tuesday night, when potent rice wine flows out of the pipe and young men jockey for position to slup it up.

The man at the left is a sadhu, a wandering Hindu ascetic. In theory, they renounce earthly pleasures, except that some of them consume staggering amounts of marijuana. To enhance the spiritual process, of course. That always was the point, wasn't it?

STL DPB On The Road: Kathmandu

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There are many responsible people in Kathmandu. Too many.

It's been nine years since I was last here. It's different; everything changes. More fancy, Western-looking stores on Durbar Marg, a main shopping street. Crumbling streets and sidewalks, an infrastructure broken down during the years of the Maoist civil war. Now they are in charge, democratically elected, the monarchy abolished. Far more trash in the streets. Same throngs of the desperately poor, but now the occasional middle class family in their own car. Well, at least in this part of town. The restaurant our group dined at last night had Nepali dishes on the menu, but it also has penne arriabatta and sachertorte.

Tourist stuff tomorrow.
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We're Outta Here

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Guest photo by Mrs. C., taken in Kathmandu a year and a half ago. A young Buddhist monk walks past Boudnath Stupa in the sunset. You can see more of her Nepal pictures here.

We leave today on a 19 day trip, going through Chicago and then on to Delhi, a 14 hour flight. One night there and then Kathmandu Saturday. Tibet on Tuesday. I may post a few days ahead if I get some editing done on the plane - no problem with Internet service in India. With luck I'll post something from from Nepal, as long as there is a place to hook up my laptop. No uploads from Tibet - the altitude is too high to run a laptop without damaging the hard drive. The Chinese government blocks Blogger, anyway.

Team member ShadowyOne will cover St. Louis as much as possible while I'm away. Expect a big tub-o-photos from Asia starting about September 22. Hasta la vista, y'all.

Guest Post: Mrs. Strangetastes in Kathmandu

My wife just got back from a ten day visit to Nepal. This was done under the wing of a community development agency and school, the Mitrata Home for Children, that we have supported since we went there together ten years ago. The organization has ties to St. Louis. She got some wonderful images. This is a young Buddhist monk at Boudhanath Stupa, a large community of Tibetan religious refugees in Kathmandu. A set of my wife's pictures is on Flickr here.

TOMORROW: Restoration