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I had the opportunity to go to the Kingdom of Nepal in January-1999, so I loaded up my backpack and flew to Kathmandu.

I did a lot of research on Nepal before I went, just to give me some idea what I was getting myself into. I thought I had it figured out before I even got there. Everything I thought it was going to be like was wrong. It was much different than I thought, and in all respects, better. I had a wonderful time.

So I hung out in Kathmandu for 5 days soaking up the culture and checking out all the Buddhist temples, then flew to Pokhara, which is in western Nepal. Pokhara was big fun! I spent three weeks traveling around the Pokhara area, and trekking up in the foothills surrounding the town. It was really a relaxing, no stress holiday.

Click on each thumbnail picture to see larger view.

Enjoy!!

 

 
           

 

 
      This is the view from the 747 on the way to Kathmandu from Bangkok. I believe that the tallest mountain in the background is Mt. Everest.    

 

 
    Typical day in the Kathmandu Valley. The air pollution is always bad here because the mountains block most of the air movement.      

 

 
 

The Hotel Harharah, Kathmandu. I stayed here for the 5 days I was in Kathmandu.
     
This is the view from my hotel room.
 

 

 
   

I stayed in the section of town called Thamel. I spent a full day just wandering around the narrow streets getting lost and taking pictures.

   

 

 
    Typical Thamal scenes with the UPS office on the right.    

 

 
    Lots and lots of Buddhist shrines and temples around Thamel. Here are a couple of them.    

 

 
   

Two more little shrines.

 

    

 

 
    I met this sadu in my wanderings thru Thamel.    

 

 
    This is one of the bigger Buddhist temples in Kathmandu. The eyes are the Eyes of the Buddha. The Eyes are also the national symbol of Nepal.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 
I found this little statue outside a temple in Thamel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shrine in Durbar Square in Kathmandu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spent a half day visiting this temple on the Bagmati River.

The Bagmati is the sacred river in Nepal. It's a great honor to be creamated along its banks and have your ashes scattered in it

 

 

 

 

 
    In this picture, the Nepalese are creamating a loved one on one of the concrete pads alongside the river.      
             

 

 

 

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