To the people of Bhaktapur, being fat meant we looked healthy.

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Watching this video stirred up my emotions.  It’s funny how a simple mouse-click can whip them up so easily.  It brought back a lot of memories from my 6 weeks in Nepal last year.
Nepal is f*cking awesome.
While I was there, I knew I wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate the experience until I was back [...]

As much as I enjoyed playing chicken with oncoming traffic in Kathmandu’s little white taxis, I was happy to have a seat on Yeti Airline’s 11:40am flight to a small border town in southeastern Nepal. The 30 seat twin prop plane had a nice green and yellow paint job and I felt at ease [...]

Nepal had always represented world class trekking for me, yet I found the country to offer so much more. Beyond the beautiful snow-capped mountains, green valleys, peaceful lakes, raging rivers, colorful flowers, and wide array of birds were incredibly kind people, a lively Tibetan community, delicious food, and a rich cultural history.

Highlights [...]

A marching band accompanies a wedding procession around Boudhnath Stupa one afternoon.

Butter lamps.

A Tibetan woman spins prayer wheels.

A rooftop view of the stupa…well worth the extra dollar or two per meal.

A monk tries to ignore a begging child….but later relents and offers a donation.

Pigeons being fed at sunrise.

My room at [...]

The second morning I awoke in Boudha, I satisfied my curiosity about the ringing bells at 5:30am. I put on some warm clothes and stepped outside of the guest house to see people walking down the alleys toward the stupa, counting their prostrations on malas (prayer beads) hanging from their hands. I joined [...]

Sunday -

Receive advice to get to the Indian Embassy early.

Monday -

8:45am – Arrive at Indian Embassy 45 minutes prior to opening.
Take a number – 79 to be specific.
Realize you may not be able to drop off your Telex form today (cutoff is 12pm).
Security guy suggests I return at 8pm to get a lower number for [...]

After my first peaceful night in Boudha (the area with the stupa), I awoke early to the the sounds of the nearby monastery’s morning puja (prayers). I put my curiosity on hold and stayed in bed.

Later in the morning, I caught a cab south to my 5th World Heritage Site in the Kathmandu [...]

After a few nights at the historic Kathmandu Guest House in the heart of Thamel (Kathmandu), I was ready to escape the live cover bands and honking taxis for some peace and quiet. I put my main pack in storage and grabbed a taxi east toward Boudhnath Stupa, an important site for both [...]

My first digital camera was a Christmas gift from my parents in 2006. I had been receiving compliments on the Canon PowerShot SD700 IS Digital Elph all along my trip, and had been very happy with the photo quality. I was a quick draw as Gela and others who spent any length of [...]