Kathmandu

Here some of my girlfriend's pictures in Kathmandu

Kathmandu

I have been a week in Kathmandu now. I wish I could stay here forever.

After spending 12 hours in Bahrain airport, being surrounded by Arabs in all kinds of exotic dresses and hats, sitting opposite of the MacDonalds (too expensive to buy or eat anything), I finally boarded my flight to Kathmandu at 6:20 AM.

Nepal is a fascinating place. In one week I took more pictures that fit my memory stick(s) and still have three more weeks to go!

It is a place where MacDonalds looks like this...

A place of rikshaws...

A place where the people speak with a funny accent and where money changers have funny names...

We went to visit the famous 'Boudhanath Stupa'. A religious circus.
However, there was something peaceful about this place...

Maybe it was the giant stupa with the all-seeing Buddha eyes...

Or the many candles and insence burning...
We spent about three hours in the square around the stupa, sometimes stopping for a drink of 'hot lemon' (that is exactly what it is) or 'Lassi' (sour milk with sugar).


Around the stupa are prayer wheels which monks were eagerly turning
'Buddha Eyes"
This is our daily breakfast: milk tea and 'buff mo mo' (dumplings filled with buffalo meat). Total price for this tasty meal: less than 50 Euro cents.

The day before that, there was a holy festival in Kathmandu. The celebration of the last day of the rain season, and the only day that the 'living goddess' goes outside. We waited three hours in the hot sun, surrounded by all the craziness one can think of.

Holymen were dancing...
Monkeys were watching...
And there she was (actually, this is a boy. The girl came later but my camera ran out of battery) They are being pulled by a group of people, shouting and raving, in an ancient wooden coach. Lots of noise, firecrackers and people shouting and running.

There were three temples on the square, on which people crowded to catch a glimpse of the living goddess. One was for women, one for men and one for 'tourists'. Soldiers with bamboo sticks directed the people to their proper 'seats'.
Holymen were walking amongst the crowds, chanting...
The 'national guard' or some such...
and their leader...

The hot afternoon sun was hard to endure...
To pass the time, why not have a chat with a holyman?
Or watch the crowds from a nearby house...

View from the roof terrace of our hotel. Kathmandu has no high rise, and is beautifully quiet at the end of the day. No noise, except for dogs barking and the occational flute playing

Magical things happen here. We watched this eating hotel guest turn into a crow...
Kathmandu is located in a valley, and is thus surrounded by mountains.
Chen Yi on rooftop

From Germany to Nepal

Six weeks in Holland & Germany. Not much to do. I tried two times to go to The Hague to get a new Chinese visa, but when that didn't work I decided to fly to Nepal and wait for the visa rules to relax.

View from a boat cruise on the Waal River, near Nijmegen. On the boat was an all-you-can-eat buffet of pancakes ;)
View from my parents' house
Pancake toppings

I splurged on chocolate, brown bread, raw fish and German beer, because I know I am going to miss that in China!