Truth be told, one begins including a photograph which leads to a story, a sequence, interesting incidents and off one heads and there is no end. So, we halted. Besides the photographs, we include a short essay on, we suppose, altitude, something quite relevant in this part of the world.
We would like to believe we are still having a continuing 'General MacArthur moment': "We shall return."
A view of the Annapurna Range from Begnastal.
Lost a number of peaks.
A scene at Shiva Temple showing two of the 4 faces (values) of the lord.
We learn continuously in Nepal that life over here is one stepping-stone after another. We are invariably going up or down; level movement is not a common form of motion. We also learned recently, source unknown or perhaps 'non-existent', that the Nepalese have a secret admiration for the apple. It's nothing to do with fruit although they do love 'I-phones'. Rather, it's that Big Apple aka, New York City.
Another site viewing the glorious sight of the range.
A favorite at dawn from the town of Begnastal.
A night view of Pokhara from Sarangkot, a tough climb.
Between Shanti Stupa and Shiva Temple, a view of the city and Phewa Lake.
Early morning scene replicated below after full sunrise.
Daylight version of the above scene.
The magnificent Machapuchare after a snowfall, only the third in 3 months.
On the way to Methlang through a jungle, we catch a glimpse of Phewa Lake.
Lost a number of peaks.
We learn continuously in Nepal that life over here is one stepping-stone after another. We are invariably going up or down; level movement is not a common form of motion. We also learned recently, source unknown or perhaps 'non-existent', that the Nepalese have a secret admiration for the apple. It's nothing to do with fruit although they do love 'I-phones'. Rather, it's that Big Apple aka, New York City.
Contrary to common belief, the locals love height. Give them a hill, a mountain and be assured they'll build a temple, a house or hotel upon it. They are much like the Swiss in that respect except they reach very much higher. They do have conflict with New Yorkers though. Whereas the latter build high and live tall, they are somewhat lazier than the Nepalese. The Apple people depend on elevators and escalators. The mountain people don't—they walk, climb and carry. We have yet to ride in an elevator over in this country. Bear in mind that we invariably carry more than 100 lbs. of luggage with us when we travel overseas. Try that up 5-6 flights of steps...we don't often.
Instead of constructing skyscrapers, the Nepalese perfected a different system which might be considered smarter than New Yorkers (between you and we). To avoid utilizing elevators, fire-escapes and all those lazy features so common nowadays, they cut out the 'middleman' in their endeavor to live in the clouds or scrape the sky. Obviously, they identify high mountains and build low-storey buildings at those peaks as well as at lower elevations, too. Instead of constructing a 50-storey edifice which allows residents at the top to live 'near the sky', the Nepalese begin building at much, much higher altitudes. This concept allows for low cost, low-storey-buildings to house tenants at much higher altitudes. No elevators required, no gymnasium necessary, no weight watching classes, and best of all, residents live with their heads in the clouds.
It should be mentioned, while the price of merchandise ordered for delivery to these high places is competitive, delivery charges are a little pricey though. Then again, someone forgot one or two little details in their excitement while seeking height. In addition, one's thinking tends to be a little erratic at high altitude so one should not be judgmental. We remember one year paying the equivalent of 50 cents for a Coke in Kathmandu and at Everest base camp, at 18,000 feet, nearly 7 dollars. While I felt spoilt, the delivery cost was in fact, extremely cheap relative to the effort required.
To conclude, New Yorkers built the Empire State Building reaching an altitude of 1,454 feet. Are you serious? Recently, we slept in a building at over 18,000 feet. In our ongoing mission to 'save the world', no air conditioning or heaters (or hot water), oy vey! Not so keen to save the world any longer; we are trying to save our souls now, more convenient, maybe even tougher. One more statistic: The Empire State has seventy-three elevators. Guess how many we had for those nights?
Heck, we cut down our oxygen intake, hardly used electricity, did not shower or wash clothes and to be fair, we admit using much deodorant. Do we qualify for an emissions rebate (besides odors) subsidy or tariff reduction?
A favorite at dawn from the town of Begnastal.
A night view of Pokhara from Sarangkot, a tough climb.
Between Shanti Stupa and Shiva Temple, a view of the city and Phewa Lake.
Early morning scene replicated below after full sunrise.
Daylight version of the above scene.
The magnificent Machapuchare after a snowfall, only the third in 3 months.
On the way to Methlang through a jungle, we catch a glimpse of Phewa Lake.
A view for 'the village people'.
Sunrise, Sunset...?
Things beginning to 'heat' up...a little.
The two temples across the way, the lake below and civilization all around.
Jen on the way down from Sarangkot, another route.
Shiva Temple, 2-faces of the lord, Phewa Lake below, a 'hill' and the glorious range.
Sarangkot Tower on the peak of a Nepal 'hill' with the real mountains behind.
Looking like a bay, another of Phewa Lake.
Lord Shiva and mountain range in perspective with Phewa Lake below.
Goodnight!
Shiva Temple, 2-faces of the lord, Phewa Lake below, a 'hill' and the glorious range.
Sarangkot Tower on the peak of a Nepal 'hill' with the real mountains behind.
Looking like a bay, another of Phewa Lake.
Lord Shiva and mountain range in perspective with Phewa Lake below.
Goodnight!
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
P.S. Hope to see you in Tenerife, Andorra and mainland Spain.
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