Morning light near Bhaktapur
I had no idea what to expect in Nepal really. Many of my friends have been leading tours over there for decades so I was a relative late-comer to the scene. I was used to them returning home to talk of the rugged Kathmandu streets and the high altitude vistas in the Annapurnas, but being there myself felt like a whole new planet. It inspired my photography and filled me with energy to shoot all day long.
At night I found myself exhausted and craving sleep. Nepal is not the most comfortable place in the world to travel however. The hotels are over priced, the guesthouses are very basic and the food is acceptable rather than sensational. We had some great meals and enjoyed some lovely hospitality, that's for sure, but don't expect a culinary indulgence to compare with China or Thailand. And don't expect five star hotels that give you a soft landing at the end of a hard days photography. Instead, expect the basics and indulge in the photography.
Three distinct elements make up the tour - Jungles filled with rhino and elephants, centuries old villages with old squares and Newari architecture, and the high-altitude regions of the Himalayas.
In the jungles of Chitwan we ride the elephants to get up close to the rhino. This gets you very close to the wildlife and makes for memorable encounters in the morning light. Bird lovers can get a lot from the Chitwan jungles too, and just standing on the viewing deck of our lodge we watch the flood plains as herons, kingfishers and other water birds come and go for hours. There are tigers here too, but we only saw footprints.
Our itinerary includes some fabulous access to villages of the Kathmandu Valley, with a chance to stop and shoot into the evening and early morning. This gave our group a chance to see the towns when they are filled with residents instead of tourists, and hence we grew rather fond of the Durbar Squares, Chaitya and Stupas. Kathmandu itself is not short of highlights, from the sacred Hindu site of Pashupatinath, the Tibetan Quarter and Boudanath, and the graceful mixture of Hindu and Buddhism at Swayambunath (The Monkey Temple). Plus we found a few other treats by way of surprises.
The highlight for me was still the Annapurnas. I don't like trekking so I put a heavy burden on our tour leader, Sam the Mountain Man, to find a way to get our group as high up into the mountains as possible without making them hike! He did just that. A trail leads from Jomsom to the sacred Hindu site of Muktinath, just serviceable enough for jeeps to travel up and down. We spent over a week at a height of 2600m or higher (starting slowly to acclimate before heading higher), culminating in a single night at 3800m at the village of Muktinath. It was stunning.
Along our journeys in this path of Annapurnas we got to see the graceful peaks of Nilgiri from many angles. We shot the mountain at sunset and sunrise and did so as often as we could. You just can't stop taking photos of the peaks when the light catches the ridges and snow is being shunted off the edge by the winds. How many shots are worth keeping is another matter, but I hope a few images are truly worth keeping.
In years to come I'll plan a few research trips to explore lesser travelled parts of the country, perhaps on horse back or maybe even a few treks. I don't like walking up hills, this is true. But having had a taste of how lovely Nepal can be I just want to see more and more of it.
