2012_11_15 Ker & Downey guides and Porters

KER AND DOWNEY NEPAL

It's time to pay our respect to the guides and Porters who made our trek in Nepal such a success.  NO WAY we could have lugged all of our stuff up those hills.  Thanks so much to our porters.  And thanks so much to our group leader Raju Kunwar and Assistant group leader Shyam Gunung.  I spent quite a bit of time at the end of our group so had some time to get acquainted with Shyam more than the others.      His main duty was to stay at the back and make sure that none of his "sheep" were lost.  Shyam's English language skills were first rate and he is really adept with computers.  I have friended him on Facebook and have already had several communications via the internet.  I think the Ker and Downey folks were genuinely interested in our well-being (obviously) but the were SO KIND and so patient with our incredibly slow pace.  They told us that they are able to do the daily hikes (with the packs) WAY faster than we did.  I am so proud of our group - that we were able to complete these (to us) strenuous days in Nepal is pretty cool!  I will never forget the trek or our new friend from Ker and Downey Nepal.

Porters were:   Bharat (our porter), Hari, Mangal, Sunil, Nuri, Jet and Rame.

DHANYABAD!

Raju Bahadur Kunwar (Group Leader)

Shyam Gurung (Assistent Group Leader)

Just meeting the guides and porters for the first time in Pohkara

Bharat (our porter) Hari (behind) and Dr. Blood

Bharat and Jit

Raju at the Australian Camp

Bharat

Me and Sunil.  His idea "Shoot us".

 Dinner for Mangal?

Getting ready at Sanctuary Lodge

Nuri, Mangal, Hari and Sunil

Bharat

Nuri (white scarf), Jit, Sunil, Rame (red scarf) 

Mangal

Mangal, Jit, Bharat and Sunil

Hari, Raju, Mangal, Bharat, Shayam, Jit, Rame, Sunil, N Losgestaff.

Nuri is missing from this image

Raju, Rame (behind), Mangal, Shyam, Hari (behind), Bharat, Jit and Sunil

at Sanctuary Lodge

Harvey and Connie with Bharat - last morning with these guys in Nepal

Hari

Mangal in Ghundruk

Shyam Gurung and Harvey 

2012_11_12 People of Nepal

I feel compelled to keep posting even though we are back.  Here are some images of people we saw along the way:

Kathmandu - Bhaktapur Durbar Square

All of these images were taken in the town of Bhaktapur - 13 kilometers east of Kathmandu.  1st stop on our day tour.  Bhaktapur used to be the capitol of Nepal a long time ago.   

While the complex consists of at least four distinct squares (Durbar Square, Taumadhi Square, Dattatreya Square and Pottery Square), the whole are is informally known as the Bhakapur Durbar Square, and is a highly visited site in the Kathmandu Valley. 

The Durbar Square proper houses the 55-window Palace which was constructed by King Jitamitra Malla and was home to royalty until 1769. It is now a National Gallery. Close by is the Golden Gate which leads into Mulchok Court which is home to the Taleju Temple. This temple, like others in the main towns of the Kathmandu Valley, is dedicated to the goddess Taleju Bhawani and includes shrines to both the Taleju Bhawani and Kumari. Entrance to the temple is restricted to Hindus and the living goddess strictly cannot be photographed.

The Durbar square is surrounded by spectacular architecture and vividly showcases the skills of the Newari artists and craftsmen over several centuries. The royal palace was originally situated at Dattaraya square and was only later moved to the Durbar square location.

The Durbar square at Bhaktapur was severely damaged by an earthquake in 1934 and hence appears more spacious than the others, located at Kathmandu and Patan.^[2]

Originally, there were 99 courtyards attached to this place, but now only 6 remain. Prior to the earthquake, there were 3 separate groups of temples. But currently, the square itself is surrounded just by buildings that survived the quake.^[2]

(Lifted from Wikipedia).

Like the light and the man

Stylish lean

Husband and wife

Gotta like the marigold!

Making little horse toys right there.  Bare foot as a vise!

I think is my favorite image - Connie ran and told me "You have to shoot this".  She was right!

Thangka (Thanka in Nepal) painter in studio

One more - R. Rediker image

Showing the mandala painting with light passing through from light above.  We bought this one and are planning to display it with light from below in a shadow box.

Detail of a mandala painting

Maṇḍala (मण्डल) is a Sanskrit word meaning "circle." In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point. Each gate is in the shape of a T.^[1][2] Mandalas often exhibit radial balance.^[3]

#2 favorite I think - I really like this light!

Timothy Leary?

The rest of these were from various places along our treks

MANY, MANY more - I had to stop somewhere!

Lady working in a garden

Smile!

Hajur Baba (Grandfather) with grandson or granddaughter

Shy?

Working in a millet field.  Millet is used as a source of bread in Nepal

Another millet field worker

This guy runs a grist mill way up in the mountains

Quite the show put on by this one!

Plowing a rice paddy

They wanted to see the image

Village life

A rarely seen sight - someone resting and enjoying the view

Field had been cleared and stacked - The master of his domain?

Woman using cow dung to create a mortar between slate stone in a court yard in Ghandruk

Monks in Kathmandu

Moving propane tanks by bike!