I’ve totally neglected the updating of this blog even after my arrival back home, from the wintry realm of Nepal (okay, it wasn’t THAT cold) and spicy Thailand. Well, I’m a chronic procrastinator. So what should’ve been Monday’s (or perhaps even earlier: I had reliable Internet access in both countries overseas) post is now being unveiled. And it probably will quite a letdown - and in no way should be used to corroborate the false impression that my trip sucked - since I’ve decided to save the effort typing something grandiose for the missions report that I’ve been assigned to do (and haven’t started on yet). Best writing for the publication with the best exposure, I say. So read that instead for the juicy stuff on the mission. This post will be but a facile gloss-over of the trip.
Nepal was lovely, except for the excessive amount of dust in Kathmandu city. It’s close to unbearable just to breathe normally. And ironies of ironies, the day after I visited Haw Par Villa (shucks, did I neglect to write a post on that, too?), for fun, of course, a street hawker in Thamel flogged his wares like so:
You want Buddha, you want Tiger Balm?
Holy crap, I almost died from laughter. But that only made him more persistent.
Thamel, as you may or may not know, is the epicentre of tourism in Kathmandu.
Kinda pathetic. Its streets are lined with shop after indistinguishable shop selling Pashima scarves and shawls, Buddhist figurines, Kukris and the like. The Himalayan marketing theme is not lost on the Nepalese woking in Thamel. Take a look at this yak-inspired signboard.
All feelings of discomfort in the city are erased when you get to the hillside villages. It’s heavenly up there. Millions of yellow flowers (rapeseed, perhaps?) made for a magnificent sight.
Of course, a fair bit of effort is required to climb up the hill in the first place. Nothing arduous, though.
Plus, you’re rewarded with the mindblowingly beautiful sight of the landscape (there were many other equally pretty flowers in different palettes) as well as a chance to get up close and personal with giant furry moths. Serious, it was huge! It was also perhaps the most photogenic bug, ever. Decidedly not camera-shy, it stayed put throughout all the snapping. It was not, however, the best at posing.
I have tons more photos (1607 in total) I would like to show off, but perhaps it’s not in my best interest to go crazy editing and uploading all of them. There’s really a much longer (and much more meaningful) story to tell - and that will only be told when I finish cooking up the report. In the meantime, however, nothing completes a post of Nepal better than photographs of the ubiquitous mountains themselves.
