Nepal
Kathmandu
[Nepal] I had a letter of introduction to a number of senior diplomats at our embassy in Kathmandu. The Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) is the number two person, and is a career diplomat (Vs. the Ambassador who is a political appointee of the current administration). One of my favorite interactions was with the Kathmandu […]
Kathmandu
[Nepal] I’m interested in the generalizations people make about each other, which in the worst cases becomes a kind of profiling or stereotyping. As I traveled around Kathmandu practicing my Nepali with shop owners, I heard continual stories of bad interactions with “Israeli” travelers. I learned that many, many shops have two bottom prices: the […]
On the way home
[Nepal] I would walk four miles every morning through the heart of Kathmandu from the Gauchan’s house to my lessons at Raj’s. I loved every second of this walk. While my nostalgia for many of the experiences and people of my earlier life has lessened, sauntering the streets of Kathmandu brings back incredible memories. Adventure […]
Raj & Champa in Kathmandu
[Nepal] I arranged to spend three months in Kathmandu studying Nepali. Raj Shresha was my language teacher and I’ve stayed in touch with Raj and his family for years. In 1994 I brought him to Seattle for six months and arranged for him to stay rent free at my old friend Betty Jane Narver’s. I […]
The Gauchans
[Nepal] I did a “home stay” at the Gauchan family. Once a year, there was the “tika” ceremony, in which daughters and wives bless sons and husbands. They had a big family gathering. I went with Manish, the son, to buy the goat. I helped the father and son do the entire butchering process, including […]
Inside Krishna Khadka’s house near Pokhara
[Nepal] There is this store in the University Village, Seattle, called Caldwell’s, and it is filled with the most exquisite array of very expensive gift objects, clocks, frames, scarves, rugs, imported art – all seemingly of such subtle and refined craftsmanship. Whenever I walk by, affluent and beautiful looking people are coming in and out. […]
The city of Pokhara
[Nepal] In the Cascades, the typical view of a mountain has one looking up between 3,000 and 5,000 feet. I remember my excitement years ago looking up from Jenny Lake at the Tetons. 7,000 feet from valley floor to the top of Mount Owen. Fantastic. It’s 19 nautical miles between Pokhara – which sits at […]
Hiking towards 17,500 foot Throng La
[Nepal] Two hours after this picture was taken I was in bad shape. I went too quickly from 12 to 15,000 feet and hit real altitude sickness. I had a night of delirium, nausea, and migraine. People were worried, but by morning I was improving. Otherwise I would have joined the ranks of “tourists carried […]
Between Pisang and Manang
[Nepal] One of the most spectacular days of hiking in my entire life was from Pisang to Manang. Sauntering along the valley floor in the sun looking straight up at 12,000 feet of rock and snow towering above. As I walked along, I found myself in conversation with a young man who was headed back […]
Near Muktinath
[Nepal] That original 1987 trek was arranged by “Journeys” – a Michigan outfitter. There were some great people on that trip, and over these last years we’ve kept in touch, including several reunions involving people flying in from all over the country.
Lower Marisandi river
[Nepal] Sometime in the early 1980’s, a friend showed me his slides of Nepal. I was mesmerized. Over the next few years, I kept thinking about Nepal, and in 1987 I went with my girlfriend Juli (she later became my wife) on a trek around Annapurna. Twenty one amazing days had me deciding to devote […]