Kathmandu in Retrospect

I can now say that I have visited the famous, inaccessible, Shangri-La.  During my time in Kathmandu I shot with a Fuji S3 Pro. Several of these captures are with a 70-300mm lens.

Just getting a taste of Nepal, makes it that much tougher to leave. I plan on getting back someday and completing the trek to Mt. Everest base camp. The scenery in the Himalayas is unbelievable.

Kathmandu was larger than I expected.  Run down buildings stretch as far as the eye can see. Streets are narrow, and a mix of dirt, brick, and pavement. Traffic at certain times will be slow, as pedestrians, animals, scooters, and cars try to push through tight one way channels.

A few years ago the U.S. State Department discouraged any travel to Kathmandu, due to military conflict between Maoist rebels and the government. Today, it is relatively safe.

One thing that you will notice right away…are the mandatory power outages. Typically, the power is shut off during peak usage times for four hours. If your place of lodging is lucky enough to have warm water, it will not be warm when the power is out. The time varies each day but I observed it was common to go out between 5-9PM.

A variety of temples dot the city. Each is unique in its own right and deserve a few photos for posterity. Before I forget, I should also point out the immense and all too common fog at the Kathmandu Airport. One morning, we were scheduled to fly down the Himalayan Range at 6AM. Our flight eventually left at noon. The next day, our flight to Delhi was also supposed to leave early.  It left closer to 11AM.

A final observation, the Kathmandu Airport had the most extreme security I have ever seen. Totals: 3 metal detectors, 2 full carry-on searches of every bag being brought on the plane, 2 full pat downs, and 2 passport questioning stations.