the faces of nepal

maybe one of the best parts of the entire nepal adventure were the people i met.... here are some of my favorite portraits from the trip...

this is "tulasa" who i came across on our first trek day from besi sahar. on one our of rest stops by her house, she saw me and motioned for me to sit on the bench right outside her door. i couldn't resist asking for a photo. she was speaking to me in nepali - and i thought she was trying to tell me not to take a photo. then our guide translates for me and said she wanted her photo taken and wanted a copy sent to her :)


this woman had a basketful of dried chili. when i asked about the chili, she smiled and said "chili for you, coursani for me" (the nepali word for chili)


we got to Dharapani village quite early so i had time to go around and take photos. i saw this woman sitting outside her house as we were trekking to our teahouse. i came back to "chat" with her and her granddaughter (i assumed). the little girl new a little english but she did not. she kept motioning though to take her photo :)


at Hotel the Seven (in Dharapani), i saw these two women (who worked at the inn's kitchen) on our way to breakfast. they were having their morning coffee :) they were a little shy about having their photo taken but gave out the best smiles :)


a pretty little girl at Baggarcchap


took a photo of a woman outside her house with a brightly colored clothesline outside. i went over to greet her, and realized that the basket in front of her was not full of laundry but had a baby basking in the sun :)


the kids along the way were so friendly. most of them would stop and greet you. this little girl tried to say "namaste!" as i walked by...


and here are her siblings...


Man Bahadun... our super porter!


the many, many, many kids we met along the way....






this kid jumped out from the side, and was jumping down the stairs before his older brother joined him...



the man from Pisang where we did our first shopping spree in the mountains....


the friendly owner of Hotel Maya at Pisang...


and her granddaughter (who i found sleeping in the sun right outside our room early in the morning)...


and these kids taught me some nepali words for chicken, dog, horse... while waiting for the bus at Tukuche....



:)

more on nepal

back to my nepal trip....

one of the first things that caught my eye was the brightly colored walls and doors, and the interesting window details on the houses along the annapurna trail.

they used really bright and unusual colors like lavender, red, aqua, orange that looked so interesting against the backdrop of the stone cliffs and snow-capped mountains. here is Bagarchhap village in the distance


our room at Bahundanda village with bright green doors and windows


on the way from Bahundanda to Chamje, we saw this house with orange walls with blue and green windows...


a bright blue wall...


a mutli-colored, multi-level building...


and a red and blue house.


Dawna (an American woman we met along the trek) looks picture perfect against the lavender and sea green walls at Temang Besi (I just had to steal a shot).


The stone houses at Manang village had "distressed" wooden windows.


i loved the grillwork...


and window details at Jomsom.


The interesting facade...


and detailed balcony instantly caught my eye at Tukuche.


And here's a closed storefront gate I passed by one early morning at Kathmandu.


i thought you might like these too :) and maybe find inspiration for your new messy bessy space :)

where to begin...

i just had the most amazing, once-in-a-lifetime, life-changing trip - i don't even know where to begin telling you about it....

they say being in the mountains is an enlightening experience. maybe it is seeing all those jaw-dropping, awesome views... it made me think wow! i am practically in the middle of nowhere, up in the himalayas, looking at something so amazing, that only a few people will ever see in their lifetime... i am humbled and soo grateful that i should be so lucky to get a chance to see it. or maybe its the walking itself, 14 days of it, that sometimes became very meditative - you hear your every step, your shoe hitting the dirt road, the wind whistling among the pine trees, the birds, the barley leaning into each other, the river constantly at your side - that clears your mind somehow.

here are a few of the amaaaazing things i've seen in my 14-day trek...























more on my nepal trip in my next post :)