Foto Friday: Coming back to Kathmandu, November 2007 4 November 2011 9:40 am
Posted by Tracy in : environment,Kathmandu,nepal,photos,pictures,random,travel , add a commentI wanted to do this as a Wordless Wednesday, but I just couldn’t bring myself to throw down a bunch of Nepal pictures out of nowhere when my last real travelogue-y post about that trip was more than three years ago, which in turn was more than a year after the trip, which was (holy cats, more than four years ago). Anyway, the short summary of that trip, which does not do it justice but might provide much-needed context, is that October and early November 2007 I joined my parents, my brother Piett, my aunt Beth, my cousin Mike, and his (step?) sister Jessie on a two-and-a-half-week trek in the foothills of the Himalayas. We spent a few days in Kathmandu before and after the trek, where we saw some amazing sights. Finally, my parents, Piett, and I made a quick stop in Bangkok on the way back to our respective homes. (To read more, there’s all my posts tagged “Nepal” in reverse chronological order, or you could flash all the way back to my very first “so, I’m going on an epic adventure” confession post and work around from there.)
ANYWAY. In my last Nepal travelogue post I left off at the end of our trek, with our flight out of Lukla airport back to Kathmandu, which I’d like to point out was a tough act to follow (seriously, search YouTube for “Lukla airport” in case you’ve somehow managed to forget). But this is NaBloPoMo, people, and this year’s theme is blogging for the sake of blogging, and so I’m going to be absolutely shameless about using this as an excuse to dig way deep in my archives of blog fodder. So. Back to Kathmandu. For just a little more context, here is a link to what I blogged about that return four years ago (complete with yet another reference to the Lukla airport YouTube videos because seriously, they are amazing) but for the rest, on with the pictures.
I don’t really trust the dates on my photo files after many timezone shifts and uploadings, so I’m not sure how long we’d been flying in the little puddle-jumper when I noticed something interesting about the landscape below:
Restaurant review (and flashback): Hotel Utse, Kathmandu 13 October 2009 10:33 am
Posted by Tracy in : Kathmandu,nepal,pictures,restaurants,reviews,school,travel,writing , 1 comment so farHey party people, remember how I was in Nepal two years ago? Yeah, me too. Today I’m rocking a bit of a head cold, so I’m posting another reworking from last year’s food writing class, this piece was written for the travel writing assignment. Professor Sax was particularly entertained by the lede, and I’m still pretty proud of it myself. I’ve updated this version to correct some typos, and incorporate a few of her suggestions, as well as links and pictures.
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If you eat only one meal in Kathmandu, make reservations for dinner at Krishnarpan, the restaurant at Dwarika’s Hotel, rightly recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its celebration of Nepalese art, architecture, and culture, including food. But if you have more opportunities to eat in the capital of Nepal — and I hope you do — try the restaurant at the Hotel Utse, on the outskirts of the Thamel tourist district.
Hustling-bustling Thamel. (more…)
Adventures in drinking: Tracy versus Tongba 13 November 2008 12:49 pm
Posted by Tracy in : books,friends,Kathmandu,Morning Glory,nepal,pictures,travel , add a commentWhen my friend Matthew heard that I was going to Nepal, he told me, “You’ve got to try millet beer.” During our trek, we were strongly advised to drink only what our kitchen crew had boiled for us, or bottled beverages — nothing locally brewed, no matter how fresh. But once we got back to Kathmandu…
Final score: Tracy 1, Tongba many. Here’s what I wrote in my journal entry on 2 November 2007, in Kathmandu, illustrated with photos by me and my brother Piett. (more…)
Nepal picture mania, part 2 4 December 2007 6:40 am
Posted by Tracy in : agriculture,eating,Kathmandu,nepal,pictures,travel , 1 comment so farSo last time I got a little distracted by the deliciousness of momos thanks to a random fast food place in Kathmandu, but today’s pictures are pretty straight-up travelogue. First, a few notes about flying in Nepal: it’s all about patience. A few days of uncooperative weather can wreak serious havoc, and we were pretty lucky in that regard — only a few hours worth of flights had been cancelled and rescheduled to October 14. Still, this was enough to overload pretty much the entire domestic terminal at Kathmandu airport: ticket counters, security, and above all the seating area where we waited our turn to check in. Behold the awesomeness of Kathmandu airport security theater:
Another picture post, this time with flashback to Nepal! 28 November 2007 10:17 am
Posted by Tracy in : garden,Kathmandu,nepal,pictures,tea,travel , add a commentI keep having these weird moments when I realize where I was one month ago — today it’s Mani Rimdu in Tengboche, for which my automagical post predicted. “Picture me taking notes furiously, till my hand cramps up with the effort” and was exactly right on. The masked dances alone take up pages 14-22 of the second paper journal I ended up filling on the trip (eventually I had to start a third) and then there’s three or four more pages of other writing for that day. It was a doozy.
So this morning as I bravely sipped my first cup of the milk tea I bought in Kathmandu (so strong it actually demands milk and even sugar), remembering Tengboche got me motivated to wrangle a few more Nepal trip photos, this time from the morning before we left on our trek, October 14. (more…)
