Women in the Window Four women laugh together as they watch our passing along the road below.
The smiles from the windows and doorways along the trekking trail between Panauti and Namo Buddha in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley, are as warm as the bright sun overhead.
I was walking with a friend and local guide Angfula Sherpa (our porter had long since left us behind!) towards the sacred pilgrimage site of Namo Buddha, where we were to stay overnight at the Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery.
We had spent the morning – after driving from Lazimpat – sampling food and chatting to people (see: Dirt Music and Sunshine). We weren’t moving very fast: every step was a visual feast, so we were stopping and taking copious pictures – and pretending that these stops were not an excuse to rest our ageing lungs and aching joints!
Contrasts of light and dark shimmered all around us, as the sun angled into the narrow lanes of the tiny hamlets and bounced off the brickwork, highlighting the resilience of the people and the rough edges of the damage from the 2015 earthquake.
Join me as we slowly make our way up the hills out of the Kathmandu Valley:
Corn Drying and Cracks in the Mortar Following the devastating earthquake in 2015, life goes on: corn for seed and animal feed is stacked in windows and attic spaces to dry in preparation for the long winter. Everywhere we walk, we see reminders of buildings that have come down completely, and neighbouring buildings that have suffered very little.
Cat on a Stoop
Light and Shade A “shopkeeper” sets up his goods in a shady corner on a dusty street.
Doing Laundry In another corner, a woman does her laundry.
A Man and his Dog
Shrine in the Fields The textured, terraced fields are punctuated with small shrines.
Minding the Baby Everywhere, the windows and door-frames are graced by locals.
Yoga Master in the Window As we walk down the narrow dusty street, a man leans out of a window overhead; a sign on the shaded building advertises yoga. Much as we’d have loved to have joined him, we still had a long way to walk before our final stop for the day.
Women in the Road Two women stand chatting in a patch of light at the end of the village.
Newari Woman One of them pauses to have her picture taken in the bright sunlight before she heads back up to her home – high on the hill above the village we have just passed through.
Dusty Tracks As we head out of the little hamlet, the road once again reduces to a dusty track …
Mustard Fields … rising through the terraces of blooming mustard plants. Farmers here alternate their crops of potato, mustard, and seasonal vegetables to use their limited agricultural land to the absolute maximum.
Minding the Grandchild At the top of one rise, we come across an elderly man looking after his grandchild.
Dusty Street Less than twenty minutes later, we are entering another row of homes …
Corn Drying … with more corn hung out to dry.
Making Momos A little further along the way, we came across a “restaurant”: a dark hut with rickety benches outside. Inside – in the gloom – a husband and wife team were making over-sized momos, or Nepali-Tibetan-style dumplings.
Dumpling Maker The man engages in an earnest conversation with our guide.
Pots I absolutely love momos! So naturally, we had to wait for a fresh batch to be steamed, …
Steaming Dumplings … dished up, …
The Momos are Ready! … and served with a rich, spicy sauce. Just delicious! Fortified, we continue on our way.
Woman in a Window
Laundry
Houses on the Hillside The terraced hills rise around us …
Flags on the Hill … as we climb up to our first collection of Buddhist prayer flags.
Signs of Spring
A Heavy Load I marvel as I watch petite women with overwhelming loads walk up the steep hill, …
Heavy Loads … overtaking us easily.
Rhododendron We are thrilled to see Nepal’s national flower: Lali Gurans, or Red Rhododendron, blooming in the tall forest over our heads.
Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery Finally! We get our first sighting of the monastery – which we will explore more fully in the morning.
View from my Room This evening, I will bed down on a simple bed with this marvellous view back down the hillside. What a treat!
After finding our simple rooms in the Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery Guesthouse, and taking quick, well-earned showers, we joined the monks and novices in evening prayers, and ate a simple meal of dahl and sticky buns.
It was a perfect ending to my first glorious day of walking in the clean, Nepali mountain air.
Rocking the Blues in the Fresh Air This is the music of my youth: it would be at home in a dark, smoky bar. But we are all older and wiser now, and can enjoy our festival sounds in the crisp fresh air of Thredbo, in Australia’s Snowy Mountains. The Sydney-based Finn Blues Band centres around drummer, singer, and song-writer Jim Finn, and has been performing internationally since 1999. Looking at the members, I have a feeling they had ‘other lives’ before becoming rocking-blues stars!
“Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
~Berthold Auerbach
I count my many blessings daily –
But, some days are still harder than others.
I always experience post-holiday (Christmas-New Year-Birthday) blues: a greater-than-usual melancholy that is at least in part the consequence of too much food and alcohol and too many late nights.
This was more the case than ever this year. My husband and I had a wonderful – but exhausting – holiday season hosting children and grand-children, and then, before they had all even left to return to their respective homes, he went into hospital for a major operation, and stayed for ten days. The hospital was quite a distance, so I “lived” in a hotel room for the duration. We finally returned, injured and enervated, in mid-January to our home and our Christmas decorations, which were looking forlorn and out of place in the record-breaking heat-wave that was washing over Australia.
Under the circumstances, we very nearly forfeited our pre-paid Thredbo Bluesfest tickets.
I’m so glad we didn’t!
We might have both been exhausted, but after a mere three days on the coast, we packed a bag, crawled back into the car, and drove into the mountains. There, thanks to a weekend of good food and great music, we started smiling again.
Roshani Thredbo Bluesfest utilises many of the restaurants and bars in the tiny village as venues. This presents unique challenges for the the performers – and the audience – as the venues are not all particularly well-configured for sound. Lighting is also extremely challenging – with over-lit walls and under-lit performers. Sri Lankan-born Australian-raised singer-musician-songwriter Roshanimet the challenge, and kept us well entertained over dinner.
Steel Guitar
Guitarist Tim
Roshani and Tim Partners in music – and in life – Roshani and Tim check sound levels before moving on to the next song.
Roshani Billed as “a harmonica wielding songstress”, Roshani grew up immersed in music.
Roshani’s Smile The multi-talented Roshani was an X-Factor participant and a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition. She also has a killer smile.
Lachy Doley We didn’t stay for all the late-night bands, but we did manage to enjoy Hammond Organ and Whammy Clavinet maestro, Lachlan Doley, as he put his modified Hohner Clavinet through its paces.
Lachy Doley Dubbed the Jimi Hendrix of the Hammond Organ, Lachy has released his own albums and played with some of the country’s greats.
Mary Jane Guiney We started our next day with fresh air, sunshine, and Irish-born, Sydney-based, New Orleans-rooted singer-songwriter Mary Jane Guiney.
Rory Ellis with Andrew Toner We rode to the top of the Kosciuszko Express Chairlift to have lunch at Eagle’s Nest Restaurant where one of our favourites, Rory Ellis, was performing. We enjoyed him at Thredbo Bluesfest several years ago (see: Cool Blues, Hot Jazz) and were thrilled when we heard he was back – and especially excited when he replayed one of my favourites: The Woodstore. It is so melancholy in live performance: I cry every time! The recording is less poignant, so I’ve uploaded a title track instead: Twisted Willow.
(Double click for: Twisted Willow by Rory Ellis)
Andrew Toner Guitarist Andrew Toner has great skills – frontwards and backwards.
Jim Finn This is the blues-rock I grew up on! Even Jim’s original tracks felt like old friends.
Michael Vdelli More of the music of my youth: VdelliROCKED!
Sound Mixing Of course, the performers don’t do it alone.
Michael Vdelli – Guitar
Michael Vdelli – Voice
Hussy Hicks Killer combo! We saw Hussy Hicks at Byron Bluesfest in 2016 (Back to the Roots) – not once, but twice! They were as good as I remembered.
Tracy Bassy It’s the quiet achievers in the background that let the stars shine.
Mike Elrington We shared our dinner with Mike Elrington; …
Mike Elrington … he was fantastic – …
Abstract (Mike Elrington) … – but the acoustics weren’t! Between the people talking behind me and the bounce off the walls, I had to go outside, where both the view and the temperature were cooler.
Mike Elrington Mike is a wild man on the guitar – …
Mike Elrington from the Outside … and on the tables!
Miss Whiskey Sunday morning saw us back at House of Ullr, on the lawn, with Miss Whiskey, a Melbourne duo …
Miss Whiskey … who represented the city in 2016 in Memphis, Tennessee at the International Blues Challenge.
Tats and Hats
Marji Curran Band
Sound Mixing for Blues Preachers
Dancing Feet
“Did I Hear you Say you Love Me?” Back poolside, we found the keyboard and vocal stylings of the Soul Roots Revival Band.
Kerrie Sweeney with Jim Finn We finished as we started: with the Finn Blues Band, this time with vocalist Kerrie Sweeney helping them out, and rounding out our long weekend.
It was a lovely time out, a temporary refuge from everyday realities.
“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”
“Zebra Crossing” Sorry! I couldn’t avoid the obvious pun. 😉
There is an irony in being able to see animals better in the wild than you can at a zoo.
My husband and I had grandchildren visiting over the Christmas break, so we took the opportunity to spend a day at Sydney’s beautiful Taronga Zoo. Now, I love this particular zoo (see: A Tale of Two Tarongas): you get plenty of exercise walking up and down its hilly terrain and the views over Sydney Harbour are magnificent. But, the animals can be a bit shy. As we walked around, trying to spot the zebras and lions, I couldn’t help but remember the wonderful days I spent in Etosha National Park in Namibia (see: Birds and Beasts; At the Waterhole; and Elephant Waltz).
Wildlife watching in Etosha is almost cheating, the animals are so prolific. From the minute we rode out in our pop-top trucks, we would catch sight of beasts on the veld, or around the various waterholes, or in the scrub, or even crossing the roads in front of us. We camped on the eastern side of this huge national park, near the King Nehale Waterhole, and all manner of animals literally came to us. I found it all so exciting I could hardly sleep at night – well, excitement, plus the yelping of jackals in the tent next door, as they fought over jerky some unwise person had left behind, and the vibrating roar of the male lions in the distance …
As yet I’d only heard those lions, but as we drove out of camp before the sun was up on our third day in the park, the guides were buzzing: Lions had been seen!
They – and all the other animals Etosha has to offer – were magnificent!
View from the Truck Mornings are early on photo tours: it was six thirty, and we were already in the truck looking for game.
“Ostrich Crossing” It is not long before a wild animal crosses our path – quite literally!
Lion Hiding Lions don’t seem so well disguised in a zoo, even when they manage to hide. But, in Namibia, the morning sun bounces off the young male’s mane in exactly the same way as it bounces off the leaves on the almost-bare trees.
Three Young Male Lions Lions are the most social of the wild cats. Male lions are expelled from their maternal pride around age two or three, when they reach maturity. These three are probably siblings or cousins who have grouped together for companionship and to improve their ability to hunt.
Young Male Lion The lion’s mane starts growing when he is about one year old, and darkens with age. This male looks to be the eldest of the trio, and wears battle scars on his back.
The Male Gaze As I aim my camera from the open roof of our jeep, I feel like one of the males is making direct eye contact: it is a breathtaking moment.
Sun in the Lion’s Mane In mythology, lions are associated with the sun: because of their strength, their golden-brown colour, and the male’s ray-like mane.
Lion on the Road These magnificent creatures are kings of the park! They stride across the road knowing full well that they are at no risk.
Red Hartebeest at a Waterhole The morning sun casts these African antelopes in the same shades as the scrub behind them.
Male Kudu The striped pelts of the kudu help keep them camouflaged in the scrub, but with their long, magnificent twisting horns, the solitary males stand out at the waterhole.
Waterhole Tableau
Black-Faced Impala – Aepyceros Melampus Petersi
Lines and Curves I grew up thinking zebras were black and white, but the Burchell’s zebras, which are the most numerous in Namibia, feature brown shading between their black stripes. The stripping makes them less visible to predators, especially in the half-light of dawn and twilight, and protects them from tsetse flies, which apparently don’t like contrasting colours.
Here’s Looking at You! Zebras might be one of the most common animals in Africa, but they are also one of my favourites. With their strong, stocky equine bodies, zebras are compact beasts. Did you spot the male kudu in the scrub behind them?
Zebra Portrait I love their punky manes and quizzical expressions. Despite their obvious appeal, zebras have resisted domestication – unlike their closest relatives, horses and donkeys.
Kudu Crossing A group of kudus stop us in our tracks; young ones first, a large male in the middle, and the smaller adult female bringing up the rear.
“Look Both Ways!”
Zebra on the Verge
Warthogs The common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) is hardly the best-looking of creatures, but at least we can say we have seen them! They’ve seen us too, and run away with their tails in the air.
Springboks Later in the morning, at another waterhole, we find another of my favourites: dainty springboks (Antidorcas marsupialis).
Elephants A group of elephants bathes and splashes in a nearby pond. I could watch these beautiful creatures forever!
Elephants In the heat of the late morning, we watch as a mother and calf slosh away through the mud …
Elephants Wallowing … and others stay behind to wade, splash and play in the water.
An “Implausibility of Gnus” Wildebeests (Connochaetes) are, as James Lipton suggested when he coined the phrase an “implausibility of gnus” in 1968, truly implausible beasts! I can’t look at their big shaggy heads and skinny legs without smiling – and humming the chorus of Flanders and Swann’s comical song, “I’m a g-gnu, spelled g-n-u. You really ought to k-know w-who’s w-who!”
“Confusion of Wildebeests” Of course, a “confusion” is just as apt a collective – even when it is not migration season!
Giraffe As we leave the waterhole in search of our own lunch, a giraffe watches us go.
I hardly needed food: I was so full of the morning’s experience: so many different animals – in plain sight, in spite of their attempts at camouflage!
But, we were going back in search of lions after lunch – so I ate. 😉 And out we went …
Striking a Pose among the Potatoes It’s hard work getting food to the market and the table; song, plenty of chatter, and posing for the “tourists” help lighten the load.
Every cell in my body was alive and smiling!
I had sun on my head and dirt under my feet. With my arms swinging and my feet walking, I was finally on the move, and every step was a joy. I love walking – that is, until my knees lock up and my hips inflame, whereupon every step becomes agony …
It was the start of “day one” on a short, “easy” trek in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley, and I couldn’t have been happier to be out and about.
I love Nepal, and when photographer Gavin Gough announced he was running a workshop out of Kathmandu, I jumped at the chance to return to the country. I was so excited that I organised to arrive four days early and go on a warm-up trek with local guide Angfula Sherpa and another photo-tour participant that I knew.
Although it is true that getting there – and getting started – is half the fun, once we were out of the city and out of our vehicle, I was in my element. I had my pack on my back, my cameras on my hips and a smile on my face. Our first day’s walk was from Panauti, a small town southeast of Kathmandu, to the Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery in the tiny village of Namo Buddha. According to Google Maps, it is only 10 kilometres: a walk of about two and a half hours; it took us much longer, as we stopped to photograph every corner, chat to every villager, and sample all the foods along the way!
Join me in the dirt and sunshine of the Eastern Rim of the Kathmandu Valley.
Wing over the Valley Our proposed “easy trek” is somewhere below me; flying over the valleys and mountains of Nepal gave me a reminder of how rugged the terrain is.
Over Kathmandu The smog of Kathmandu is as I remember it, and the city boundaries stretch forever. I’m glad I have pre-booked a recommended accommodation down there somewhere!
Sunrise in Lazimpat I’m up bright and early to try to do some pre-trek stretching on the rooftop of Lazimpat House, and to watch the sun rise over the crowded city.
Panauti Fruit Stand Our guide, Angfula Sherpa, collected us early. We stopped in Panauti to pick up fresh fruit …
Panauti Fruit Seller … from a street-side fruit seller.
Panauti Temple Our car let us off at the head of our track, near the isthmus between the Roshi and Pungamati rivers. To our right, and across the river: one of Panauti’s many Hindu temples; …
Panauti Stupa … to our left, on our side of the river: one of the many Buddhist stupas that coexist beside the Hindu places of worship in Nepal.
Potato Fields Soon enough, the vestiges of “town” are left behind, and we are among acres of new potatoes growing in raised beds.
Women on the Road We are not alone on the dusty road, as Newari people – the long-time residents of this valley – go about their daily lives.
Doing Dishes
Woman in the Potato Fields
Father and Child Parents and grandparents along the way are happy to show off their babies. All across the region, young children wear kohl around their eyes to protect against infections and evil spirits.
Houses on the Road People are slowly rebuilding their lives following the earthquake in April 2015: houses are still coming down and going up. The damage we walk past is both random and heartbreaking.
The Green House and the Shrine And then, amid the ruins and the simple brick homes, we find this!
Three Generations on the Roof This elaborate building probably houses a large extended family – as illustrated by the three generations who come out onto the upper balcony …
Mother and Baby … to watch us pass by.
Making Samosas It may still be late morning, but when we spotted a man making samosas filled with fresh minced peanuts and spices, …
The Shopkeeper … (while his smiling wife looked after the rest of the shop) …
Filling Samosas … we had to stop and wait for them to cook so we could sample a few. They were absolutely delicious!
Sun-Baked Brick Pile Meanwhile, next door …
Bricks … and across the road, …
Forming Bricks … clay bricks are being made, laid out for sun-drying, and stacked in piles.
The Gardener The sun rises towards its zenith, and we continue walking, with our bellies full of savoury samosas. The local women tend their gardens …
Working the Potatoes … and hoe the potato furrows, …
Woman in the Potatoes … pausing their work and song to greet us with curiosity.
Potatoes The flooded potato furrows – like our walk – stretch out to the foothills in the distance.
The sun was getting higher and the March spring air was humming with fresh smells and warmth. We still had a long way to go before lunch time – let alone before our stop for the night. But, so far, every step was a pleasure, and I was enjoying the moment.
[…] Jack Kurtz. I had already observed the after-effects of the quake in the Kathmandu Valley (e.g: Dirt Music; Light and Dark; A Thousand Steps; Dhulikel to Nagarkot; On the Track) and in Kathmandu itself […]ReplyCancel
Planting Rice It’s back-breaking work, planting rice, but Balinese farmers still have a smile for visitors.
Rice is absolutely central to Balinese society.
In Bahasa Indonesia, the lingua franca in Bali,nasi, the word for rice, also means “meal”. But in Bali, rice is so much more than that: the whole process of growing and harvesting rice is at the very core of the island’s religion and culture.
Rice cultivation in Bali happens in a continuous cycle, with neighbouring fields often at different stages of maturity. Balinese farmers always plant new fields before harvesting all the ripened ones (see: A Ride through the Rice Fields). The Balinese are the most prolific rice growers in the Indonesian archipelago; this, and their community-based egalitarian farming practices and equal distribution of resources, has allowed them to spend time in artistic and cultural pursuits.
Any time of day or year, you will find rice in the fields, and people tending it.
My husband and I were walking on a main road towards Ubud on a January afternoon when a Balinese man approached us and offered to take us for a walk through the rice terraces. This is the sort of thing that happens in Bali: strangers will offer to take tourists places, and it is usually ok …
Impossibly Green: New Rice Around the hills of Ubud, houses and boutique hotels border the rice terraces.
Green and Yellow : Starting to Ripen Every rice paddy is at a different stage of growth.
A Giant Wood Spider (Nephila Maculata/Nephila Pilipes) Nephilacomes from the Ancient Greek for “fond of spinning”: a tribute to the the lovely, delicate webs that golden silk orb-weavers make.
Working the Fields Rice planting, transplanting, and harvesting is time-consuming work. Men do the planting and transplanting, while women do the harvesting.
I Nyomen We know that our impromptu guide – Nyomen – was a third-born child. By Balinese convention, children are given one of four main names according to their birth order. The “I” in front of his name indicates male gender (females often have “Ni” as a prefix) When they are older, children get a personal name, but these names are not so commonly used.
Flooded Sawah Rice fields – or sawah – are flooded at regular intervals to soften the ground for planting and to nurture the new growth. The controlled flooding uses water diverted from streams and man-made water channels.
Ducks in the Rice Field After the harvest, ducks are allowed into the sawah. They clear the fallow fields of eels, bugs, left-over grains of rice, and emerging weeds.
Working the Rice Fields
Ducks in the Rice Terraces As well as cleaning the fallow paddies, ducks fertilise them as they are herded through.
Rice Terraces
Break Time Rice is seeded in small fenced off areas, where it stays until the seedlings sprout and grow.
Reflections in the Rice Fields
Transplanting Rice When rice seedlings are big enough, they are transplanted by hand into a flooded rice paddy. This happens with remarkable speed and precision, resulting in neatly spaced rows.
Shrine in the Rice Shrines to Sri, the Rice Goddess, are dotted around the rice paddies.
Ripening Rice
Green Rice
From the Water Up
Ducks in the Rice Although the demands of tourism have resulted in new development, including guest houses amid the sawah, the fields around Ubud still feature a lot of traditional farm buildings.
Butterfly
Ducklings As we picked our way carefully between the paddies, I could hear the most incredible noise. Some kind of old farm machinery? I asked Nyoman. He laughed, and took us up a small rise to a shed, where the up-and-coming crop of ducks were quacking a right racket!
Rice Paddies Grassy hillocks separate the different layers of rice fields. They make for slippery walking!
Sheds in the Rice Paddies Even though houses sit on the edges of the rice fields, shelters or sheds are shattered around.
Little Spice Finch – Lonchura Punctulata Commonly known as nutmeg finch, scaly-breasted munia, or spotted munia, tiny little finch hop all over the ripening rice.
Giant Wood Spider (Nephila Maculata/Nephila Pilipes) A healthy environment is host to a range of species; wood spiders are non-aggressive members of the golden orb-web spider genus.
After a long walk through the peaceful greens, we came back out onto a bustling main street near Ubud, just as our new friend I Nyomen had promised.
The Indonesian government has tried to further increase rice production: by introducing new varieties, by deregulating the subak irrigation system and ignoring the rest periods and irrigation schedules, and by promoting artificial pesticides and fertilisers.
Unfortunately, these more aggressive agricultural practices – and the demand for land for tourism – have put a unique system, one that has prospered for over a thousand years, under threat. I can’t help but wonder how much longer those fields, in their countless shades of green, will last.
I only hope the Balinese can protect their beautiful terraces and sustainable farming practices – for the benefit of all of us!
- Performing the Ganga Aarti from Dasaswamedh Ghat, Varanasi
- Buddha Head from Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar
- Harry Clarke Window from Dingle, Ireland
- Novice Monk Shwe Yan Pyay Monastery, Myanmar
Packets of 10 for $AU50.
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It was a perfect ending to my first glorious day of walking in the clean, Nepali mountain air. 
