On a happy family outing to the Jama Masjid mosque (Old Delhi)
Old Delhi (as seen from the Jama Masjid mosque)
Goat heads and feet fermenting over a low fire (Old Delhi)
I'll have me a chick or two to sit upon! (Old Delhi)
The many roads to.. SUCCESS!!! (Delhi)
To Achieve Your Dreams... Remember the Rules of living (Delhi)
Om Shanti, shanti.. Some mantras are easier said than done (Delhi)
Some hours into Nepal, the Terai people had another heart warming welcome in store :) (Favourite team:Germinal ;=)
Just outside the Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu
Some (sadhus) might say... We're in it for the money! (Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu)
Being watched over by Shiva and consorts (Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu)
Shops outside the temple selling prasad (food/flower offerings) paraphernalia (Pashupatinath, Kathmandu)
(Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu)
A happily non-aggressive flock o' monkey (Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu)
And don't you doubt it! (Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu)
Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu
Every single stream in Nepal has some lil' kids skinny dipping in it (Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu)
Zoom in to read read the wonderful philosophic quotes (Kathmandu)
More inspired philosophy and pedagogy (Kathmandu)
Look out for the fashion police! (Bodnath Stupa, Kathmandu)
Bodnath Stupa, Kathmandu
A Wheel of Life painting at one of the many small monasteries (Bodnath, Kathmandu)
Bodnath, Kathmandu
With my peronal mantra provider (Bodnath, Kathmandu)
Tibetan homies (Bodnath, Kathmandu)
Bhaktapur - Durbar Sq
- You pay now? - R-r-right... OK! (Bhaktapur)
The future of Maoist Nepal! :) (Bhaktapur)
Yes, the pagoda was invented by a Nepali architect, alright! (Bhaktapur)
Bhaktapur's shops, slanting roofs 'n' buildings
Smile! (Bhaktapur)
Endearing lil market (Bhaktapur)
Turn my spout snout - waterbasin (Bhaktapur)
Drying rice behind the Dattatreya Square (Bhaktapur)
No parking in front of the Dattatreya temple (Bhaktapur)
School's out! (Bhaktapur)
Hallooooooooooooo!!! (Bhaktapur)
Kids flying kites (Bhaktapur)
Changu Narayan Temple
En route to Nagarkot
Tibetan monastry near Dhulikhel
Shiva, a smoking god (Gurkha)
Funky business disguised as crafty woordwork (Gurkha)
From up there sure looks like paradise, dunnit? (Gurkha)
Educating the hard of learning (Bandipur)
Kids playing with the Himalayas in the background (Bandipur)
Bit wobbly (more) traditional house (Pokhara)
That morning i could not stop cursing, till the sun came up... In the back the following Annapurna peaks: Nilgiri, Dhaulagiri, Hiunchuli and Machhapuchre (the Fish Tail) (Poon Hill, Ghorepani)
Somewhere between Deorali and Banthanthi...
...these purple flowers sure were in bloom
Tihar celebrations in Tadapani - Tihar, the festival of lights is one of the most dazzling of all Hindu festivals. In this festival we worship Goddess Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth. During the festival all the houses in the city and villages are decorated with lit oil lamps. Thus during the night the entire village or city looks like a sparkling diamond. This festival is celebrated in five days starting from the thirteenth day of the waning moon in October. We also refer to tihar as 'Panchak Yama' which literally means 'the five days of the underworld lord'. We also worship 'yamaraj' in different forms in these five days. In other words this festival is meant for life and prosperity. Goddess Laxmi is the wife of almighty Lord Vishnu. She was formed from the ocean and she has all the wealth of the seas. She sits on a full-grown lotus and her steed is the owl. On the third day of the festival at the stroke of midnight she makes a world tour on her owl looking how she is worshipped.
Tihar celebrations in Tadapani - There is a story, which tells why this revelry is celebrated so widely. Once there was a king who was living his last days of life. His astrologer had told him that a serpent would come and take his life away. The king did not want to die so he has asked the astrologer if there was any way to escape death. The king was advised to sleep with lit oil lamps all around his bed and decorate the palace with oil lamps on laxmi puja day. So goddess laxmi would talk to the serpent not to take his life. It did happen, the serpent was convinced by goddess laxmi. The serpent took the king to Yama Raj and told him that it was not yet the king's time to come to the underworld. So Yama Raj opened his ledger and in it the kings remaining age was written zero, but the serpent cleverly put seven before zero. Thus the king lived for seventy more years. So onwards tihar is widely celebrated worshipping the underworld and goddess laxmi.
Tihar prasad chain near Chomrong
Tihar crazed kids in Ghandruk
Rice fields near Naya Pul
Kids having another go on their Dashian/Tihar swing
Some Swiss chick in a boat on a lake (Phewa;=) in Pokhara
'How i managed to survive my first day in Delhi, India' mugshot
And providers of sim cards..
When in Nepal.. Make sure you sit up straight and pay attention to the big smug talking condom, won'tcha?
Man washes elephant (Chitwan National Park)
Know any other Maoist states where Britney rules the nation? (Chitwan)
Spot the spotted deer! (Chitwan National Park)
Unpredictable grumpy lil' elephant, made me laugh quite a bit (Chitwan National Park)
Quite near the exact birthplace of Buddha (Lumbini, Kapilavastu district)
Bodhi tree symbolizing the one Buddha's mum, Queen Mayadevi, is said to have held unto giving birth to lil' Siddhartha Gautama (Lumbini)
Buddha's out of office (Lumbini)
