Here are Kevin and Evan, senior class of 2009 from Hazen High School in Renton, WA. We went to Liberty Park in Renton for this session. These guys are natural and look good!

Here is Kevin:

And here is Evan:

Thanks guys for a fun photo shoot, and good luck with school and there after!

Kirtipur is a town on the outskirts of Kathmandu, roughly 5 km SW from downtown. Kirtipur has a very important place in the history of Kathmandu Valley. The town is believed to have been established between 11th and 12 century AD and later in the 15th century during the Malla period was settled widely and Kirtipur saw itself develop in areas of artistic and historic significance. When Prithivi Narayan Shah, in his quest to conquer and unify small kingdoms, reached Kathmandu Valley, Kirtipur was the first place he attacked. His army was repeatedly defeated until finally Kirtipur fell.

Now Kirtipur is a mix of the old and the new. There are old temples like the Uma Maheshwor and the Bag Bhairab Temples, that are hundred of years old, and then there are modern houses and even a few really beautiful looking Buddhist Monasteries. Walking through the old parts of Kirtipur is like taking a walk back in time. The variety of woodwork and the artistry manifested by them is like a lesson in history. The views of Kathmandu Valley from the Uma Maheshwor temple is simply amazing. On a clear day, the Himalayas can be seen above the city of Kathmandu glistening in the sunlight.

Kirtipur is not quite as popular of a destination as Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur are, however, its place in the history of Nepal and of Kathmandu Valley is just as important. On my next visit home, I intend to spend more time in Kirtpur than what I allocated this last visit. I hope you enjoy looking through these pictures. Click on any picture to launch the lightbox then you can browse through by simply using the mouse or the left right arrow keys.

 

This next series of pictures also comes from my visit to Kathmandu last October. This set was taken while my brother and I were out enjoying some delicious MoMos at a roof top restaurant in Kathmandu. The last three pictures are from Rani Pokhari. I am particularly happy about these pictures as I had been wanting to shoot this exact shot from this vantage point for years. As a happy coincidence, it was during the Chath Festival and the center temple and the walkway were decorated with lights as were the surrounding areas of the Pokhari or Pond. Click on any picture to launch the lightbox, then you can browse by simply using the left or right arrow keys.

 

Situated on a hill at about 7200 ft, about 30 km from Kathmandu toward the east edge of the valley, the “village” of Nagarkot has been one of the most popular destinations in Kathmandu valley. What started out as a small village decades ago now is home to some of the most spectacular hotels and resorts around Kathmandu. When you drive into Nagarkot proper, it still looks like years ago, however hidden among the trees in the hills are numerous hotels and resorts of every price range and appearance. I had been going to Nagarkot on motorcycles for day trips throughout the years. However, I had never stayed there over night. This past trip to Nepal, six of us set out for a night stop at Nagarkot. The six were my brother, his wife, myself and my wife and her two brothers. We had one car and one motorcycle. It felt great to ride the motorcycle after so many years, especially on the road that winds up to Nagarkot.

To get to Nagarkot, one drives out from Kathmandu, through some extremely busy intersections, then the old city of Thimi or Madhyapur, and then through the outskirts of Bhaktapur. The road then becomes sparse of traffic, and really starts winding and climbing up the green and lush mountains. There are numerous narrow pull outs, that are more suited for bikes than cars. You feel like stopping at every one of these, and you should, the view changes so rapidly that one really misses out if one does not stop often enough to take in the views, take pictures and just enjoy. Every few minutes the laborious roar of a bus can be heard fading in and out as it winds along the narrow serpentine road. Some of these buses are so full that there are people and animals on the roof.

As you go further up, the views become more spectacular until you finally cross over to the north side of the mountain, and the first glimpse of the snow capped Himalayas of Nepal greet you. It is a sight, I am sure that not even the locals get tired of. The higher the road gets, the taller the Himalayas become. Perched precariously at a junction, the village of Nagarkot is usually bustling with tourists, and locals catering to the tourists. Here the road forks, right leads to an amazing viewpoint and the left leads to a plethora of hotels.

We had an amazing time at Nagarkot. The next day we stopped at Bhaktapur for lunch and some sight seeing. I regreted not having enough time to spend in Bhaktapur. Here are the pictures from the trip. I hope you enjoy them and please drop me a line with your thoughts. Click on the comments link below the pictures thumbnails.

 

Well, this was the second visit to Patan during our 6 week visit to see our family in Oct 2008. This time as well, we took the bus from Naxal to Patan Dhoka, there is no substitute for a lazy afternoon bus ride on a Saturday. Not many people are out and about on Saturdays on buses, so most of they run on time and are fairly empty.

I have always been fascinated by the one liners or poems that are painted on the back and sides of buses and trucks in Nepal. I believe this is common in most parts of India as well. I managed to capture a couple of these. On my next trip to Nepal, I am going to make it a mission to seek out these snippets of these scribblings.

Some of the pictures in this gallery are of similar places as the first gallery. This day most of Patan was shut down, because it was one of the days of Tihar. We wanted to eat at this small place behind the Krishna Mandir. The two pictures second and third from the end in my first Patan gallery were taken from the roof of this one story restaurant. If anyone remembers the name of that restaurant let me know and I will update this writeup. I thought it was Piro Achaar or something like that. But since it was closed, we ended up find a small hole in the wall place with green curtains on the door. They had excellent satayed sukuti and chyaang. Both my favorite!

We ended the day at the Golden Temple where an acquaintance of my father treated us to the best home distilled alcohol I have ever tasted. After sipping one shot, I went back to shooting pictures while my family were hanging out with my father’s friend. I really regret not having made it to the thousand Buddha temple. Oh well, next time.

 

Mid afternoon. The sun is slowly creeping toward the horizon in the west. A few eagles start rising from the green valley below, riding on the mid afternoon thermals. Dogs bark in the distance, perhaps at each other or at the village cats. I can hear playful laughter of village children playing in the paddy terraces below us. Simple games, innocent laughter. Every now and then, I can hear the fatigued drone of a motorcycle winding up the narrow road that leads up from the Valley below. A gentle breeze is blowing. The rustling of the tall grass around us is punctuated occasionally by the ringing of the bell at the temple a couple of hundred feet above us and about a quarter kilometre away. We are sitting on a grassy patch on a small knoll next to the crude parking lot outside the village of Changu Narayan. Where the road from Kathmandu ends, and the quaint old village of Changu begins. This was 15 or 20 years ago. Could have been any one of the numerous visits that my father, brother and I took to Changu. That is how I remember Changu Narayan. A lot has changed since then.

Changu Narayan is located on the outskirts of Kathmandu city. My brother and I took a motorcycle ride to visit the temple, while on my last trip to Nepal during Dashain of last year. It is one of the oldest temples in the Kathmandu Valley. It is believed that Changu Narayan temple was built around the 3rd century. The stone slabs around the temple have been dated to be the oldest in the Kathmandu Valley. To get to Changu, you drive from Kathmandu, through a few villages and start climbing a hill, atop which with amazing views of Kathmandu Valley, sits the temple in a quadrangle. The village of Changu surrounds the temple. There are several small temples around the main temple of Changu of equal historical and religious significance. Enshrined inside the temple is Lord Vishnu, one of the three main gods in Hindu religion. There are three other Vishnu or Narayan temples around the Kathmandu Valley, however, Changu is the oldest and most important among these. The area surrounding the temple is settled by farmers that farm the hills around the temple. My first recollection of visiting the temple with my dad and brother years ago, was of a place very secluded, with just a few houses around the temple. The village of Changu has now become a very popular tourist destination, with shops and street vendors catering to tourists, both domestic and international. It is kind of sad for me to witness this transformation. The grassy viewpoint where we used to picnic and take in the views of the valley is now occupied by an obnoxious looking restaurant. Change…. well some are good, some not so good. Hope you enjoy these pictures. It has taken me a long time to post these considering our vacation home was last October. Please leave comments, I do read them!

 

Last year when we visited our home town of Kathmandu, Nepal, we went on many mini visits around the Valley. This gallery shows some of the images from our bus trip to the nearby town of Patan. Patan, along with Bhaktapur and Kirtipur is one of the old towns that has existed in the Kathmandu Valley for hundreds of years. Patan or Lalitpur, as it is traditionally known, is filled to the brim with old structures, sculptures, and some of the most beautiful temples in the Kathmandu Valley. Even ordinary houses in Patan exhibit a level of artistry and handicraft that they seem like museum pieces. I did my best with the time that I had to capture the essence of Patan. As always, when you are trying to make photographs of such an abundance of historical and artistic places, any amount of time spent is not enough. Click on a thumbnail and browse left or right with the mouse of the keyboard left and right arrows.

 

There is a popular saying in Kathmandu: कहीँ नभएको जात्रा हाँडीगाऊँ मा! Meaning, this particular Satyanarayan festival is so unique and unusual, that it only happens in the village of Handigaon. Ironically, Hadigaon is not a remote village but a neighborhood just a few minutes from downtown Kathmandu. Everything about this festival is unusual. Normal festivals have chariots for the gods made to resemble a small temple. Then these chariots are pulled through neighborhoods. In this particular festival, the deity is placed at the top of what looks like an upside down chariot and then the entire contraption is spun around. The “chariot” is then carried by a bunch of men through the streets of Handigaon.

It is one of the areas within the Kathmandu Valley that still observes its traditional practices and festivals, which is becoming a thing of the past elsewhere. Even the smallest of festivals are still observed in Handigaon.

These pictures were taken while my family and I were on a visit to Nepal last October. It has taken me this long to post them.

The Chariots being taken around while being spun around.

Jatras, or festivals are all about movement and motion, I was deliberately using slower shutter speeds to accentuate the feeling of movement in these photographs.

A group of men playing the traditional instruments.

These are traditional pipe type organs.

The Gillette sign and the commotion of the festival are in stark contrast of modern and traditional times.

Spectators in the windows.

A family looks on as the festival progresses.

Traditional band.

An old man dressed in traditional farmer’s costume.

Group of men reciting old prayer songs.

A cotton candy vendor.

Temple full of onlookers. This temple is virtually overgrown by the peepal tree.

A couple of boys strike a pose, I managed to squeeze into this narrow balcony to take pictures from a higher vantage point.

Backlighting created an unusual 3 dimensional effect here.

This is what festivals in Nepal are all about. Commotion. Movement. Colors. Life.

An old woman lights cotton wick lights.

The festival in full swing in the main square of Handigaon.

Situated in the western edge of Kathmandu valley, the stupa of Lord Swoyambhu sits atop a hill several hundred feet from the valley floor. It is one of the most popular destinations for tourists and valley dwellers alike. People visit Swoyambhu for pilgrimage, tours or simply to enjoy the almost birds eye like views of the entire Kathmandu Valley, the hills that surround it and the Himalayan peaks that are visible in between the hills to the north and the east of the city.

On the two days we visited Swoyambhu, the Himalayan range was covered with late afternoon cloud. However, the moonrise as seen from the stupa was nothing short of spectacular.

According to historians and ancient religious manuscripts, the origin of Swoyambhu predates the settlement of the Kathmandu valley, to an era when the entire valley was supposedly a giant lake called “Naag Daha” or serpent lake. One of the disciples of Gautam Buddha, named Bipaswi Buddha is believed to have visited the lake and taken up residence on a hill at the the north western shore. Bipaswi Buddha, after having a divine inspiration one day, planted a lotus seed in the lake on a full moon night. Six months after this, on another full moon night, an extraordinary lotus flower blossomed from the seed. Then a divine light, believed to be that of Lord Swoyambhu, shone from the heavens upon the lotus.

Word of this event spread among the disciples of Lord Buddha and they began visiting the lake to worship the lotus and witness the divine light. One of the disciples, Manjushree Boddisatva, came from China in the north to visit the lake. After three nights at the shores of the lake, Manjushree thought about draining the lake. After surveying the hills around the lake, Manjushree chose a point along the south shore and using his powers cut a deep gorge and hence is believed to have drained the lake and started a settlement in the lake bed which is modern day Kathmandu. The stupa (called Chaitya by locals) of Swoyambhu is believed to have been built around two thousand years ago, making it one of the oldest structures in the world. There are countless little stupas and small temples all around the main stupa that have been built throughout the ages.

The stupa of Swoyambhu situated on a hill above the valley, seen here at sunset:

DAY 1:

A 14th day moon rises over the city of Kathmandu, looking east from Swoyambhu, these were shot on the first day:

The stupa of Swoyambhu is well lit in the night sky:

Temple of Bajrayogini next to the main stupa:

Pilgrims walking around the stupa:

There are numerous temples and small stupas all around the main Swoyambhu stupa:

Behind the Bajrayogini Temple, the different types of lights here created an amazing 3-D effect:

There is long steep staircase that starts at the bottom of the hill that ends at this east face of the stupa:

DAY 2:

These next few pictures were actually shot on our second visit to Swoyambhu, the following day. A full moon rising above Kathmandu:

Another shot of the stupa and the back side of the Bajrayogini Temple, with locals milling around:

Devotees lighting cotton wick oil lights on the occasion of the full moon:

The all seeing eyes of Swoyambhu observing the rise of the full moon. There are a set of eyes painted on each of the four sides of the stupa:

It is believed that the four sets of eyes of Swoyambhu keep a vigil and protect the city and its inhabitants against evil:

Swoyambhu holds a special place in my heart. It is my favorite place in Kathmandu valley. It is also the place where my lovely wife and I met for the first time in person!

Every time I visit Kathmandu, I make sure to go up to the Swoyambhu Nath stupa and spend some time. On my next visit to the stupa, I will take some day time pictures and post here. On both of these nights, we got up there well after sunset. I had never taken night pictures in and around Swoyambhu, so I am fortunate to have been able to be there on a full moon night.

I have a quite few more blog entries to post already! Keep checking back for more updates.

- Suraj

Well, after waiting for months, the day finally came for us to fly to Nepal for a six week visit with family and friends. The last few trips that we had taken were either just the two of us or alone. However, having a 6 month old son this time around, we were not really sure how our travel would turn out to be like. We were in for a pleasant surprise, our son Saurya did really well traveling half the way around the world for 45 hours! He was content either sleeping or fiddling around with the TV remote controller on the plane. The airline gave us bulkhead seats and a bassinet for Saurya. He barely fit in the bassinet but was able to sleep several times for a couple of hours stretch each. He was so great on the flights that fellow passengers complimented us on such a well behaved and content infant.

We flew from Seattle to LA to Hong Kong and finally to Kathmandu. In LA our friends Jon and Jerrie and Alex met us at the airport for dinner, which was quite nice. The transit in Hong Kong was the longest at almost 13 hours, including a 2 hour delay due to bad weather there. When we got home it was well past midnight. Below are a few pictures from our flights and transits from Seattle to Kathmandu.

At Seatac Airport, about to leave rainy Seattle:

Saurya waiting for the flight to LA:

Sunrise somewhere over the Pacific, about 2 hours from Hong Kong. The flight from LA to Hong Kong was a staggering 14hrs 33mins long!!! The bulk head seats gave us plenty of legroom, however, it was still a brutal punishment for my tailbone. I do not understand why the economy class seats must be so hard. If I were to do this trip every year, I would surely have my tailbone surgically removed.

Saurya relaxing in his bassinet between naps, while I was watching an episode of Family Guy:

Lunch time in Hong Kong:

Well, it was 10AM in Hong Kong, but I figured it had to be 5 O’ Clock somewhere in the world!

Even at US $1=HGK $7.4, these were still fairly expensive wines! So I stuck to beer:

Ahhh.. Asahi beer:

We had been traveling for 26 hours by this time. Hard to tell from their faces huh? I was pretty impressed. I was more tired than either of them, coming off of a tough week at work:

A Cathay Pacific 777 lands at Hong Kong airport. We flew the same airline:

Saurya finds reflections in mirrors quite amusing:

Waiting for the last flight, the Dragon Air flight 102 to Kathmandu. This flight was delayed almost 2 hours:

Saurya relaxing at our home in Kathmandu the day after we got home!

Last week was really hectic, it was Christmas time for us, so we were all busy with festivities and feasts! Now I will go out on photographic trips in and around Kathmandu and try to post the pictures here on the blog. Internet here is really spotty, so I will do my best to update this blog as much as possible.

Pipe up and leave your comments and thoughts.

Keeping it real in Kathmandu-   Suraj