on the way

We decided to go trecking and toward the Everest area. There were no maps, so we drew a sketch from a map on the blackboard of the tourist office.
And before we knew we were on the way.
Going up and up for days

Werner in his Element

Werner was right in his element, taking lots of pictures, everywhere you looked another picture

the temples, the gods the valley

I wonder how long those 2 have been watching the going ons at Durbar square.

What was nice to see, that there were plenty of gods who liked to embrace their partners..

We had no idea what deity is who. Is this Shiva?

planning to go trecking

Although it was really cold there were allways people getting water from the wells or washing their clothes or themselves.
We ordered a bucket of hot water in our lovely guesthouse to scrub down.

A timeless scene in the streets of Kathmandu. After a couple of weeks, we thought we should do some exploring of the countryside, and went to the tourist office, which had no maps, just drawings of a Nepali map on a blackboard. We drew it in our sketch block and also read, there were 60 tourists in Nepal in the month of November. Getting too crowded we thought, time to head out.

Fire for the gods

Some people walk to the market from many miles away

through the thick fog you could see little lights of offerings being lit, the smoke very aromatic
climbed towards the abode of the gods.

cold mornings

The markets started way before it got light, and people carried massive loads on their heads or shoulders, even small children.

It was like living in a fantasy land. It was always quiet too, as there were no cars and a few motorbikes around. The music we heard were musicians playing in temples or on some corners of little squares. The fog muffled the sounds as well, so you only heard the music, when very close

The mornings in December 1966 were very cold in Kathmandu. We had lots of layers on, with a blanket wrapped around us like this girl. It was magic wondering around in the morning mist, grey shapes of people moving toward us, slowly revealing their identity and colours..

the deities look quite ferocious

The devotion was catching and we found ourselves spending hours in the misty mornings
watching the procession of people coming into the many temples for prayers and worship

Walking around the old part of Kathmandu, we came across many confronting and puzzling images of Hindu deities, like this fabulous Kali image. It was often busy there with people bringing offerings and saying prayers.

picture

The old temple

Now we are in Nepal

People were carrying huge loads, from young boys and girls to old people

We could not go on a bus from Raxaul to Kathmandu, so we took the plane. Exciting, our first time on a plane. It cost only a bit more than the bus. Magic to fly over the mountains and see in the distance rows upon rows of snow covered mountain ranges

Another image from Baba Steve

what a beautiful atmospheric picture from Baba Steve. An ancient city, maybe the oldest surviving one

a contemporary image of Varanasi

This is a photo from Flickr, the photographer is Baba Steve.

It is a view towards the burning ghats, where the dead are being cremated

holy cows and other beings

you have to be careful not to be trotten on your foot by a massive cow in the narrow lanes leading down to the river

colorful scenes on the Ghanga

India

we spend whole days just sitting on the steps and absorbing the happenings

Varanasi never sleeps

It did not matter when we visited the ghats, there was always some chanting, praying and ritual cleansing

beautiful smiles

sitting under the bamboo umbrella, a woman and a young girl are reciting from old scriptures

holy men

some holy men sit on the ghats, chanting all day

the ghats of Varanasi

the steps down the river Ghanges were always busy with pilgrims, doing their morning baths

in deep meditation

This Sadhu sat like this in front of a small shrine in the morning.

When we came past in the evening,  he still sat there in the same position.

We wondered what was going on here?

Sadhus

The many Sadhus on the banks were quite a mystery.

Varanasi

I had to get one of those beautiful scarves. India was working on us, 

and we got a bit more colorful

Werner on the river Ganges. We loved this place and made lots of

drawings and watercolors sitting on the steps down to the bathing places, where always 

lots of pilgrims performed their pujas 

The sun just glinted on the marble

I always remember this day

The Taj Mahal was just unbelievable beautiful

Stepping through this gate was like entering a place from a fairy world.

Blue skies on a clear cool day and some elegant Indian visitors

A merry go round went all day

The children had a great time on this hand operated merry go round

the famous pink palace

I heard now there is a massive amount of traffic roaring past this palace.

In 1966 it was a rather quiet place.

kirtans and bajans

Werner was busy taking photos

kirtans and bajans non stop

The music was entrancing

We stayed for hours. We had never seen anything like it.

The devotion was so wonderful

a colourful festival in Jaipur

The next stop was Jaipur. This city was vibrant, with red and pink colors and the women were wearing the most colorful saries. We stumbled upon a festival for woman. Music chanting drumming and cymbals. Monkeys jumped from walls and snatched the offerings of fruit.

Old Delhi Magic

after crossing the border from Pakistan to India by a horse drawn buggy through noman's land, with soldiers popping up behind bushes, we took a train to Delhi.

Stayed in Old Delhi. What a magic place this was.

shadows chasing vultures

It was a cold and sunny day. Pakistan was wild

vulture hill

We liked to chase the big birds away, it was great to see them take of,

circle around and come back

we ended up at the edge of town

when we climbed the hill on the edge of town, there was ditch on the other side, where 

the locals dropped their dead animals. There were growling dogs and vultures everywhere.

the first horse drawn riksha

Our first experience with a horse riksha. We felt sorry for the horse

The roads were all very busy, crowds everywhere

Peshawa

After climbing over the Khyber pass we stopped in Peshawa, and finding it fascinating

a chat ov er a cup of tea

The tea shops are the meeting place,

Man's best friend

The camels are very noisy and grumpy kind of beings, but they are always looked after
and they do a lot of work carrying heavy loads

beautiful carpet

Lots of vendors just walk around selling their wear from around their neck