the villagers are always welcoming and very hospitable

Some villages, when we climbed higher and higher have mainly

a Sherpa population

An ancient fresco in a temple with a shy Sherpa girl

In the lower down slopes and valleys the Nepali were busy growing food

We always attracted quite a gathering of people

We met lots of friendly travelers

There on the mountain paths we met many Sherpas, Nepali from Tibetan origin.

All were very friendly and often offered us food or the salty tea.

The villages had many steps and we could buy some vegetables and eggs, etc

We would have collapsed under the loads, the travelers were carrying

Sme Tibetans were just coming from Tibet, and were selling tankas, jewelry or 

rituel instruments like bells cymbals dorjes

It was a lucky day, when we came to a village, on the steep slopes and a market day was on.

The mandarins and vegetables were delicious.

We appreciated everything we could buy

camping in the river bed

The days were glorious, warm and clear.

The nights were cold with many stars.

There was always plenty of firewood and water in the many streams.

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.