NEPAL, Shrines, Temples and Breathtaking Mountains: Guest Post by Owen Floody

Nepal. Machhapuchhare Sunset

In March, our friend Owen Floody went to Nepal.  We have known Owen ever since he and Art were graduate students at Rockefeller University in New York.  Owen recently retired from a career of teaching and research at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. Here is a short reflection on his trip to Nepal and a few of his amazing photographs. 

Buddhist Stupa at Boudnath

Owen's post: I've been celebrating my recent retirement with a flurry of exotic trips.  On most, I've either assembled or joined a group of like-minded travelers, the latter by signing onto a trek advertised by a well-known specialist in all things outdoors.  Heading into one of these, one can worry about the group being too large and the experience too impersonal.  But is it possible to experience the opposite, to be overdosed with individual attention in an overly small group?

From L to R, Annapurna South, Annapurna Fang, Annapurna One

My most recent trip, an early-March camping trek to the Annapurna Sanctuary, in Nepal, certainly put this possibility to the test.  This was advertised as a group effort, but I was the only one to sign on and the outfitter generously elected to run it anyway.  So it was just me and my entourage of 7 (no sedan chair or gun bearer, but 1 guide, 1 cook, 2 kitchen boys, and 3 porters) hiking up and down the trails on the way to and from the Machhapuchhare (at an elevation of 3700m) and Annapurna (4100m) base camps.  Now there were advantages to this arrangement: If the pace or anything else wasn't to my liking, I had only myself to blame.  At the same time, I found it to be a peculiarly isolating experience and more than a bit anachronistic--not the happy medium that I will shoot for in the future.

Rhododendron of the season

The weather on my trek was a bit of a mix. It generally was clear in the mornings, so that it was then that I had my best mountain views.  On most days, it was cloudy much of the rest of the day and rained and/or hailed for at least part of the afternoon.  Not surprisingly, it was cold at the highest altitudes--39 and 34 degrees F at night, and that was inside of the "teahouse" rooms they put me in when snow at the base camps prevented camping.  The early spring weather also affected the rhododendron crop.  I had timed my trip partly to see these, but did not realize that the different colors bloom sequentially.  So rather than the array of different colors that I had hoped for, I saw pretty much only the deep red that is pictured.  It's great, to be sure, but perhaps not absolutely ideal for the color-vision-limited.

Durbar Square, Kathmandu

Of course the high point of this trip was the mountain views, especially of Machhapuchhare and several of the Annapurnas.  More of a surprise to me was my enjoyment of my walking tours, some guided and others self-guided, in Kathmandu and other former royal cities or attractions in the Kathmandu valley.  Each city's Durbar (royal) Square was chock-a-block with temples, as might be expected. 

Buddhist shrine encountered on walking tour of Kathmandu

But throughout at least the older parts of these cities, it seemed impossible to walk for more than a few yards without stumbling across a Buddhist or Hindu shrine or temple, all still in use, many very attractive, some also very old. If and when you visit Nepal, I'm sure that no one will have to tell you to seek out and enjoy the mountains.  But also spend some time walking the streets of old Kathmandu, and enjoying the shrines, temples and other buildings.

You can find out more about Owen's recent travels and see more of his amazing photos in his May 6, 2012 post about his trip to northern Tanzania.