Friday, July 11, 2008

From Town to the Mountains

More in picasa web



Mexican food!




It took all three of us almost 8 hours to plan Mom's and my trip into the mountains to trek.



Buddhist flag high above the valley. Jungle in the background.




View south as the late-afternoon monsoon rolls into the valley.



Solar water heaters. Self-sustaining. They work as well as those at home, and once they are installed there is no extra cost for rest of their lifetime.



In the queue to get yak cheese from the Government Dairy Development Center. the "DDC". The yak cheese was pretty foul by the way, but the chocolate ice cream from the same place was good - I guess it also came from yak milk though?





Before we left earlier yesterday afternoon. Some Nepali call Kathmandu the "zoo." They say, why should you visit the zoo, when you can just walk around the streets? Soccer enthusiasts came to watch a game on this field (to the right) and brought their dinner while it was still alive. Goats, sheep, cows, a few dogs...




We drove into the mountains from Kathmandu. It takes a long time to get out of the city, but once we did it was like another world. Went way up to Kokenai. It was so green, split between wild jungle and terraced agriculture, like rice or lentils.



Geometric rice paddies. They hug the contours of the terrain.. super utilitarian.



They call these the "hills." Such a serious understatement, but I can't convey their sheer size in a picture. Imagine British Columbia, then think bigger, then covered with agriculture or tropical jungle. Shrouded in fog.





Land dissappearing into jungle... I really really want to see one of these tigers.









Fog



Cottage up in the jungle, right above where we stopped to eat. Cut from local stone, thatched roof.



This picture would have been amazing if the resolution was a little better. The big bulky thing in the middle is actually a farmer carrying down a huge load of rice, corn, and some other green stuff that blends in perfectly with the vegetation on the hill. It looked like the walking trees in the Chronicles of Narnia.



Dinner. Fresh rainbow trout from this fishery on the side of the mountain. These people found a way for about no cost to raise really rare trout... Trout require fast running cold water all the time, or they die. So these people built 4 or 5 tiered holding pools through which part of the fast, cold mountain stream runs. Impressed.



Built into the side of the mountain.


Fish! They caught one and cooked it - whole - right in front of us. Then served it in sections.. tail, head, body. I opted for the body, the part without eyes or other appendages. It was great fish though.




Waterfall



Moon in Kokenai

1 comment:

Jacattack said...

Great pics, once again. Thanks for your phone call, I can't believe I missed it. And I also just received your postcard in the mail. So basically, I'm popular. With those of us who live in Nepal. Wahoo!

I wonder if we can buy yak cheese over here. I'm curious what it tastes like. I wonder if it's regulated.

Anyway, have fun with mom! TGIF over here on the other side of the world!

xoxoxo