At last, here comes the travel blog of our trip to Tibet. On both the outbound and return flights we had an overnight stopover in Kathmandu, with barely half a day to explore the city a little. When we arrived there was a small fuel crisis throughout Nepal, because India had closed its borders to fuel. For us that had one advantage: with petrol prices of 8 to 10 dollars a litre, the streets were almost empty.
Once at the hotel, we set off straight away towards the old town and the well-known Durbar Square. On the way we saw two beautiful stupas before standing on the square at sunset. Here the destruction caused by the earthquake became truly visible to us for the first time: the old, beautiful buildings had largely disappeared, and bricks were piled up everywhere. Only on a few boards could we see what the square used to look like. Pretty shocking – especially because after barely six months hardly anyone talks about the situation here any more, while on the way to the airport you see a huge tent city where all the people live who lost their homes in the earthquake.
So here are the first pictures of a very impressive journey:
Painted Buddhas on a wall – the first pictures in Kathmandu.Kodak in big letters on a yellow wooden door.A stone Buddha statue with garlands.The golden spire of a stupa beneath prayer flags.An old bicycle against a white wall.A stupa with prayer flags under a blue sky.Buddha eyes on a weathered wall.Fruit sellers with their bicycle stalls.A trader among stacks of colourful fabrics.A cycle rickshaw and passers-by in the street.A porter pushing a towering cart.A sadhu with a painted face and garlands on Durbar Square.Hands in a basket full of beans.A dog asleep beneath the market stall.A smile among pigeons and bowls of feed.A boy among pigeons in front of rubble – the earthquake is visible everywhere.A girl dancing among the pigeons on Durbar Square.A woman at her stall in front of stacked bricks.Puppets hanging at a souvenir stall.A guitar and PARKING on the wall.Prayer wheels on an old wooden wall.Passers-by in front of a brick wall in the old town.T-shirts printed with Nepal at a stall.A porter with a huge sack on his back.A shave in a small barber's shop.An alley in the evening, lights between the shutters.Children in front of a shutter in the evening.A rickshaw and passers-by in front of a temple in the evening.Left Turn – a road sign at night.A rickshaw driver resting, feet on the handlebars.
