Tue, 5/15.  Early morning trip to the airport for a sightseeing flight to Mt. Everest.  Very disappointing.  Windows were scratched up and there was haze.  My pictures on the commercial flight from Kathmandu to Bhutan were much better.  But you roll the dice with opportunities like this one.

After a late breakfast, departed to the Pashupatinath Temple, where cremations are performed along the Bagmati River.  Interesting.  There is a nature preserve nearby with spotted deer and those rascally monkeys.

Next came a drive to Bhaktapur City, on the outskirts of Kathmandu.  Though heavily damaged by the earthquake, city officials have been successful in making the traditional sites worthy of tourism.  Clean! Lots of evidence of damage.  Had a great lunch in an ancient pagoda-like building, on the third floor.  Not where I’d want to be in the event of another earthquake.

After returning to our hotel we were treated to a surprise presentation by a women (Maya Gurung) who has climbed Everest with six other Nepalese women.  They’ve since climbed the tallest mountain on all the continents.  Read about them at sevensummitswomen.org.

Tomorrow we fly to Pokhara and trek to a mountain lodge for three nights.  No wifi.  Barely any electricity.  “If we have hot water I’ll be amazed” says Sanjeev.  Visiting villages and a school.  Trying our hand at farming.  I’ll be going dark until Saturday.

You can’t see anything from the cockpit. Not encouraging.

Nice picture of a mountain. Not Everest.

Champagne on the flight.

Too late!

More evidence of damage.

Prep for a cremation. This person was very popular.

Another form of transportation.

Lots of damage. Note that the shops are still open.  Buy stuff quickly!

A house crow.

The story is that she got married in the USA but wanted photos in her home town. People stared. She ate it up.

The person on the left helps pull the shovel up to dump the cement into the basket. The guy with the shovel is barefoot.

I think she’s a sidewalk merchant.