Nepal '77 / '78

 

Two trips, two treks

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The first brought me to the first base camp of the Everest along the Himalayas. The second was through the Annapurna region.

 

Crossing the paths of Tibetan people was a fascinating experience.

In low altitude they used poneys to carry bags of salt and tea.

In higher altitudes, they switched to yaks to carry their merchandise.

 

I walked from Pokhara to the first base camp of the Everest, passing through Namche Bazaar - the capital of the Sherpas, Tengboche’s famous monastery and Kumjung. 

 

Along the way I couldn’t help but notice the massive rocks engraved with prayers and the unbelievable number of beautifully small Stupas.

 

The houses we slept in had no windows but were isolated thanks to some kind of oily paper.

 

At night, we would join the inhabitants and gather around a fire and listen to them chant prayers.

We would be woken up early every morning by being offered a cup of tea with salted yak butter inside.

 

My most vivid memory remains the smile of the local Buddhists.  They were very quiet and would offer us whatever they had.

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They were incredibly generous.

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The photographs were taken using a Canon with 35mm, 90mm and 200mm lenses.  Films were Kodachrome or Ektachrome 64 ISO.  Slides and colour negatives between 64 and 100 ISO.