High and low in Nepal

Happy Losar! Urkin and his boys throwing flour up in the thin air to welcome the new year. Langtang village in the Himalayas, 7. February 2008. © Morten Svenningsen.

With the full moon today, the Tibetan Losar (New Year) celebrations are coming to an end. The celebrations started two weeks ago and I had gone up in the mountains to visit some Tibetan friends and celebrate together with them. Absolutely great trip. Who said early February is off-season for trekking in Nepal? Of course they had 1 meter of snow the week before we got there! Got back to the city last week and there’s been lots of things to do. And problems are piling up in the city. As every year in the dry season, water and electricity is in short supply. We get about 100 liters of water from our tap every night. And we are 8 people in the entire household to share it. Somehow we manage, don’t know how. (What’s that smell?) Then there’s the daily 8 hour power cuts. And on top of that, the Tarai movement(s) have now had a blockade going for the last week. (More about this in one of the next posts.) Fuel and cooking gas are in acute short supply, paralyzing the Valley. 70% of public transport has come to a halt and is parked in mile-long queues outside closed petrol stations. Even some food items are starting to come in short supply! If anything’s ever gonna drive me out of this country, this has got to be it. All the shortages of really basic stuff. It’s not the earthquake risk, the overpopulation, traffic jams, pollution, poverty, corruption or incompetent political leadership. Just the shit you have to go through to get anything done! I’m gonna have to start adding a new fee to my invoices: General 3^rd world agony fee!

Anyway, the mountains are always a nice getaway. Check this site on Himalaya trekking for info and advice. And another thing. From today or tomorrow, the above photo will be available through PhotoShelter here. Yes, I’ve joined the club and set up a little photo gallery there with a Tibetan theme. I have a vague idea about putting some news/editorial and high-end commercial stock photos up there and promoting it a bit. But too many other things on my to-do-list for the moment, and with the above mentioned ‘challenges’, it’s more of an idea than an actual plan for now, I figure. The main attractions for me are the ability to set my own price and possibly get a channel to pitch my occasional news photos through. That and the nice user interface that I can integrate with my own web-site some time if it all works out.

Well, this was just a bit of personal rambling to let you know I’m still alive. Like I mentioned, more on the Tarai problems coming soon, so stay tuned.