Travelogue

This is the big “Stupa” in Boudha, close to Katmandu. It’s a buddhist sanctuary where many tibetian refugees go.

On our way to Nagarkot.

Two young ladies in a small village near Nagarkot. We stopped to get a drink.

Deepak, my friend and guide, taking a small break from chatting with the girls…

The local cow-wash.

Young boy with young goats…

Finally, Nagarkot tower. From here, the view goes not only over Katmandu valley but potentially also to some of the Himalaya peaks. Although the weather was nice, it was far from being clear. Clouds on the horizons obscured the view. Nevertheless, a beautiful day.

This lady was in the process of cooking and washing noodles for “Chowmein”, fried noodles. I photographed and interviewed her (with the help of Deepak), and later we of course had to also taste the freshly prepared meal.

The ladys husbands hands, preparing our meal.

Getting back into Katmandu, vendors under umbrellas at the roadside.

A few days ago we finally got to see some of the mountains of Himalaya. This picture was taken from the roof of Radio Sagarmatha looking north over Kathmandu. The incredible view of these mountains changing color as the sun went down over the valley was exciting after days of constant rain.

This was not only the cheapest but probably also the best haircut I ever had. This one took 50 minutes including a full back rub that almost had osteopathic qualities. He charged 200 Nepalese Rupees, that’s 2,30 in €uro, or 3,20 in US$.

How much do I trust a stranger? Judge yourself, this guy had his full blown scissors stuck into my nostrils to perform whatever he considered necessary.

Documentation courtesy Helmut O.

More from the world of hairdressing in an older post (german only) “Eine Weltkarte der Friseure“

First time in Nepal, and Kathmandu is, well, overwhelming – to say the least. Still, being at Radio Sagarmatha proves to be a challenge worth the trip: The journalists are eager to learn, the debating culture is well developed in this country, so discussions are lively and progress is happening. We do basic training as well as advanced and the setting is just to my liking: A one-house, one-antenna, one-program kind of station.

Being a Community Radio, Radio Sagarmatha is like a micro public service broadcaster, well connected with their audience.

Sitting on the train northbound from Cologne to go to Hilversum for a meeting tomorrow. From there, I’ll take the train southbound again tomorrow evening, stop for a coffee to meet my daughter and her mother in Düsseldorf, stay overnight in Frankfurt, from where I will leave to Kathmandu next morning (that’s Saturday!), with yet another overnight in Doha, Quatar (that’s on the Persian Gulf). Work in Nepal starts on Monday, I will be training radio journalists there for the next 3 weeks together with colleagues from Deutsche Welle Akademie. Quite exciting, as it is once again (after Laos and Iran) a place I had never really planned to go to.