Top 5 Scenery Photos
Over the last fifteen months since starting this travel blog I have shared a vast number of photos from my photo gallery. This gallery now has over 850 photos posted, 550 of them mine; the remainder have been taken by either my son or my wife.
I thought I’d share with you my five favourite photos of scenery.
1. Ama Dablam, Nepal
Without doubt my favourite photo so far would have to be this shot of the mountain Ama Dablam taken while on a trek towards Mt. Everest. This magnificent mountain dominates the path taken up through this amazing part of Nepal. I love this photo so much I have used it as the wallpaper photo on my computer.
Ama Dablam, Nepal
2. Scene near Monjo, Everest region, Nepal
This amazing mountain was the backdrop from our lodge in Monjo, a small village we stayed in on our trek towards Mt. Everest. I don’t know its name and I haven’t the time to do the research to find out.
Scene from our lodge in Monjo, Nepal
3. Yak and Yeti Lodge, Everest region, Nepal
This beautiful scene was photographed on our trek through the Himalayas last year. We didn’t stay in this beautiful lodge.
Yak and Yeti Lodge
4. Mt. Lofty Botanic Gardens, near Adelaide, South Australia
This beautiful scene is typical of many such photos one could take in the Adelaide Hills and the Mt. Lofty Ranges near Adelaide in South Australia. I feel privileged to live just a half hour drive from numerous scenes like this. Readers of my blog Trevor’s Writing will recognise this photo because it has been used in the banner on the home page.
Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens
5. Waitpinga Beach, South Australia
South Australia, my home state, has a long coastline. Scenes like this one can be seen in many different locations.
Waitpinga Beach, Newland Head CP
Click on any photo to enlarge the image.
To view more of my photos go to my photo gallery.
Special note: This article was inspired by the Group Writing Project being run by Darren Rowse on his blog ProBlogger. This article is NOT an entry in the project; my entry can be found here on Trevor’s Birding.
UPDATE: I have also written an article called Top 5 Writing Hints on my blog called Trevor’s Writing.
On a clear day in Kathmandu
Himalayas from a street in Kathmandu
One of the downsides of visiting Kathmandu is coping with the pollution. Because the Kathmandu Valley is like a natural amphitheatre, pollution from the city tends to sit over the city for long periods of time. I found the atmosphere to be somewhat distressing at times, and a dry throat is one’s constant companion.
Sometimes a breeze comes along and clears the air. It is then that one can fully appreciate the stunningly amazing setting of this city. With a backdrop of the snow-capped Himalayas in the distance, this has to be one of the more beautiful settings for a capital city anywhere. It’s just a pity that the view is restricted to a smoky haze for most of the year.
Tri-Chandra College in Kathmandu
Trichandra College in central Kathmandu
There are many run down and dilapidated buildings in Kathmandu. Many would be condemned and considered unusable and unsafe here in Australia. Developing countries like Nepal have different building codes and standards; sometimes I thought that there were no codes or standards at all.
On the other hand, there are some truly magnificent buildings in the capital of Nepal. The Tri-Chandra College is one such building, and every time I walked or drove past it I was impressed by its beauty and dominance of the skyline in that part of the city. This college is one campus of the Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu.
Bicycles in Kathmandu
One of the most obvious things you notice upon arriving in Kathmandu is the traffic. Cars and taxis and buses and trucks are in abundance everywhere. Then you notice all the motor cycles. It is not uncommon to see fifty or more motor cycles lined up waiting for the traffic lights to turn green. Down every laneway you take your life into your hands if you ignore the ubiquitous motor cycle.
Bicycle shop in Kathmandu
Just as common is the ordinary bicycle. They also seem to be everywhere. Naturally, where there are plenty of bicycles and motor bikes there have to be shops selling and repairing them. In fact, such establishments seemed to outnumber the car sales and repair garages thirty or forty to one. At least, this seemed the ratio in the central parts of the city.
Street Food Vendors in Kathmandu
Food vendor in the streets of Kathmandu
One of the things that amazed me about both Bangkok and Kathmandu was the huge numbers of street vendors selling food. In fact, one of the guides on a bus trip I took in Thailand said that he and his wife rarely cooked their food – they most often bought their meals from the street vendors. His apartment was too small to have a kitchen anyway. While I didn’t ask anyone in Kathmandu about this aspect of life, I daresay it would be true of many parts of the capital city of Nepal too.
In fact, it may well be true of many larger cities of the world, especially in the inner and more populated parts of cities. I just haven’t travelled enough to make judgments on this sort of thing. In rural Australia where I live to eat out is the exception, not the rule. Most people here cook their own food and eat at home. To go out for a meal is a special treat, though that concept is changing in our larger cities.
The food vendor in the photo above was unusual in what he was selling. He had pop corn for sale. His bicycle was converted to make it a mobile kitchen complete with a gas bottle and gas ring.