maurag.com

Oh my.

The hustle and bustle of Kathmandu can be overwhelming for sure. There isn’t much I can say here that hasn’t been said a 10000 times already by bewildered western tourists. Boudha stupa is like very few places I’ve been though, it is truly the calm within the storm while at the same time being a center of commerce of religion of community and general welfare for all. This series shows an early morning sunrise, a trip to Boudha with Chheten for koura. (sp?)

Nearly every day my dad and I walked, or took the cab to Boudha, the center of Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal. This series shows a glimpse of the passageway between our green gates and the heart of Kathmandu’s buddhist center.

Some of these are repeats..but this is part of the family. Part of the experience. Part of the reason I felt so welcomed.

I woke up that first morning, hours before I should have..having landed only hours earlier, (around midnight) to the bustle of the suburbs of Kathmandu. Barking dogs, a motorcycle navigating the dirt paths between the houses, a ringing bell I never figured out what was for, and the distant sounds and smells of the city waking up. Car horns, burning trash, water pumps pulling water up from the sinking water table. The fog covered the mountains and barely let the rising sun through and the air was dense with moisture. I knew I should have packed another jacket.

32 hours of travel to make my way from my doorstep in Denver, Colorado to my dads doorstep in Kathmandu, Nepal. This series was taken in the Hong Kong airport during my 12 hour layover. During this layover I met a diamond broker from Israel, wandered from level to level in the dungeon of the lower HK airport and then browsed my way through delicious food and couture fashion shopping in the amazingly beautiful and bright upper HK airport. Click any of the images to view bigger and in their proper format. Photos were taken with a combination of cameras. My Lumix, my iPhone, my 5D and a graciously lended Leica. So there will be some level of quality differentiation. Yes, I carry too many cameras.

So, losing Tika has been kinda rough. I miss her trill, her hair that got all over the house, but also felt so nice between my fingers, I miss her determination and fierce spirit and her love for yelling at me. I miss her sigh, her snoring and the sound of her nails clicking on the floor. I miss her happy little face when I came home or when I opened the snack box. I miss pretty much everything about her. The house is so empty without her. BUT ..I do realize how lucky I was to have her the length of time I did. She was good to me. I don’t know why exactly this song feels right to post right now..but it does. The video is brilliant too. Hope you enjoy.