Monkey Temple

Placed in hills of Kathmandu Valley, surrounded by monkeys everywhere, Swoyambhunath, Buddhist temple is truly amazing place to be.. I was lucky enough to go in the sunset time, right before a rain storm, so the light was as good as it's going to get.

Not too many people left, just some kids playing soccer and dogs sleeping around the stupa. I met Tashi, one of the monks, I enjoyed his company for a while, took some of his portraits and shared some mango juice he gave me. It was very relaxing experience.

My first time up there, not the last.

Orchid Garden

As beautiful as Nepal is, there are parts to it that are very harsh. Several times already, I’ve seen things that were very challenging to look at and even more so, to photograph. This was one of those times.

It seems there are more of the sad stories in Nepal to be told then there is the happy ones. But I’m not sure.. It all depends on where you look and what you want to see.

Even though this place called Orchid Garden is overall very positive and does great things for many underprivileged children in Nepal, my very first impression of this place was as you can see below.

I walked around, I stared at their faces and they stared back, some of them cried and so did I..

Cobweb

A local band called "Cobweb" at the peak of their performance..

Holy Man

Bhisho Nath is a Holy Man (Baba) from Panauti Tribe Ni Ghat. He lives in a small room inside Dharmasala, where he has just few of his belongings.

When I first saw him, he was lying along a window with his eyes closed, chanting quietly. Sun was striking through, lighting his face and I couldn’t stop looking at him and observing the peace he was naturally surrounded by. Since he seemed to be very engaged in his own world I asked some of his friends if I can take his photograph, I didn’t want to disturb him but also was too shy to photograph him without any permission.

After I took few images, he noticed the shutter clicking and opened his eyes. He starred at me for a moment and then closed his eyes again. It was intimidating and I could tell he wasn’t comfortable about neither my camera nor my presence, so I left him alone for the moment. I sat in a circle with other men from Ni Ghat who invited me in to document their hash making activity.

Later on, Bhisho Nath came to join us; he spoke with his eyes only. He sat close by and smiled at me, I could tell he was curious about the reason of my presence. In few minutes later he sat in a lotus pose and suggested I take his portrait. His gesture changed the dynamic of our interaction and I could tell he no longer felt hesitant about neither my camera nor me being around.

Our entire interaction and any kind of conversation happened without words, thinking back, beside his quiet chanting, I do not recall hearing him speak anything.. His loneliness was striking. No matter by how many people he was constantly surrounded by, he was alone, apart from others, the whole time.

After couple of days being around him, I realized how moved I was by him. I can’t describe what was it exactly that caught so much of my attention but I felt there is something very pure and clean about Bhisho Nath that felt very comforting to be around.

When I was leaving Ni Ghat, he smiled and waved at me, then put his hands in prayer and nodded his head to gesture “Namaste.” To hug a holy man seemed a bit inappropriate, so I smiled back at him and walked down the stairs of Dharmasala.

Nepali Soccer Anyone?

In the past several days I've been shooting soccer games, one after another, under the guidelines of my "sport-photo-coach" from Kathmandu Post newspaper, photojournalist Sundar Shrestha.

My goal during this experience was to get more comfortable shooting sports. I have to admit, it wasn't so boring, after all..

My next sport lesson will be tennis, finals U.S vs. Nepal tomorrow, so lets see how that goes..

Stream

Himalayas

After heavy rains last night, the sky cleared from pollution for a moment and this morning, finally... I saw them.. It was incredible view..