Dhulikhel

About two ours bus ride east of Kathmandu is Dhulikhel, with supposedly one of the best views of the Himalayas in Nepal. Most of the time when I was there it was cloudy (it was still monsoon), but in the mornings and evenings I got glimpses of the mountains behind the clouds. They were pretty impressive - I'd imagined them to be maybe half as high as they were. You had to look up, then keep looking up.

I stayed in a small village about half an hours walk outside the main tourist drag (filled with holidaying Nepalis and Indians). The people there were Tamangs, originally from Tibet. A family had recently set up a guest house with help from an Australian NGO. They were still cementing it, but it was lovely and quiet. The mum cooked in an outside hut in traditional style, over a small fire.

Here's the pics:

View from my windows:


Pot plants in my lawn:


Traditional cooking - awesome knife tool. You cook cross-legged on the floor, putting pressure on the blade with your knee to keep it stable, then slice things into a bowl. Surely some adjustment could be made to attach it to a bench:


A closer look:


The naughty kid who showed me round the village, including the Australian-made toilet and sewerage project:


One day one of the builders brought his pet fox for me to see. Isn't he a happy fox?


Here's some more local wildlife:



Here's some pics for my friend Benny.

A man and his duck:


A woman and her duck. This was on top of a bus - the only way to travel in Nepal.

Passive agressively, I'm still waiting for more suggestions below.