Nepal In 10 Pictures
I took over 500 pictures when I travelled to Nepal, and I’ve finally sat down and sifted through all of them to tell my story. Here are 10 of my best photos, and the stories behind them.
Perspective is a powerful thing. It renders you a specific point of view with the aim of changing your mind. And nothing in the world can prepare you for that kind of change.
Before I travelled to Nepal in 2016, as part of a small group of students practising journalism in the field, I did plenty of research about the country. I learnt that it was a developing country, I learnt that tourists ought to be careful when travelling there, and I learnt that the country was recovering from devastating earthquakes in 2015. But those facts never prepared me for the culture shock.
We grow used to the world around us. The customs we learn, the habits we undertake, the way we live. From our politics to our spirituality, from lifestyles to vices. Visiting another country, especially one that houses a different nationality to ours, rearranges the contents of who we are. And that’s why we travel.
The featured image of this post is taken at the Swayambhunath Stupa, an ancient religious monument atop a hill in western Kathmandu. It is colloquially known as the Monkey Temple, for literal reasons.
As you wade through the lower half of the area, under the shroud of a thousand Tibetan prayer flags, you bear witness to a local monkey habitat. They’re wild, of course, and need to be treated with caution, but they’re not savage beasts as I’ve been taught. In the right moments, they’ll naturally pose for the camera. You will see them on your self-guided tour of this temple. And then, making your way to the crest of the hill, you see the golden stupa pointing to the sky.
I love this photo for its interesting juxtaposition between the glistening spire and the worn buildings surrounding it. You also get a glimpse of how influential the tourist dollar is, with locals selling paintings, pictures and wares.
