Just outside the temple gates were two little boys playing. Their faces were dirty, their clothes in rags, but they had the biggest smiles. They followed us for a short time. The other ladies had gone into the temple, but friend Pam pulled the two books out of the bag and gave one to each of the boys. The looks on their faces were just priceless. They couldn’t believe it.
They took off running as if afraid that we would take them back again.
On our last day in Kathmandu we had some free time so friends Ginger and Rose and I took a walk around the area of our hotel.
Just a few doors from the hotel we came across an amazing compound. I brought forth the most amazing surprise.
We’ve spent almost 3 days here in this city and indeed in one of the other the squares, this old man has a position in one of the raised, tiled platforms. He smokes quietly and deliberately seeming to savor his cigarette. He’s a tailor. and his equipment is stored in a small alcove set in the wall behind him. A pair of scissors, a container of machine oil and 2 reels of thread.
It’s dusty light and extremely colorful. There are no pavements on the outer ring roads, the bitumen ends and dirt begins. The sounds of horns and crows blend. There seems to be a huge amount of buses in proportion to other vehicles and to heck with health and safety, they are packed to capacity.
These are just f ew images taken over the past few days. the colors just explode and its almost as if I am living in a painting.
Our first stop was at a traditional painting studio.
Paubhas are painted on a rectangular piece of canvas. It is prepared by applying a mixture of buffalo glue and white clay on it. The surface is then rubbed with a smooth stone to give it polish. The painting is done according to the rules and dimensions handed down by tradition, and artists cannot exercise their creativity.
The air was crisp and a heavy cloud of dew settled over all who ventured out. The sun produced an orange glow to everything and it can be the most difficult time to photograph and also the most exciting because of the interesting light. We met, for the first time as a group on that walk, sharing conversation with each other, and also some of he locals who’s smile would welcome you with friendliness.
Today the sun was shining, the day was warm and begged me to take a walk. The hollywood walk of fame is just a few blocks away from my hotel so I wandered down there. Past the historic Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and I stood on the pavement and watched the crowd.
I have had a lot of interest on the image I added to face book today.
I thought I should share with you how I created it. In essence its a little bit like thread painting with a pencil.
Women in cars, buses and carriages of all kinds descended on the town on Friday but they didn’t come empty handed. Quilts for show and tell, coolers full of cheeses and wine and other dietary ‘necessities’ and the stories unwound as the conversation flowed.
