The Colours of Kathmandu

While Kathmandu is in many ways a thoroughly modern city, a walk through the rambling maze of beautiful medieval houses and temples in the old city is like stepping back into another time.

Everitte and I arrived late on a warm Friday night and got our visas from the most friendly and cheerful border guard I have ever met in my life. We made our way to Thamel, the backpacker hub of Kathmandu, a confusing sea of twisting alleyways lined with a seemingly endless series of cheap hostels, varying standards of restaurant and colorful clothes and scarf shops.

Off to India

My blog is going to take a short hiatus from bringing you Beirut, and bring you Kathmandu, Mumbai, Varanasi and several other places instead.

We leave for Nepal tonight with no guide book, no idea where we’re going to stay or what we’re going to do, and as yet have not packed or cleaned the house or make any of the other necessary arrangements – it promises to be an adventure, if nothing else!

Stay tuned.

 

Snow and Cedars

The cedar tree is the national emblem of Lebanon and is the centre-piece of the Lebanese flag. Cedar trees used to cover 70% of Lebanon, however nowadays due to excess deforestation they are a protected species and cover only around 7% of the country. Most of them are found in two protected groves, with some trees over 1000 years old.

We went to visit the biggest of these, the Chouf Cedar Reserve, which covers around 5% of Lebanon’s total land, back in January, to see the beautiful cedar trees in the snow.