I wasn’t prepared for what I was to see. And first minutes weren’t that different. A city, people, still too distant to get the details, still too distant to feel it. Hints of another world started to show up, highlighting the direction to the initiation point. But like these cables, differences are everywhere. So while noticing them, I skipped the significance…
[ Kathmandu, 2022, GFX 50R + adapted SIGMA 40 1.4 ART ]
And then, right after I took some steps through Katmandu I got hit. Hit with a flavor of a completely new world. World of different culture, religions, rules, definitions of what’s good and right. All this intensity, from everywhere. It just broke all of my preassumptions and I just “went in”.
[ Kathmandu, D850 & my old, lovely Sigma 35 1.4 ART ]
With no knowledge before arrival I’ve entered Katmandu on the second day of Light Festival. Those additional scents, lights, colors… Just standing on the street was a joy of its own.
[ Kathmandu, wiki info, D850 & 35 1.4 ]
In my professional work I often use a creative tool I call “adjectives”. It’s an approach that tries to preemptively name all feelings final game should deliver.
[ Kathmandu, Thamel area, D850 ]
Using that approach for Nepal gives quite wide results: vibrancy, noise, intensity…. poverty, contrast, dynamics, simplicity, happiness, calmness, variety… religious, struggling… and optimistic.
[ few steps from Lukla, just after flight from Kathmandu, D850 & Sigma 85 1.4 ]
Call me ignorant as I didn’t dwell in all contexts and realities of Nepal culture but seeing 8-9 year old kids separated from families with monk destiny already decided by your closest ones forces a lot of reflections. Especially as we are constantly hearing that we should catch our dreams, listen to ourselves, constant “I” as a priority. And I’m a good example of that path btw ;). Yet still, how much do I know and understand to comment on this kid’s life? Apart from commenting on his involvement in the whole “mass” I took part in? I felt the same cold floor as him, I was surprised by the music, almost “heavy metal” as our guide named it, but that’s it. And those lovely potatoes I was treated with. Thank You. All those are things to respect and remember.
[ Thaktul Monastery, GFX 50R & 40mm 1.4 ]
We - technical gear equipped european “strong” trekers, and a 3 years old kid being washed in metal bowl with river water, just as we passed by, laughing while being tickled by his mother. Who is “the boss” ;)? And is there something like “better” approach?
And looking back through my memory I’m so certain I’ve only seen smiles on kids faces. That was so warming. So maybe all that “odds” are only our odds? What “odds” are they seeing while looking at us?
Temperatures during sunny day in November vary between 15 to -2 degrees Celsius depending on height. It’s warmer close to Lukla, from 2500 m and up and colder near Everest Base Camp over 5000 m. Trees are common up to around 3500 m, and over 4000 are a rarity. Higher - no chance. Heating in houses is mostly delivered by one stove, often placed in dinning room. Rest of the rooms are left cold. And it’s common that walls width with “warming” layer measures around 9 cm… crazy. How to heat it? Meet Yaks, and especially their dung. After few days each one is collected to baskets, sometimes by kids and then dried on the plot. When it’s ready it’s used to burn in home stoves. And no, it doesn’t smell ;).
[ more info, Namche Bazar southern part, GFX & GF 23 ]
For like 3 years, just after coming back from Elbrus I started to feel this internal need to “smell Himalayas” this time. And so, after some failed attempts I went to Nepal & Himalayas in 2022. Mostly for a trek with Everest Base Camp and Island Peak as main goals but also with a bit of explorer that hides in me, to discover new countries & cultures and feel them. Just a bit :). This whole journey took around 3 weeks and You are seeing it’s outcome here.
[ Nuptse ridge, Mt. Everest hiding behind that ridge & Lhotse on the right, Khumbu region info ]
Cold early morning, and some wonders starting from left: Nuptse ridge, Mt. Everest hiding behind a ridge, Lhotse, Ama Dablam and Tengboche Monastery.
[ Tengboche village, GFX 50R ]
You can see a lot of donkeys, yaks, horses and sometimes helis transporting stuff between villages. That’s common, and for these animals sometimes ends with abuse. But the only real, multi purpose machine in Himalayas apart from these transporters are humans. They are a lorry, a dozer, an excavator, a crane and of course a builder. None of these mechanisms are present in Himalayas. Just locals with some tools, hands, legs, and strong will.
[ one from tenths of photos of working nepalese I took, GFX 50R ]
I know it’s easy to miss that one but just look at it. That view… I’m looking down at Pangboche village from Ama Dablam base trail, from around 4400 m ].
[ GFX & 40 mm ]
No, it’s not from Mt. Everest this time. You can see Everest on the next photo btw. [ middle peak ]. But this one is from Kala Patthar, around 5600 m, and that views are just magical [ this and next 2 frames are taken from the same spot ].
[ Ama Dablam from Kala Patthar, 5600 m, evening sun, D850 & Sigma 85 1.4 ]
When we think about mountain adaptation we mostly mean physical one, connected with endurance, skill, strength or technique. Yet when I came down for breakfast in Gorak Shep I’ve heard that one of the climbers died frozen to death at night. And you can “see” him outside. Looking through window I saw there was a sleeping bag covering someone and some gear & backpack. “What now, should we do something?” Looking around the lodge I noticed that that life just goes on and “problems” like that will be proceeded in the right time. I recall that at that moment “unsettling” was the word that came to my mind.
[ ps. in like 1 hour “sleeping” one awoked and just yawned looking at mountains around ]
I knew from early on that I’d opt for primes, versatility and quality, sacrificing lightweight approach. So while carrying a minimum of additional 6 kg / 13.2 lb I decided to have 2 cameras with me: Fuji GFX 50R with adapted ef mount Sigma 40 1.4 lens for wider, slower situational/street photos and landscapes plus Nikon D850 with Sigma 85 1.4 ART for faster, more distant street stuff and further landscapes. For typical street stuff in Katmandu or during evening walks I picked D850, now with Sigma 35 1.4 ART. For wider landscapes I had GF 23mm 4.0 for Fuji in my backpack. And D850 was hanging on Peak Design Capture PRO, GFX on my neck in top loaded bag. All heavy like stones but all so worth it :).
[ Gokyo Lake, GFX 50R & GF 23 4.0 ]
During our time in Himalayas we were guided and supported by 3 Sherpas and around 7 Porters. Sherpas in general know english quite well and Porters mostly not. English knowledge gives Sherpas an advantage, as it allows for foreign trips supervision, additional training & courses and even allows them to skip those dangerous climbs like 8k peaks. It’s not something they crave to do and from what I heard some mostly older but still active sherpas are stuck in 8k missions as it doesn’t require english as much as it requires climbing experience. Our sherpas were all from Khumbu region as it’s just how it works - they are just born there in Sherpa families [ “Sherpa” is like a surname for them I learned ].
Our Sherpas did an awesome work not only by guiding us through Himalayas but also by sharing a lot of stories, insight and letting us learn pieces of Nepalese culture. But let’s talk about porters now. Short story would work best here. On the last day of our journey we were politely asked by Sherpas to think if we have some spare equipment, clothes, long term food etc. that we could give to porters. We also knew in advance that it’s a last day custom to give some additional money to porters for their work. But while talking a bit more about those “gifts” for porters a whole reality opened before us. Reality we should’ve caught earlier on.
In general for nepalese porters, journey like that, carrying heavy foreigners bags is a chance to earn that much needed, mainly for families money. First of all they mostly live in poor, rural areas, in some proximity to Himalayas. And so at start they need to get to Lukla, usually walking for up to a week there. Then porters daily job is transporting 25-40 kg on their backs, usually for like 5-6 hours, starting early on, to have a greater chance for good weather. Sleeping? Cheapest possible place - rentable tents, dining rooms benches, etc.
And eating? That is so sad. While being positive and smiling, some of them just starve. Starve to get as much rupees back. Starve because eating on the way is just too expensive, as it’s mainly targeted at foreign tourists. So they mostly eat something in the evening, mostly based on rise. And on top of that - they have no insurance & probably no health care. Yet for the whole time they want You to feel good, helping, smiling, being close. And that real, true happiness after receiving some clothes or tools at the end… Fuck, this all is so fucking confusing.
[ PS: I’m quite sure btw that our agency does a lot every time to support Porters ]
It’s for me one of the hardest photos to look at form Nepal. It was just a moment, on country road, a blink of another extreme, another day in ones daily “routine”. So different from us, western people. Who is she? Too late to ask. But that may be a good moment to comment on nature struggles this country has to fight with. Remember disastrous Katmandu earthquake from 2015? around 10.000 people died and 7 years after the day you can still see signs of that disaster.
[ wikipedia info ]
And Katmandu is still being rebuild. There are still squares of completely destroyed buildings with rubble all around, waiting for their moment. Not to mention crackings everywhere. And no to mention new work that’s being done everyday on new or repaired flats or temples. But if that was not enough each year country challenges floodings, landslides and fatalities along. I saw the destruction from 2022 and it’s like fighting with endless enemies, like this woman’s fight with endless numbers of plates to clean.
[ inn along one of the biggest roads in Nepal, also heavily damaged in 2022 ]
Same easy to miss one but so strong and beautiful… What is she thinking? Why such hard look on his face? Will she face it? And those color, that light… I so love this immersion.
[ Nepal roads on way to Kathmandu, D850 & Sigma 85 ]
Classical Kathmandu street view - raw meat sliced right before You, waiting for customers, with no freezers, no separated space etc. Haven’t tried it and was warned in advance to avoid one as I’m “used to other hygiene standards”. They definitely have the other worries to to focus on…
Starting from the first photos, I try to share my view on this world as being so unfamiliar, different. Yet internally You feel good being here. You see that humane approach, see calmness and carrying in people’s eyes. And then bam, You hear about something that just took place a few years ago, in 2001. And that was not just something. It was a Nepalese royal massacre…, happening just in the center of the country’s capital city…
[ wiki info, Bhaktapur city, Nepal, GFX 50R ]
“And take the photos if You like, no problem with that” - said our Kathmandu guide while entering the final dispositions place near Pashupatinath Temple. But how can I photograph a cremation ritual, in an open fire just 10 meters before me? With close family nearby and the son of the deceased just being shaved as an element of the ceremony? Photo would be intense, no question about it but is it right to do it? How do I approach that kind of dilemma? As You can see I did it the other way.
[ Katmandu, near Pashupatinath Temple, GFX 50R ]
Mountains, Buddhism, Hinduism. And people. That was such an good time. Go there, no matter what. Because what can I say - “będzie niewiarygodnie…” [ translate on Your own :) ].
[ Pashupatinath Temple area, D850 & 85 1.4 ]