SGTrekker 10D9N Everest Panorama Trek (17-26 March 2011)

[limwhow]

T R A V E L O G U E

Day 3 - Our Attempt at Flying to Lukla, again...

The next morning, on Day 3, we bravely heaved our heavy bodies and luggage out of our room and made our way to Kathmandu Domestic Airport to give ourselves another chance at Lukla Airport.

"This time round, I am sure we can take off and land successfully at Lukla,"​

I thought quietly to myself.

In a little while, the bright sunlight came streaming through the Kathmandu Domestic airport, and we had a brief glimpse of hope...
But as it turned out....
All flights to Lukla got cancelled just before noon, as the weather over at Lukla turned bad just as the fog in Kathmandu started to clear!!!

So what happened after that?
Very exciting, very exciting event that was totally out of our expectation and totally unplanned:

The Holi Festival!​

What is this Holi Festival?
Eh... I think wkcheah has a good account on that, right?
Wai Kit, right? (before you fly off tomorrow... kekeke...)

 

[Wind 450D]

Goose, you missed one - (11) You jump in excitement each time you hear a humming sound (from grass cutter) that resembles a propeller plane...

Add in one more
When you hear the bell of ice cream cart you still thought is the cow or donkey coming from behind:bsmilie::bsmilie:

 

[Wind 450D]

My shot at Durbar Square

More to come:bigeyes::bigeyes:

 

[wkcheah]

What is this Holi Festival?
Eh... I think wkcheah has a good account on that, right?
Wai Kit, right? (before you fly off tomorrow... kekeke...)

hahaha... limwhow, trying to stress me out huh?
I haven't reached Holi festival yet leh... You guys are way too fast ahead (makes me wonder whether you have a day job or not ah?)

 

[Dinosour]

Since we are still at Bhaktapur...

1) Thangka school 'educational talk'.

_DSC6289 by KC_Tng, on Flickr

2) Adrian & Acrux giving out chocolate to the kids.

DSC_2236 by KC_Tng, on Flickr

3) Playing card, a universal 'game'

DSC_2239 by KC_Tng, on Flickr

 

[Hawk2846]

Humbles shots from Ah Wong

Buddha with purple flower

IMG_1965-47 by g_wildcat66, on Flickr

Local Children

IMG_1990-71 by g_wildcat66, on Flickr

Happy girl

IMG_2063-144 by g_wildcat66, on Flickr

Everybody favourite tourist

IMG_2021-102 by g_wildcat66, on Flickr

Angmoh tourist

IMG_2019-100 by g_wildcat66, on Flickr

 

[Hawk2846]

Candle holder

IMG_2008-89 by g_wildcat66, on Flickr

Happy old man

IMG_1999-80 by g_wildcat66, on Flickr

Goat as pet

IMG_1997-78 by g_wildcat66, on Flickr

Fellow shooters

IMG_1995-76 by g_wildcat66, on Flickr

Lonely monkey

IMG_1967-49 by g_wildcat66, on Flickr

 

[limwhow]

Always like portrait of the elderly, they always give me a sense of having been through a lot, lots of hardship and experience.. the eyes are looking at you, wanting to telll you all his experience
:thumbsup: to limwhow

ClemC, sorry miss out your reply.
Thank you so much for your encouragement!
I still have much to learn about portraiture photography from my fellow much more experienced photographers.

 

[cnleong]

[/url]
IMG_2867 by leong88, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[limwhow]

My Bhaktapur shots...

Hey, nice one, Dinosour! How come I didn't see that angle?!
You are really good, you know that, Dinosour?
Throughout the trip I think you are one of the more diligent and on-the-b*ll shooters for your camera gears are ALWAYS with you and we ALWAYS see you with your camera strapped tightly to your right wrist so that you never miss a chance for a good shot!
Kudos to you, Dinosour!

Add in one more
When you hear the bell of ice cream cart you still thought is the cow or donkey coming from behind

LOL hahaha... ding dong ding dong ding dong ding dong... ice cream Dropkyo coming....!

My shot at Durbar Square

More to come

Wah.. Wind450D, like that is fantastic! You win thumbsup!... all the beautiful angle you covered nicely already!
Great job great job!

Since we are still at Bhaktapur...

1) Thangka school 'educational talk'.

Yah... this is when the S$270 Thangka hasn't come out from the lady's store yet.
I think a few of us, including Adrian, was almost keen to buy a couple of the Thangkas to hang on our hotel walls...! HAHAHA...!

2) Adrian & Acrux giving out chocolate to the kids.

DSC_2236 by KC_Tng, on Flickr

Yupe yupe yupe... Santa Claus in Bhaktapur yah!!!

 

[limwhow]

hahaha... limwhow, trying to stress me out huh?
I haven't reached Holi festival yet leh... You guys are way too fast ahead (makes me wonder whether you have a day job or not ah?)

Haha... no lah... where got stress you?
You are way ahead of me in your research on the various subjects, what more with your Jamling Tenzin Norgay book by your side 24hours a day (Hahaha...).
I will try to pain some skeleton but will certainly need your more detailed input!

 

[SgTrekker]

hahaha thank you for the compliment. i am still far from the your shots and am still learning.

Hahaha.... very very nice candid record shots, Melvin!
You are becoming a real professional record photographer, my good man!
Very soon, the Singapore Association of Record Photographers (SARP) will award you a Life Membership, and you can become the Vice President. !

cnleong. welcome onboard and great to see you posting here !

[/url]
IMG_2867 by leong88, on Flickr[/IMG]

ah wong, really modest lah. The colour treatment for local children shot is like good old japanese movie. loved that look.

Local Children

IMG_1990-71 by g_wildcat66, on Flickr

Angmoh tourist

IMG_2019-100 by g_wildcat66, on Flickr

and i must say that this angmoh tourist is probably on everyone's memory card.

 

[limwhow]

Candle holder

IMG_2008-89 by g_wildcat66, on Flickr

Nice nice nice!

Goat as pet

IMG_1997-78 by g_wildcat66, on Flickr

Now I know. Ah Wind450D shoot this shot from the back of the pet and you shot from the front of the pet!
Great shot, Ah Hawk2846 Wong!

Fellow shooters

IMG_1995-76 by g_wildcat66, on Flickr

I like this one very much... Like we all going to walk up to climb mountain like that!

 

[SgTrekker]

Sorry guys, still stuck in Bali, no time to PP my photos, great to see so many good angles and photos! KC, your monkey drinking the water is my personal favorite, well timed and perfect composition. Goose my man, truly hilarious joke, made my day after a tiring evening at Bali. Whow, WKCheah, tks for keeping the thread alive, if I'm not wrong, someone messaged me at 1am asking where the thread was, so I had to pull my achy bones out of bed, PP'ed a random pic and start the thread by 1.59am

But jokes aside, this is one of the most memorable trips I've led and it's partly due to the dynamism and fun loving folks that you guys are, truly an honor to have undertaken this journey with you all. Keep the pics coming, I always learn so much more when I view my fellow travellers' contributions.

Ok gotta sleep now, waking up at 430am for sunrise shoot :S

Till I return - Adrian, SGTrekker

 

[campoes]

Fiuhh.....everyone have started posting the photos like a machine gun... like wkceah said, I also wonder if you guys have a day job or not hehehe
Here's my humble contribution on the trips, pardon me if the quality is not there yet, still learning....learning and learning

01. Before I start sharing my Nepal shot, let me share some of the pre-departure photos to give some behind the scenes feeling
My main inspiration for this trip came after I read a novel based on true story by Jeffrey Archer - Path of Glory.
Some info about this book -->

"Some people have dreams so outrageous that if they were to achieve them, their place in history would be guaranteed. Path of Glory is the story of such a man. But not until you've turned the last page of this extraordinary novel you will be able to decide if George Mallory should be added to a list of legends because, if he were, another name (Sir Edmund Hillary) would have to be removed."

02. Upon signing up the for the trip, i was informed to do physical exercise regulary to prepare ourselves for the ascend. So....the routine started with RUN....

 

[campoes]

Fiuhh.....everyone have started posting the photos like a machine gun... like wkceah said, I also wonder if you guys have a day job or not hehehe
Here's my humble contribution on the trips, pardon me if the quality is not there yet, still learning....learning and learning

01. Before I start sharing my Nepal shot, let me share some of the pre-departure photos to give some behind the scenes feeling
My main inspiration for this trip came after I read a novel based on true story by Jeffrey Archer - Path of Glory.
Some info about this book -->
"Some people have dreams so outrageous that if they were to achieve them, their place in history would be guaranteed. Path of Glory is the story of such a man. But not until you've turned the last page of this extraordinary novel you will be able to decide if George Mallory should be added to a list of legends because, if he were, another name (Sir Edmund Hillary) would have to be removed."

02. Upon signing up the for the trip, i was informed to do physical exercise regulary to prepare ourselves for the ascend. So....the routine started with RUN....

 

[campoes]

03. Stairs climbing

04. Cycle

05. And not to forget, regular "G" drinks to replenish the lost ions and minerals

 

[campoes]

06. Finally the D-day is here, the journey started from 6am at Changi Airport to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport.

07. After almost 3 hours flight from Suvarnabhumi, finally we reached Kathmandu Tribhuvan International Airport !!
The weather in Kathmandu for next few days continue to be gloomy like this

08. Upon reaching Kathmandu, we checked-in to Vaishali Hotel then proceed to the Swayambhunath Stupa. Inside the area you can find my people selling souvenir such as this gemstone necklace.

 

[campoes]

09. Swayambhunath is located atop the hill, from there you can see the Kathmandu Valley.
Too bad the view was obstructed by fog and smokes.

10. Prayer wheel or Mani wheel.
According to the lineage texts on prayer wheels, prayer wheels are used to accumulate wisdom and merit (good karma) and to purify negativities (bad karma). In Buddhism, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have created a variety of skillful means (upaya) to help bring practitioners ever closer to realizing enlightenment. The idea of spinning mantras relates to numerous Tantric practices where the Tantric practitioner visualizes mantras revolving around the nadis and especially around the meridian chakras such as the heart and crown.
Therefore prayer wheels are a visual aid for developing one's capacity for these types of Tantric visualizations.

11. Modernization

 

[campoes]

12. While roaming around the area, I saw this lady so focus with her drawing. With curiousity I approached her and have small conversation about Swayambhunath Stupa.

13. This is the drawing that attracted my attention.

14. And this is the real life size model of her drawing

15. A golden spire crowning a conical wooded hill, Swayambhunath Stupa is the most ancient and enigmatic of all the holy shrines in Kathmandu valley. Its lofty white dome and glittering golden spire are visible for many miles and from all sides of the valley. Historical records found on a stone inscription give evidence that the stupa was already an important Buddhist pilgrimage destination by the 5th century AD.