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The river that we crossed the bridge over.
Another picture of the first river.
Anish, our porter at the river.
The daugher of the inn owner where we stayed.
And this is the little sister.
This girl was chasing this poor goat all over the place until she finally caught it.
Panorama from the top of the trail at Ghyaru.
Mike and I along the high road to Manang.
Mike and I along the high road to Manang. Check out that scenery!
Here I am with our porter Anish on the high road to Manang. He was a loyal little guy and my buddy on the trip. He often hiked along side with me in case I needed anything.
Here's our hotel "New Yak" with Annapurna III behind, just before sunrise.
Annapurna III at sunrise. You can still see the moon.
Panorama of Annapurna III at sunrise. Blaine and I had hiked further up the hillside for better photos.
Closeup of snow dusted trees on Annapurna III.
Snow blowing off the top of Annapurna III.
Annapurna III along the hike to the Ice Lake.
Flags at the summit of the ice lake at 15,200 feet.
After hiking up 4,000 feet in 4 hours, the first thing that Mike and I wanted to do was throw a rock into the Ice Lake. Here I am throwing a rock into the lake. You can see it flying through the air in the upper right.
The ice lake after our 4,000 feet climb. Blaine and Bethany are sitting in the bottom right corner and Anish our porter is in the bottom left corner.
A cow along the way to Yak Kulka.
Our guide Raj along the trail to Yak Kulka.
Even teenagers in Nepal like to own Mustangs. We got passed by this guy as we hiked futher towards Yak Kulka.
As we get higher, we're getting closer to Thorong La. Only a few days away here.
Here we are just after setting out for breakfast. Anish is in front of me here carring our gear. It had snowed last night which made everything look beautiful.
I had gotten ahead of the group and was killing time waiting for them to catch up. I amused myself by taking pictures of people going by. We're at about 13,000 feet right here.
It always amazed me how much stuff these guys can carry.
The porters always manage to make it look so easy, although the snow was wet and in places got very packed and slick.
This was a nice couple from Australia that I chatted with for a while as I waited for the others to catch up.
I was rather amused by this sign and spent several minutes photographing it before looking ahead and watching the rocks come down the side of the hill across the narrow path we had to go down. Fortunately, there were large outcroppings you could scamper between to get safely through.
Here is a picture of the camp at Thorong Phedi. (15,000 feet)
The camp at Thorong Phedi. Right around 15,000 feet. This is where we stayed before we went over the top of the Thorong La.
The sun starts to come up as we hike up to the pass. Here, we are about halfway to high camp at around 15,600 feet.
The group had stopped to drink some water when I turned around and snapped this shot. We're about halfway through the morning here at around 16,600 feet.
A panorama that I took closer to the top of the pass later in the morning. You can make out a halo around the sun in the upper left part of the photo.
The sign letting you know that you made it to the summit. (17,800 ft).
Mike and I at the summit of the Thorong La (17,800 ft).
Reading on my altitude watch at the summit.
My boots and hiking poles after reaching the end of hiking down the other side of the summit. In one day you go up 2,800 feet up to the summit, and then down almost 5,700 feet on the other side.
After the beauty of the snow, it now felt like we were on Mars. The dark dots on the side of the cliff face are caves from who knows how long ago. Unfortunately you're not allowed to go explore them.
After being in the freezing cold only several days before, it was weird to be in the lush green (and hot!) valleys as we hiked lower in altitude.
You could find these guys along the way. They bite and are poisonous.
Stack of wood. Here's a prime example of deforestation in Nepal. The wood is cut to heat lodges for tourists. The Nepalese people don't naturally use wood to stay warm.
Local woman washing her clothes in a river.
Chicken in a village we were staying in.
The price of not having properly broken in boots. Here is a blood blister on Michael's foot.
As we walked back up out of the valleys, the landscape became more rugged. Here you can see a house surrounded by terraced farming.
A house in the village along the way to Ghorapani. I lighted the lighting in this picture.
Fresh garlic at the guest house we stayed at on the way to Ghorapani.
This is the daughter of the guest house owner where we stayed. I had her give me the "Namaste" sign for "hello."
Before dinner, I took a walk to go take some pictures and I found this little guy.
This woman was watching me take pictures of the kids and when I smiled at her, she gave me a big smile too. I asked for her permission to take a picture, and was surprised when she said yes. We were two weeks into the trip and she was the first old woman to let me take her photo.
Along the way to Ghorapani, we passed through a small village. It was still early morning and the lighting was magical. This little cutie came running to the door when we passed and I snapped her photo. I think this is my favorite photo that I took on the trip.
A common sight along the trail, donkeys fullen loaded down walking from village to village.
Here's the path up to Ghorapani that we hiked.
Right after the previous photo, this guy was standing in an open field watching us pass by.
Peppers drying in the sun in Ghorapani.
This young woman was drying rice and let me take her photo.
A beautiful site at the end of a day of hiking, your room. Time for rest!
Sunrise just starting to show at Poon Hill.
An hour after sunrise at Poon Hill.
Sunrise in the morning from Poon Hill. The reason this panorama looks so short is because it is such a wide angle. The shots stiched together here are somewhere between 180 and 270 degrees of view from the top of Poon Hill.
Rhododendron flower on the way down.
Cilantro drying in the sun in a town we passed on the way down. I couldn't believe that they had cilantro in Nepal since I always associate it with salsa and Mexican cooking.
This boy was pouting on the porch when we walked by, so I snapped his photo.
Here's a local man in front of his store along the way.
Here's a little cutie making the sign for "Namaste" or "Hello" in Nepalese.
This old man let Blaine and I take pictures of him, then promptly asked for money.
Cabbage growing in a field towards the end of the trail.
These kids were having ball climbing the haystack and sliding down.
Since we were finishing at a lower altitude, there was more farmland and animals such as this buffalo to do the work.
Flowers along the river at the end of the trail at Birethanti.
I walked ahead on our way to the bus to take some pictures, and found this guy napping in a doorway. This is really the only good picture that I got of the dog, because once the owner saw me trying to take pictures of the dog, he started messing with it to screw up my photos.
This little girl was given a teddy bear by some German tourists. This is a huge problem because it gives them the expectation to expect gifts, and makes the rest of the kids angry who don't get gifts or treats.
As I was walking ahead to the bus station, I came across these women. These two women were sisters and I found it odd that they were eager to have their picture taken. I was happy to oblige.
As I was walking ahead to the bus station, I came across these women. These two women were sisters and I found it odd that they were eager to have their picture taken. I was happy to oblige.
Maoist election poster on the way to the bus station in Birethanti.
I love how they used stones to brick the windows closed.
Right around the corner from the bricked up windows, they had pepper drying out in the sun.
Onions in a local market in Birethanti while we were waiting on a bus.
Billboard in Pokhara. Reach for the best noodles! The ones that go Shaka Laka Boom! Sadly, I didn't get to try these.
Another favorite billboard of mine in Pokhara, panther condoms. Anyone else reminded of the movie Anchorman? I bet they're made with bits of real panther and 65% of the time, they work every time.
On the bus ride back., we hit traffic. Here's a shot that I took from the back of the bus. You can see that there is no order anywhere on the streets. People just drive anywhere, which is how you get stuck in such jams. There are no lanes or traffic lights, people just drive.
The spire in the Monkey Temple in Katmandu.
Prayer flags at the Monkey Temple.
Buddhist prayer wheels in the Monkey Temple. I played with the effect by spinning the two wheels and leaving the center one stationary.
These coins were for sale in the Monkey Temple. You could buy them and try to throw them in a pot at the bottom of a golden statue in a fountain.
This is the woman who was selling the coins. Her teenage daughter was playing with some of them and spilled them everywhere. Mom proceeded to give her daughter "the business" and when she noticed that I was watching everything with a big grin on my face, she broke into a big smile. I asked permission to take her photo and she let me.
In Katmandu, everyone took a trip to a market / temple area together. I have an obsession with photographing things for sale in the markets.
Flowers for sale.
Anchovies for sale. It was weird to see them in a big basket for sale all dried out.
No one could figure out what this was. Looks like some kind of seaweed or funky noodles. It was right next to the fish.
Dried Cherries.
These are all different kinds of popcorn, with the exception of the peanuts in the middle.
Crap! Right outside the temple you have all of the crap sellers who hawk this junk to tourists. I did spring for an elephant for myself for a whopping five dollars.
The stuff that the Nepalese people will carry amazes me. They aways wear that head strap thing too. They must have the strongest necks in the world.
Katmandu has a big problem with kids sniffing glue. Here is a boy around 12-14 years old sniffing glue. His friends busted me taking his picture and then he bothered me for a good 15 minutes asking for money.
This old woman was in the market as well and let me take her photo.
After getting back to Katmandu, I booked a flight to go see Mt. Everest. Here you can see it as the dark triangle in the upper left of the photo.
Here's some more of the mountains just to the west of Everest.
Picture of the main temple in Katmandu (Bodhnath). Notice how similar it looks to the Monkey Temple.
A closer up view of the spire on the main temple.
The eyes on the temple are supposed to be the eyes of Buddah.
This monk was at the main temple. A very friendly guy, he also spoke excellent English.
Here's another view of the main temple in Katmandu.
This temple Pashupatinath that Andrea and I walked to had monkeys everywhere. I like this picture because it looks liek the monkey is doing Tai Chi.
This woman was selling food in the temple Pashupatinath that Andrea and I walked to. The whole thing is full of monkeys. Her customers were eating some sort of peas when monkeys began to sneak up behind them, and she pulled out her slingshot to scare the monkeys off.
Here's a neat building in the temple Pashupatinath.
This girl was keeping her mother company in the temple. She was too cute to pass up.
This temple was actually used for the cremation of bodies. Here is a funeral pyre going.
I bought my sister a couple of these wool hats.
Rum and Coke out on the balcony for everyone on our last night together. Set the exposure for 30 seconds to get the flame jumping around.
Playing with my camera as we drank out on the balcony. Set the timer to 30 second exposure to get the clouds goin' by.
Whats the significance of this cat? A. It's feral and B. it's in the middle of the god foresaken Delhi Airport, which is the biggest, crappiest airport I've ever been in, in all of my life. Sadly, I was unable to get any pictures of the bat flying around.