After staying in India for a month I decided to explore Nepal for ten days.  I flew from Varanasi straight to Kathmandu flying right over the Himalayan mountains and close to Mount Everest.  I couldn’t believe that the highest peak on Earth could be seen right outside my small window on the plane.  It was just sitting there with a small cloud hovering above it.  I managed to get one decent picture.  When I arrived in Kathmandu, I went to my hotel to get a good rest before my trekking began through the mountains the following day.  Although I did not have time to hike the mountains of Annapurna, I did manage to spend some time near Nagarkot where I enjoyed watching the sunrise over the Himalayas.  I stopped in the town of Bhaktapur where I met a whole family who had never seen a picture of themselves.  So I took one of all of them and showed them on my digital camera (last picture).  They were thrilled.

My visit to Nepal was welcomed by many Nepalese I met along the way.  They were very eager to show me around and help guide me to some of the best locations around Kathmandu.  Halfway through my stay, what turned out to be a nice day quickly turned to violence.  Locals began a protest on the streets of Kathmandu due to an increase in fuel prices.  The protest began peacefully but later escalated to violence as random moving vehicles were attacked with rocks.  Young men burned tires in the middle of the roads to prevent public transportation from crossing.  Police were involved and before you knew it, debris was flying all over the place.  I knew the risks involved by walking the streets, but I felt I needed to record what was going on in this once peaceful city that I remember when I first arrived.  Some of those pictures can be seen here.  Aside from all that, I had a great experience witnessing my first sunrise over Everest, endangered white rhinos in the wild, and monks praying at the temples.  I enjoyed my stay and plan to return one day to hike Annapurna.