Good News! The Queen of Bhutan intervened for me at the Immigration office, through a friend of my Lama’s family. She sent an SMS message to the Immigration Director, encouraging him to consider my visa, instead of waiting 6 months. He agreed immediately. Now I can go to Bhutan in two weeks. Thank you! After our marriage is signed by the court in the Lama’s home village, it will be official. Then it will be simpler for me to stay in Bhutan.
This week my travel blog is about the amazing people I see every day in Nepal, India, and Bhutan. A photo opportunity happens very fast, and I’m getting quicker at catching them. Many of these are my photos, others are from online. How do people carry things? These creative and resilient people will blow you away.
A happy family journey. Even the dog and her little puppy are coming!
This hardworking entrepreneur carries an entire store on his bicycle. He sailed past me so fast I was lucky to catch the shot.
This lady grows fresh spinach, carries it to Kathmandu, and sells at the Boudha Stupa.
This man wires all his containers together to carry on his bike.
A young man delivers water to the stores by my hotel.
Women are the primary carriers of bricks in construction.
2 young brothers carry heavy rocks for paving stones in the mountains of Nepal.
Did you know that Adolf Hitler presented the King Truibhuvan of Nepal, with a 1938 Model Mercedes-Benz, and it was the first car even seen in Nepal? The car was hoisted on a platform with poles and carried by fifty men. The first highway in Nepal wasn’t built until 1956, so there were no roads in the mountainous countryside. Workers had to carry the car on the rocky foot trails all the way from India to Kathmandu. Hitler probably didn’t imagine these obstacles.
BTW Royal rule in Nepal ended in 2001 when King Birendra (grandson of King Truibhuvan that received the car) was killed by his son the Crown Prince Dipendra in a machine gun massacre, along with most of the Nepal royal family.
Eggs are usually carried on bikes. This one parked his eggs to make a delivery nearby.
When packaged close together like this, eggs are not so fragile. And they’re never refrigerated.
A bookcase is delivered to a customer in Kathmandu.
Oranges and watermelon, special delivery to your door.
I watched this enterprising man carry food around to Boudha shopkeepers, who have no time to leave their stalls.
This young man found a very ingenious way to carry flutes in Kathmandu, just a few steps away from my room.
A bicycle, and especially the wheels, can be used in a thousand ways.
Women delivering bricks from a brick factory. In my Kathmendu medical sessions last year, many of the older women had destroyed the cartilage in their knees. All we could do was to help relieve the pain.
Straw is used for animal feed during the cold winters. Do you think any vehicle could navigate this road?
These ladies gather wood from the forest and carry it home over a suspension bridge.
A Bhutanese grandmother harvests red rice.
Sand is used to make cement, and the ladies do all the heavy carrying.
A hand pulled rickshaw in Kolkata. These have mostly been replaced by bicycle rickshaws.
Many areas have no roads, so vehicles are impossible. This woman’s basket and a strong back do the job.
It’s an idyllic life for hardy souls in the mountains of Nepal. Wood is essential for cooking and staying warm in cold winters.
This mother and daughter carry impossibly heavy loads up the mountain on their backs.
A woman carefully carries pipes for construction across a suspension bridge. I wonder how much they weigh?
Carrying drinking water up to your home means climbing all the way up the mountain.
Nepalese women carry amazing loads. I see this every day, and it blows me away.
A Sherpa father and son carry loads for trekkers in the mountains of Nepal. They’re so strong they can do three times the work of the trekkers.
OMG. This isn’t my photo. But just the other night a man almost ran into me with a ladder on his bike. Really. He was very careful not to hit me as we exchanged smiles.
A woman and her husband gather wood for cooking in the mountains of Nepal.
It is very common to see a woman carrying a huge load of grass for animals.
Early in the morning a street vendor heads off to work.
Three brothers carry candy floss on a stick near the Boudha in Kathmandu.
I passed this man at the Boudha. He probably can’t ride the bike when its full, but he can sell more potatoes in a moveable store.
Motorbikes are even better than bicycles for delivering everything.
This 3-wheeled rickshaw seats 10 people, and the driver is so young!
Thanks for joining me!
My travel log comes out every Friday, probably. If I have internet. Be well!