the best thing about monsoon in kathmandu is that it sweeps up the air, all the dust.. all the smoke... and leaves the air clean and clear... and then as september creeps in, the low grey clouds part occasionally to reveal unbelievably blue skies and high cirrus clouds... and on the ground the ever-changing shadows cast by the clouds... and the crush of concrete encroaching on the ever-shrinking, yet still defiant, paddy fields...
... a freshly bathed sky... a flash of cornflower blue with snowy white cumulus...
...always fascinating to watch the ever-changing play of shadows of cloud puffs on the green and grey valley floor...
... the tussle to claim the blue skies by clouds from the south...
... almost seeming to gobble up open spaces...
... closing up gaps ...
... and blocking out the sky ...
...light mist starts building up on hilltops to the south ...
... and soon grows and spills over the hilltops...
...gathering force, darkening the sky and pouring rain...
...into the nooks and crannies south of the valley...
...dark clouds to the west...
... and a promise of blue skies with the moon playing hide and seek to the east...
...as the evening wears on...
... the mixture of green paddy fields and brick and concrete in the valley...
... how long will this green patch behind sana gaon survive... two years ago there were no buildings where the paddy fields were...
... near lubhu these lush green terraces of paddy already having to fight space with buildings...
...trees in the narayanhiti and lajimpat area are the saving grace for downtown kathmandu...
... bankali forest beyond the airport... where red-tailed aircraft rule the roost...
... the airport with a new hangar at the end of the old runway... the built up space around it getting closer and closer...
... whether to its west...
... or to the east...
...dharahara is being smothered by buildings around it... and in the distance..some fields still survive below nagarjun...
... the old sardiny cluster of yala...
... and the newer cramped satellite townships growing to its south...
... oh to touch the green green fields of home...the maturing paddy fields in bistachhap...
... a freshly bathed sky... a flash of cornflower blue with snowy white cumulus...
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