these pictures were taken a month ago during my trip with visitors to ilam and panchthar districts in eastern most nepal. the air that week was absolutely clear.. no fog in ilam on our way up.. and mt. kanchanjunga and kumbakarna putting up their best silvery display. forgive my fascination of these mountains.. there are many pictures.. especially of the lovely shaped kumbakarna himal in various moods, from afar and zoomed up....
kanchanjunga and kumbakarna from the plane as we were descending into bhadrapur airport.. the latter looks dwarfed from this angle.. from the ground, kumbakarna seems to be almost rubbing shoulders with the third highest peak in the world!
we start heading up north from jhapa for the hills of ilam.. not shrouded in the usual mist
a taste of the far off mountains from kanyam..
ilam bajar is going to declare itself a 'green' town.. aside from being eco-friendly, it wants to do so literally too.. by painting all buildings (at least the facade) green
looking southwards in early morning jhismis...
... and north... a view tower is under construction at the top of the hill...
only in ilam can you go to school walking through a tea garden !
heading up north along the mechi highway towards panchthar...
... the green green hills of ilam...
... the view from pauwa bhanjyang was spectacular.. where one could see mountains to the west too.. in the khumbu region... the locals kept pointing to the mountain in the far right (which i think is makalu) as sagarmatha (everest) !
.. looking to the west...
.. and to the north east.... from far...
... and then up close...
... and closer still on some lesser known himals...
... and our handsome kumbakarna
.. such beautiful bodies... and below this beauty is where the earth heaved on 18 spetember 2011 causing widespread damage in all of the eastern hilly districts of nepal.. but caused even more death and destruction in neighbouring sikkim...
sentinels
... from where we came...
further down to the north in sumnima, lokta paper being dried in the sun...
lokta bark being cooked
.. and dried in the sun...
...basking in the sun and view and guffing...
surely the 'farest' .. seems so logical and correct!!!
a dusky view of the terraces below phidim...
looking westwards in the evening from phidim
... and northwards through and above the pine forest
just before the sun rays hit phidim next morning
the swanky sargam hotel in phidim.. what a change in five years! ; )
pathibhara hill comes into view as we head north towards nagi vdc
and the himals are smiling yet again...
looking towards taplejung
kumbakarna, formerly known as jannu himal too, is 7710m high, shorter than its sibling kanchanjunga which is 8598 m high!
lesser peaks around kanchanjunga
.. and the snowless cousins.. all the debris is probably what makes koshi such a silt laden river!
makalu peeks from the west!
tamor river valley as one looks northwards into taplejung
and a school with a view in nagi vdc.. one of the many schools that was damaged by the 2011 earthquake... the school has yet to complete the roofing of the new building built after the old one collapsed...
.. the school is now built with reinforcement... a major lesson learnt for the locals
a bamboo and earthen temporary learning centre built nearby so as not to deprive children of learning opportunity while the restoration and rebuilding works go on in the school
lalupatey in season adorn a welcome gate
godabari phool in full bloom
and pharsi in abundance in a local house...
there's so much pumpkin even the cattle are sick of eating them.. and there is such a glut in the little village market a pumpkin won't even fetch the farmers 5 rupees!
alainchi and amritso in nagi
.. and oranges too...
the mountains getting the yellow rays of another sunset...
.. and prayer flags flutter in the sky...
the himals catch the early morning rays the next day.. first kanchanjunga
.. and then kumbakarna...
... a few hours later...
amritso gleaming in the sun
just below phidim.. recently harvest paddy fields...
.. and the rushing hewa (?) river...
tea blossom.. didn't know they resembled wild roses!
this is said to the the oldest tea garden of ilam
old glory
just above mai khola
paddy being harvested ever so neatly!
the dry river bed.. the water is diverted to a hydro power plant.. i was told the water is let out only when there is a cremation to be held...
chhurpi galore....
and in kanyam.. we meet the long lost fog.. from there on it was fog all the way to ilam bajar...
so that was the trip to the eastern hills...
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