all pix below are taken during the 15 minute flight from simara to kathmandu today. the day was pretty breezy.. so it seems to have swept the air clean of all the dust.. especially the dust over the valley.
the pix are hazy due to the scratchy tinted windows of the buddha air beechcraft. but i have posted them nevertheless.. as the flight offered a slice of nepali topography like none other.. straight from the terai plains .. over the chure.. the bhitri madhesh, the lower mahabharat.. and the then steep cliffs and into the valley.. with a view of the lofty showcapped himalaya to the north..
the wing features in most of the pictures.. but there was nothing i could do about it : )
banking northwards from simara.. over wheat fields of the terai
over the misty haze the dry riverbeds wind their way southwards... the thick band of jungle must have been one barrier that helped protect nepal from invasion...
... and already a peek of the himalaya over the wing... annapurna II
.. over the chure...
.. and beyond it the valley .. and the east west highway
.. dragonback folds of the mahabharat range...
... on the other side.. the himalaya of the khumbu region...
... the mahabharat range starts rising...
... and get steeper...
.. and steeper... this surely must have been the major deterrent to invaders from the south...
but nothing can prevent the invasion of dozers... how long can that road last? till next monsoon?
two roads heading south from the valley.. the naumule one at the top... and the fast track one hugging the filthily frothy bagmati below
.. the first view of the valley...
snow covered ganesh himal
.. inside the valley now...
... what a feast for the eye to find a smog-dust less kathmandu!
southern edge.. still a lot of farmland...
...but fast being encroached by voraciously hungry brick kilns...
... housing colonies spread their tentacles...
...haphazard urbanisation eats away the greens...
...near hattiban ...
... and past it.. with rising superstructures...
... and little angels...
...houses get more crowded...
... over the now-made-characterless hanumante river...
.. and over the houses that are crowing near the river banks.. lord forbid a flood.. or liquefaction due to earthquake ...
...nearing the gauchar...
...over the highway...
.. over our once-upon-a-time-plane watching spot...
... and unto the tarmac...
... ganesh himal still in view...
.. and on the other side chhoba bhamare also still in sight...
... past a bigger cousin...
... and as our plane finally stops.. ganesh himal hidden behind a mesh of uttis trees and maintenance scaffolding...
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