As we hiked down from the remote villages of the high Himalaya and our month-long trip in Nepal entered its final few days, I knew we were getting close to civilization when we arrived in the village of Lukla and I saw a Nepali kid wearing a Britney Spears t-shirt. There is no getting-away from the worldwide influence of American pop culture, and I guessed that soon I’d be back home in the US, standing in line at the grocery store where I’d see People Magazine and the image (again) of Britney, or Paris, or some other celebrity bimbo.
Traveling and being away from home is hard, but re-entering the everyday world is harder.
There is a small airport in Lukla. A 45-minute flight on a prop plane gave us a last up-close view of the mountains, and--before we could say culture shock-- we were in Kathmandu, the crazy-frenetic city of honking horns, elbow-to-elbow humanity, and oversaturated colors.
A month earlier at the beginning of our trip, we’d arrived in Kathmandu to learn that the Hindu festival Dashmi was going on. Nepalis (even non-Hindus) were in full-on celebration mode then. Now, as we returned, we were told that we’d be witness to yet another festival.
We joined in the fun and took to the streets with the crowds. I photographed a funky group of enthusiastic (but not-very-good) musicians. I gave the musicians a donation of rupees but I suspected that if we lingered around those guys too long, they'd demand more money. We ducked into a Buddhist shrine where we knew we’d find peace and quiet. I watched as two young monks played inside a huge ceremonial bell, an old woman joining the boys in their game. Leah bought a cup of tea. I took portraits of some of the older monks.
That was our last day in Nepal.
Early the next morning we began the long trip home.
