My trip to Nepal in 2014

Wrap up of my trip to Nepal in 2014. Here it is finally! The blog post I promised would be coming a long time ago about my trip to Nepal is finally done.

I travelled to Nepal for work and was lucky enough to have enough spare time to combine my stay with a photography workshop from Within The Frame, time to visit the south of Nepal and trek Langtang.

Dōdhar – the dilemma

The work was to film a documentary about a Swiss research project from the University of Bern, the University of Lausanne and partners like IUCN, and ICIMOD. The research looked at outmigration, climate change and sustainable land management in Nepal and Bolivia. We spent almost two weeks visiting remote villages near Pokhara to talk to villagers about their life and how the fact that most men migrate away impact their lives. Or as the official description goes:

Outmigration is not new in rural Nepal, but recently villages have seen all their working men leave their families for years on end. “The dilemma” explores outmigration, feminisation and land management in mountainous rural villages in western Nepal.

The film was recently released on YouTube, and you can watch “Dōdhar – the dilemma” here:

For more information about the film and the research project go here.

Nepal within the Frame

Before the filming, I took part in a photography workshop led by Jeffrey Chapman and Winslow Lockhart from Within the Frame where we spent days exploring and photographing in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur.

nepal-10

I have put together a little book with some of the pictures I took during the workshop and the following weeks. You can have a look and, if you like, even buy it on blurb:

Glimpses of Nepal

To travel, to experience and learn: that is to live.
Tenzing Norgay

 

Then with only a couple of days left, I had just enough time to trek in Langtang which was a beautiful teahouse trek that lasted five days.

nepal-1

 

Only a couple of months after my trip a series of huge earthquakes hit Nepal, killing thousands, destroying ancient temples and levelling villages – Langtang village was completely destroyed. The long lasting effects of the earthquakes; fewer tourists, major reconstruction work that is still not done, are still felt in the country today.

If you have the chance to go to Nepal, don’t hesitate! It’s a great country with great people, and it will change you, and you will never forget your trip.

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