HX Report
Irishman in the Middle East
Weekly Photo Challenge – Beneath Your Feet
Posted on August 7, 2015
Slightly off theme!
At the end of the day we all die. Sad, but what to do! And if you happened to live and die in Nepal, chances are you would end up like the robed dead body in the picture, taken at the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu.
Before a dead body is cremated it must first go through the ceremony of purification, which involves taking the body to the edge of the holy Bagmati River, dipping & washing the feet of the body in the water. Following purification, the body is then moved to the adjoining area of funeral pyres where the body is burnt and the ashes washed into the river on completion – onwards towards the next life and eventually (hopefully) reaching Nirvana.
You will notice the the feet of the body extend beyond the end of the timber/straw pyre. As the body burns, relatives will eventually manoeuvre the feet into the flames with bamboo or timber poles.
Nepal – In better days (2)
Posted on May 28, 2015
MB mentioned the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal in last weekend’s post. A few words of explanation:
A Week Of Women – Day Nr 4
Posted on March 18, 2015
Motorbiking
All over the third world you will see thousands and thousands of motorbikes and scooters in daily use, as people seek the cheapest possible means of motorised transport. A woman may be attracted to a man who owns a bike rather than one who does not. In many countries the law on safety helmets is extremely lax. The below photo was taken by MB in Nepal where the law requires only the driver to wear a helmet. The huge level of poverty means that more often than not a second helmet is not acquired. Consequently many many women die in vehicular accidents. Kathmandu, the capital city reports some 130 serious accidents every day and thousands of minor ones.
A Week Of Women – Day Nr 3
Posted on March 16, 2015
Nepal
Traveled to Nepal in 2012. Spent an entire day trekking through the hills in an area called Nagarkot, about a one hour drive from the capital city Kathmandu. During that day and on other occasions on other days, MB witnessed the females doing most of the manual labour in the fields. Where heavy work was concerned, men were practically invisible. Maybe because many of the men go to the capital to find work. Or emigrate to the construction sites of the Arabian Gulf. Qatar, as MB has noticed in recent months, is wash with Nepalese men working on the sites. But not sure really.
Weekly Photo Challenge – Orange
Posted on March 6, 2015
Weekly Photo Challenge: On Top
Posted on April 18, 2014
A Kestrel soars over Kathmandu, Nepal. October 2012.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Unexpected
Posted on November 22, 2013
At a Buddhist Temple, Kathmandu. October 2012.
Weekly Photo Challenge: In the background
Posted on May 24, 2013
Pigeon & friends. At a temple in Kathmandu, Nepal. October 2012.
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