My New Canon Digital Camera (Plus Obit to My Old DigiCam)

dinesh wagle with canon digital camera
Wagle with new Canon digital camera that displays his own image- the first photo that was taken by the camera on the day he bought it. This photo and the one displayed were taken by Suraj Kunwar on 31 and 19 October. Clicking on the image will display the its enlarged version.

19 Oct [Kathmandu]: I vividly remember that day, some four years ago in the same shop in New Road where I bought a brand new Canon Digital Camera today, I had gone to buy a digital camera. That was Canon A370 camera, two 128 MB memory cards, two pairs of rechargeable batteries and a battery charger. I paid Rs. 27,000 for all that (the camera was 3.2 Mega Pixel).

The camera I bought today the camera is 7.1 Mega Pixel (Canon A570) and the pack included a slim 2 GB memory card, a pair of rechargeable batteries and a battery charger. The LCD is bigger and has more shock resistance capacity. The total cost: Rs. 19000. I could also add the inflation in Nepali market and currency over the last three years. Continue reading

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Riding, Walking and Playing [Day 2 of 6]

two girls in a bus

These girls were heading to their home for the Dashain vacation. They had reserved the bus because no vehicles were plying on the 9th day of Dashain.

20 October (Timbu): We started walking on the unpaved road from Kunta Beshi in the morning: the target was Melamchi Bazaar where the administrative site offices of the super-talked about drinking water project in Nepal are located. Just as we started the walking we saw some kids playing ping. We wanted to play and take photographs. That was the first time I had played ping after almost a decade. It was like riding a bicycle after a long interval. I started having difficulties in walking. Continue reading

Faces of a Little Lady in Timbu. We Ate Potatoes in Her House!

Her name is Tenzen Angmu Lama, 6. She studies at grade 1 in a local school (Kakani Primary Schoo). When we reached her home in search of food on the second day of the trip, she was playing with herself. Her mother kindly agreed to boil potatoes for us after we requested and told her that we were really hungry and needed to eat anything that was possible to make at that point in time. A hotel nearby was closed and we were very hungry. No other homes were nearby, only a dense jungle was ahead of us. Continue reading

A Hindu Festival in a Buddhist Monastery

An example of religious harmony in Nepal. [But some people want to differ. That is why this post has an update below on 28 October.]

Hindu Festival Dashain Celebrations in a Buddhist Monastery

This Padmasambhava idol of lord Buddha is taken out of the Tarke Gyang monastery only once in a year, on the day of Dashami (10th and most important day of Dashain festival), according to the head monk (lama). [Related article in Nepali: पदयात्राका पात्रहरू Below is the video of the ceremony.]

Oct 21 [Tarke Gyang]: They say traveling is learning. I feel that’s right. You learn about so many things while traveling new places. About cultures and people. When we reached Tarke Gyang, village in Helambu region, we saw a ceremony in the Monastery there. What’s that about? We wanted to know. “It’s our Dashain,” said the main monk (Lama) who was performing the ceremony. “You guys celebrate Dashain in your own ways and we celebrate it in our own way.” He was taking us as Hindu. Dashain is the biggest festival of Hindus and is considered national festival in Nepal though many would like to counter this “consideration”. I had always known that Hindu and Buddhist religions are so interrelated in Nepali society that their followers live in harmony. Buddha was born in Nepal and Hindu religion considers him an incarnation of lord Vishnu. Hindus celebrate Buddha Purnima (full moon day, the day Buddha was born and got enlightenment) and Buddhists also celebrate many Hindu traditions. I used to think not until long ago that there was actually no difference in these two religions because of the way followers of these two religions enjoy such a nice relationship. As I have mentioned in my Interests page, I am religiously secular person and I respect all religions equally. So the Dashain celebration in the Tarke Gyang monastery was an example of religious harmony for me. “Hindus sacrifice many animals during the two days of Maha Astami and Maha Nawami (eighth and ninth day of 15-day long Dashain),” said Kanchha Lama, the head monk of the monastery. “And we fast on those two days and prey for the soul of those animals killed in those two days.” And a young man added: “Hindus put tika from their seniors. We receive tika in the evening from head Lama.” Continue reading

Playing Ping While Trekking Helambu [Day 2 of 6]

Because it was Dashain time we played ping in at three places in this journey: Kunta Beshi, Keyul and Golfu Bhyanjyang. When I played after almost a decade, it was quite an exhilarating experience. But after playing, I felt difficult in walking properly. Something similar happens when you ride bicycle in a long time.

playing ping while doing helambu trek

Yea, that’s Wagle, playing Ping for the first time in almost a decade! Kunta Beshi Continue reading