More USA (2001-2005)

Here are some more phots from my travels in the USA (text updates to follow)

Californian Redwood forest north of San Francisco. The San Francisco bay area is often covered in fog. This effect was created when the fog mixed with bright sunshine. Tahoe panorama from Diamond Peak. This is 5 photos joined together. It shows a typical day at Diamond Peak looking down Crystal Ridge towards the lake.
Driving in a blizzard (notice the snow building up on the bonnet - it started to jam the wipers and block our view so we had to stop and remove it regularly). On this day it took me hours to get over the Mt Rose pass - normally would take 45 minutes. It was the start of a storm that delivered almost 6 meters of snow in 2 weeks.

It was always very interesting to drive in the snow. You had to battle extremely slippery roads, non-existent visibility, doors freezing shut, air intakes blocking with ice, and fatigue from the level of concentration required.

Snowing in Inlcine Village, Lake Tahoe. When it snowed, everything got covered creating a surreal effect.

Nepal Expedition (Jan 2006) - Page 3

I haven't uploaded in a while. Here are some new photos from my Nepal collection.

Hindu dervishes pose for the camera.

These are the kids from the school where we spent 3 days repairing the neglected buildings. They were fascinated with us and our cameras. After I took this photo they grabbed the camera to see the image. The famous buddhist stupa in Kathmandu.

A house with a view in the Annapurna region. Everything they used to build the houses had to be carried up narrow paths on the backs of porters.
This photo was taked through the cockpit as we approached Lukla airport. The plane took a steep dive directly into the steep mountain. The landing strip was on the side of the mountain with a rock wall at the end. It was the most interesting landing that I have done.

A lot of rubbish was burnt in the streets. As I walked through Namche Bazaar I noticed the sun shining through the smoke and took this picture.

Ama Dablam dominated the landscape for days as we trekked along the Everest trail. Some of our Nepali porters had climbed the mountain the year before. They climbed alone before the main expedition to set up the climbing equipment. A huge effort.

Sunrise over Kathmandu.

This photo was taken out of my lodge window in Namche Bazaar just after dawn. Smoke from fires on the mountain peaks cause the red haze in the valley.

While in Kathmandu we took a trip to Bhaktapur. We visited a school where we could watch the students paint hugely complex paintings. At times they use a one hair brush and the paintings can take months to finish. Shortly after I took this photo another person in the room accidently kicked the stand the painting was on causing the brush to slip...oops!