I don't use Google Maps in Kathmandu - my phone just doesn’t hold a charge - 10-15 minutes and it's off. It's not only about the battery - it's a very old mobile. I am going to buy new but I am a sort of lazy to do so. Later.
Secondly, I all the time missed travels of the old days.
When I arrived in Kathmandu, I drew a scheme of how to walk from the hotel to the city center and that's the only map in my pocket since then. So while I walk, I am trying to remember directions. Given the winding streets of old Kathmandu, this means I sometimes get lost. Which is great if your only goal is to get inspired.
Why? Maps app gives you a sense of control, and this control weakens the sensation of challenge and mystery. It also creates the feeling that your walk is actually a blend of real life and online, especially when you are constantly receiving messages and notifications from other apps. 👎😐
On one of these "blind walks", on August 16, 2025, I came across this dark street, having no idea where it led.
There was something special in it.
Alien light...
Someone's walking...
Moonkeys.
Saying moonkeys because that was the moon time. They were sitting in a row silently which alone was eerie considering how noisy they normally are.
I know macaque monkeys well but don't know moonkeys at all. I guess, along with the poor night vision, they have the same irrational fear of the dark as humans. And I worried I could trigger a mass hysteria in the group by crawling with the camera around them... 😁
Back to a lighter scene:
A little human ape. 😀 And another moonkey:
Yes, strangely, some Kathmandu macaques are active during dark hours...
I also witnessed such activity at the Swayambhu temple - I'll share some shots in the next color post.
A visit to the Swayambhu temple took a while so I had to go back to the hotel... and return to the same location two days later, wanting to continue observing night monkeys. However, as it happens, things didn't go as planned:
Going up the monkey road had no sense - rain could push the creatures into the vegetation, and the road itself looked abandoned - no traffic headlights that time, only raindrops pattering on the pavement in the uncomfortable dark...
Walking in a random direction, sneaking pics with the camera above my head.
Slopped streets of Kathmandu - what an opportunity for photography, love it.
So funny, how differently people treat rain: Vietnamese all wear colorful plastic ponchos, and Nepalese only use umbrellas.
As for me, I was wearing neither a poncho nor an umbrella. When the rain was too intense, I was hiding below awnings. But most time, I could walk under the rain without getting really wet - moisture evaporates quickly when it's warm, like, +22, and when you're moving.
The taxi... He noticed a foreigner (me) hiding below a tiny restaurant's awning and decided to expose his presence by "unintentionally" parking right in front of me. He blocked the view. But I have a solution for such situations - when someone blocks the view, include them in the frame.
Going back to the hotel through familiar places:
I enjoy this disaster street a lot 😁, never miss a chance to photograph at this location.
Cars are trying to squeeze past each other in a narrow spot. I’m standing above them on a concrete slab and taking photos of them - a passenger in one of the cars glanced at me like I was crazy. 😁
I love this thrill, when you are just feeling that you must photograph something like these cars not because something will come out of this but simply because you are obsessed with this "must photograph" impulse for an unclear reason - just pure fun with, probably, a drop of mockery. 😃
Almost at home.
The sneakers got wet, of course. Luckily, I had a pack of napkins in the room - I stuffed the shoes with them and put them under the fan.
The photos were taken with a Nikkor 50mm on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 on August 16 and 18, 2025, in Kathmandu, Nepal.