Wonderful Kathmandu! Sharing photos from a recent walk (August 6, 2025) when I was celebrating a sunny day after a long, long row of dull weather, which had made me practically a prisoner of my humble twin room.
Google Weather - early August in Kathmandu, Nepal
A home filled with plenty - never without a stock of carrots, bell peppers, apples, garlic, bread, and local cheese - and all sorts of tea from classic black one to mint and chamomile that I brew with the help of my charming travel kettle... Happy the owner of the hotel never entered the room to find out how much I turned it into a kitchen... But I digress - the walk:
The very center of this amazing city.
Few travelers, very few. You are quite unique when visiting Kathmandu in the monsoon season.
No matter where you turn your head - it's cool everywhere.
Windows, wires, archways, yards, shrines (big, small, tiny, and even tinier) - don't rush, look around, and enjoy every step.
Or let's say, what can be more boring than a standard souvenir shop? Because it's normally a place where they sell cheap, tawdry stuff, produced in a factory somewhere in China. But not in Kathmandu:
Many items are made by hand here, if not all - carvings.
If you don't know, carving is a superpower of Nepal.
You can see carved artworks just on regular residential buildings not to mention numerous palaces, Buddhist and Hindu temples.
That's not a museum, that's just in the street.
Slow down and pay attention to the details. Dive in small alleys - any of them can lead to another masterpiece.
This time - stone carving:
And! - people use it - that's not a decoration from the past, long abandoned by everyone like in most European old towns, but a sacred part of people's everyday life. That's what I love about Kathmandu.
An entrance of a residential building, with an electronics shop on the left:
Entering a temple's grounds:
All religions are welcome - a nice reminder:
And that's the facade of the temple itself:
Chasing and repousse metal art is on the top level here, too.
In the era of AI and all sorts of faking, if you still prefer real things, go to Kathmandu and support local artists by buying or taking courses, etc. There are many of them, and many schools of craft and art that are trying to survive.
A word about people. Nepal is a mix of Asian and Indo-Aryan, and sometimes I feel it blends the best features of these two generalizations: people here seem to have a connection to the spontaneity and creativity of the subconscious, yet they are also no strangers to order. I am just sharing how I feel about the locals.
Photographing locals, being in the dense crowd of the late afternoon:
The trade in traditional Nepalese and Indian clothing is another big industry in Kathmandu.
A drum shop - "special for all kinds of classical, traditional folk drums and modern instruments":
She was sleeping so sweetly, I couldn't pass without sneaking a pic:
Kathmandu is wonderful for street photography of all sorts!
The twilight:
Around 7 p.m., the old town becomes a large traffic jam - worth seeing if you are a foreigner - and worth walking through, lol:
The city is absolute fun, love it, many walks are ahead, many thoughts, many feelings... Stay tuned! :-)
All photos were taken by me with a Nikkor 50mm on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 on August 6, 2025 (but #11 from the top and #4 from the bottom on August 1) in Kathmandu, Nepal