The diving in Maldives was fabulous. I loved taking underwater photos. After the third day of diving I gave up trying to use my strobes and just used the camera and available light. My photos were pretty good. Some of the reefs look good, lots of different corals with interesting shapes and colors. But there is a lot of rubble on many reefs, which is good substrate for growth of new corals, but not so pretty in photos. Fish abounded on all dives, except the first dive today. We went to a beautiful reef with overhangs, current and deep water, perfect conditions but we were skunked for the first time…no sharks, rays, or schools of large fish. Every day we did two dives a day, in the morning except for Friday which is the Muslim holy ... read more

Thanka Painting (cont.) By the fourth day I could find my way to and from the shop on my own, without asking for directions three times. I love Durbar Square with all the temples and people. On the way to and from I enjoyed looking at all the shops and especially the ladies in their saris and suwal kurtas (tunic with pants and shawl); the fabrics are carefully chosen and match perfectly. The women are like bright jewels. I painted contentedly all day, from eleven till six, or sometimes a little later. The shop was two small rooms side by side, with fold away doors that opened one whole side to the street. My right arm and hand became much darker than my left from the sun. When it rained Bibek Lama and his wife would ... read more

LUMBINI When I first got to Nepal people began telling me that Buddha had been born there, in Lumbini. I have a few Buddhist friends and I felt like if I was in Nepal I ought to make even an extraordinary effort to see the birthplace. The choice was whether to fly or to go overland. I chose to hire a car. Since I was taking a car it seemed pretty reasonable to ask Ashok, my guide from trekking, if he would like to go along, and bring his younger brother and sister, too. I thought it would be nicer than sitting by myself for the whole seven hour trip. Ashok is his siblings' guardian while they go to school in Kathmandu. They visit their parents in the mountains several times a year. He agreed to ... read more

TREKKING DAY 4 Tadapani to Ghandruk 1,950m May 11, 2014 Yes! Today I slept in. Well, actually I went to bed at 8:30 p.m. last night because there was no electricity. I awoke at 1:30 and read and did Sudoku for an hour or so and then was able to go back to sleep. I asked for a cheese omelet for breakfast, with potatoes. There were probably five pounds of potatoes on the plate when it came. It must have been a separate entrée. Too much, even sharing with Ashok. I struck up a conversation with the Spanish couple at my table, and the guide had to pull me away. We started downhill at a good clip. I can do downhill. Lots of people came up behind and I let them pass. The forest was beautiful ... read more

TREKKING DAY 2 Tikhedhunga to Ghorepani 2860m May 9, 2014 Having lost my original text I have tried to enter just a few pieces of information about this part of the trek and will rely more on photos. It just seemed to get hotter and hotter, and the trek itself was unlike any other hiking I had experienced. There was no tent, no camp stove, and no water purifier. Our food was provided and prepared for us. And I had a comfortable bed in a private room. Usually the bathroom was down the hall, or even down the stairs, and most often of the Turkish type. I had my own emergency stash of tp but I didn’t bring my hiking towel; a napkin from the dining hall or my bandana sufficed. I kept trying to ground ... read more