So my monsoon vacation, which lasted 3 months, is coming to an end. Calling it "monsoon" as I arrived at the beginning of July and leaving now, thus I witnessed the three months when the monsoons peak in Nepal.
Visiting Kathmandu is always cool but I can't recommend July and August, if your mission is photography 😄 Overcast all the way, no tropical or rainy season vibes - no fog, very few downpours, no lightnings - just cloudy every day + regular rains but mostly it's just gray and gloomy.
But no disappointment - I did have some photography fun here.
The protests were the biggest impression.
This is the main circular transport artery of Kathmandu, the Ring Road - the moment when people started gathering.
Gen Z marching; a guy with a police shield and a metal pipe which was rumbling heavily, proclaiming people's wrath. Some were doing the same scratching job while sitting on bikes, but most people weren't armed, and the mood was actually joyful, born from the unity of people against disaster - corrupt politicians.
There were a lot in the evening, people were burning tires and celebrating freedom. I previously posted a set of color images from the protests.
I talked to locals - everyone hated the government. But when some folk started burning buildings and looting businesses, people got panicked. They wanted the help of the army, and they got it. There were several days of curfew - the day curfew and then night curfew. Soldiers with guns were guarding the streets, and all the chaos stopped. But these dead days of the curfew were the worst part since people didn't know if normal life would ever return.
That's a Bhat-Bhateni, Balaju superstore. I had been on the night of looting near it - it was wrapped in darkness, only a tire was burning in front of it, silhouettes were jumping forth and back over the recently installed protective fence...
Happily, order and peace returned to the city, and townsfolk came back to normal life. So did I.
September 22, rush hour in the old town.
Fun to photograph from above and boring to be in.
It's so, so slow - you can lose all the golden hour if you are silly enough to join the crowd to walk from A to B for several hundred meters.
The Durbar Square, the heart of the historic city.
I already see what I missed from the point of photography here, feel sorry there were too many gloomy days, but I am leaving Kathmandu with a light heart - I had enough time here, want a change.
Excited to go to India (tomorrow!)
Gonna stay in Delhi for a short time, two nights probably, and then, perhaps, I'll head to Churu, Rajasthan. I have high hopes for this city - few travelers, much to see, including historical places in disrepair, a beautiful Jain temple (never visited one), arid nature - maybe, some cool birds like vultures, reptiles... 🙂 Exciting!
The photos were taken with a Nikkor 70-300mm and a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 in summer 2025, in Kathmandu, Nepal.