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Who builds Kathmandu?

Eight years ago, at a busy Thamel restaurant, a promising new plan to set up an animal vaccine facility in Nepal was born during a meeting with a professor from the University of California-Davis. The idea was to innovate a cold chain-free viral vaccine that could be transported to rural Nepal without logistical problems and, ultimately, to increase the accessibility of vaccines for small farmers. A government agency in the Netherlands agreed to chip in almost half a million euros to the project as a matching fund. A few Dutch investors along with Nepali companies were interested in the project as well. So a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/alternative-investments-to-attract-fdi">Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) </a>company called BIOVAC Nepal was established in 2017. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/invest-in-investment">Invest in investment</a>, Nepali Times Data from the poultry sector showed that the venture made business sense and had high social impact. So we prepared to get this innovative high-tech company up and running. The Australian government also pledged money for additional research and enhanced manufacturing capacity. Everyone was excited. But very quickly, as happens often in Nepal, that excitement turned into frustration. Ahead of the Nepal Investment Summit 2024 from 21-24 April in Kathmandu, this is an account of how deep the rot has set in. Fix this before trying to attract any investors. Registration for the FDI company alone took almost a year, followed by senseless bureaucratic hurdles. We thought the Department of Livestock was the main agency for permits for an animal vaccine facility, only to find out a year later that it was the Department of Drug Administration (DDA). Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/alternative-investments-to-attract-fdi">Alternative investments to attract FDI</a>, Siddhant Raj Pandey There was no clear instruction and guidance and we were kept running around in circles trying to figure out the procedure. Finally, after six grueling years of effort, we set up a state-of-the-art animal vaccine research, development and manufacturing facility. It took another year and half to get a commercial license for our first product.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240210140220_de2e166db4c2b9385179489558c94c9e83ee248a0532d01d2a4ce14b1a44d20f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240210140220_de2e166db4c2b9385179489558c94c9e83ee248a0532d01d2a4ce14b1a44d20f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="entrepreneuship in Nepal"></figure>  The business culture in Nepal is so primitive that contracts are not worth the paper they are signed on. For vaccine commercialisation, we signed an agreement with a local distributor for exclusive partnership with volume commitments and a joint marketing effort. That did not go according to what was planned and agreed upon. But there was little we could do other than almost beg for help. Recovering money from issued invoices was excruciatingly difficult, if not impossible. After producing our thoroughly researched and tested vaccine, we then had to go the extra mile to prove that it actually worked. We published all our testing and validation data in internationally recognised and peer-reviewed scientific journals. Even then, we had to constantly face the doubts of Nepali farmers as we attempted to convince them that our product was as good as if not better than imported ones. But there seemed to be little faith in ‘Made in Nepal’. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/success-in-nepal-means-not-having-to-work">Success in Nepal means not having to work</a>, Anil Chitrakar Nepal’s poultry industry is inefficient in terms of production. For example, the productivity of the Cobb 500 broiler chicken in the US is almost 99%, meaning there is only a 1% loss due to mortality. The same breed of chicken in Nepal sometimes has a production efficiency of less than 70%. Disease outbreaks due to poor biosecurity and immunisation are the main reasons. BIOVAC provided a comprehensive disease prevention service, but was unable to convince farmers to sign up for measures that would guarantee better production success. There was a resistance to new ideas. The unpredictability in business projections meant that we had to look for additional funds. Local banks, although very approachable, are often boxed into traditional ways of lending money through real estate collaterals. Government directives are often lacking or confusing. Every investment loan is looked at from a real estate prism. Two of Nepal’s major universities produce hundreds of biotech graduates every year. A majority of them eventually emigrate. Over 16 years ago, we opened up one of Nepal’s most modern biotech companies. Since then, many of these graduates have been able to learn and work on cutting edge vaccine research and production. But instead of appreciation, we have been harassed and obstructed by government agencies every step of the way. Even ‘social impact investment’ providers who scrutinised our books told us we did not have a sound commercial plan. Some of the criticism was constructive, but they saw it as yet another ‘hydro’ project. The project was in the national interest, building not only vaccines but also the highly skilled human resources needed to go from a trading and importing nation to a country of cutting-edge innovation. The narrow definition of rate of return meant that the ‘social impact’ was lost in translation. Ever since I returned to Nepal from the US 16 years ago, I have seen a gradual breakdown of governance. The overall mood of the country is cynical and gloomy. Scientists and innovators are valued even less, which is why there is an exodus of our best and brightest. After dedicating almost seven years of my life to build something that we believed the country needed, my entrepreneurial urge is dampened. The odds are stacked against innovation and invention, this has become a land of rent-seekers and traders. Dibesh Karmacharya has a PhD in Conservation and Microbiome Genetics from Griffith University, Australia. He is the Founder/Chair of the Center for Molecular Dynamics Nepal, Intrepid Nepal and BIOVAC Nepal.

Killing investment in Nepal in 10 easy steps

Last week, Nepal’s digital media highlighted the news that a Buddha Air flight from Kathmandu to Nepalganj ended up landing in Dhangadi. Many readers did a double-take because they were misled by a sensational title which suggested that somehow the crew had got the destination wrong. Not that such mistakes have not happened in the past, but this was a simple diversion due to poor visibility at Nepalganj. Many Nepali media outlets lack aviation literacy, mistaking aircraft models, getting technical details wrong, or using incorrect aviation terminology, for example calling a normal ‘go around’ procedure an ‘overshoot’ which is actually a runway excursion by an aircraft.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231210071220_90d298964e8c0e99803549a499b1f8f6a38718ed7d34be536e8bf141a2f89fc2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20231210071220_90d298964e8c0e99803549a499b1f8f6a38718ed7d34be536e8bf141a2f89fc2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="airline visibility 2"> </figure>  The Kathmandu-Nepalganj flight U4451 was operated by one of Buddha’s ATR-72s and was approaching Nepalganj after a 40 minute flight from Kathmandu when the runway visibility dropped to below minima. The flight crew then decided to land at the alternate airport, Dhangadi which had better visibility and was only 20 minutes away. A Shree Airlines CRJ700 from Kathmandu to Nepalganj also diverted to Dhangadi for the same reason. Both aircraft returned and landed in Nepalganj after the visibility improved there after a few hours. As winter sets in, flights are sometimes cancelled due to poor visibility, but more common are delays due weather conditions. This also leads to traffic congestion at Kathmandu airport, as domestic and international flights have to make instrument approaches, thus leading to mounting delays in arrivals and departures throughout the day. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/onset-of-winter-leads-to-flight-delays">Onset of winter leads to flight delays</a>, Nepali Times In winter, visibility below minimum at airports is caused by temperature inversion that traps polluted air at ground level. Inversion is especially pronounced in the mornings in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Tarai airports. In fact, at the peak of winter, the entire Indo-Gangetic plains including the Tarai is blanketed by thick fog that does not lift for days. “Passengers are understandably inconvenienced for having to wait for hours at the airport because of<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/air-jam/" target="_blank"> the congestion</a> caused by bad weather, but the airlines have to stick to safety protocols and it is beyond their control,” explains Buddha Air’s Dipendra Karna. It is when Kathmandu has to operate under instrument flying rules (IFR) when visibility falls below 2km that the delays have a domino effect throughout the day. Incoming flights have to hold for an hour or more, and this means outbound flights are also delayed. Under IFR procedures, incoming flights to Kathmandu can only land from the south on the airport’s only runway, and since the taxiway does not extend till the threshold of the 02 end of the runway, incoming planes have to be spaced up to 7 minutes apart. International flights sometimes have to divert to alternate airports like Delhi or Kolkata because Bhairawa and Pokhara airports is not yet open for diversions. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/business/domestic-aviation-flies-into-headwind">Domestic aviation flies into headwind</a>, Nepali Times  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231211041248_588ea32381eae6b1cbce819d333c8394c08e0eca724c513fad2beb68b03d2264.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20231211041248_588ea32381eae6b1cbce819d333c8394c08e0eca724c513fad2beb68b03d2264" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="900" loading="lazy" alt="Buddha Air NT"> <figcaption>Buddha Air has a weather map of Nepal at Kathmandu domestic airport departure lounge with live web cam videos of main airports in the country showing visibility. </figcaption> </figure>  Biratnagar, Bhairawa and Nepalganj also face cancellations and delays in winter because of the north Indian fog mixed with smog. Sometimes flights from Kathmandu to Nepalganj will not be able to fly even if it is clear at the destination because visibility at the alternate airport is below minima. “Biratnagar may be open, but if Janakpur or Rajbiraj are closed due to visibility, the flight cannot take off from Kathmandu,” says Karna. Domestic flights on trunk routes now have a better chance of flying on time if it is a night flight.&nbsp; Weather-related delays are unavoidable because safety comes first, but operations could be improved with better navigational aids like Instrument Landing System (ILS) or RNAV satellite-based approach guidance.

Air passengers at mercy of winter delays

Cycling brings fond memories. Learning to take that first ride with my mother in the small alley next to home. Re-learning with my husband in the streets of Europe.
Both came as a necessity. The first because I had failed several attempts at balancing, and it was a matter of self-pride. The second because cycling was the primary mode of affordable commute for a student overseas.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/no-city-for-cyclists">No city for cyclists</a>, Sewa Bhattarai
I often connect cycling with life, a balance you need to learn, and once learnt can never unlearn. What a beautiful form of experience that already is.
In Kathmandu, I cycle to work each day. Family, friends and acquaintances compliment me for being so conscious of my <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/cycling-to-cop28">carbon footprint</a>. But my cycling was due to forced necessity, I just do not have the fortitude to drive in the city’s chaotic traffic.
I switched to cycling during the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/As-It-Happens/blockade-that-benefitted-no-one,660">2015 blockade</a>. Between daily chores at the office and home with two little girls, the struggle to join the long queues at the petrol station had tired me out.&nbsp;
One evening, my husband brought home a beautiful bicycle. I was a bit angry about buying such an expensive bike. But eight years on I am so thankful because the bicycle continues to run solid and is my best buddy on the road.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/netherlands-to-nepal-by-bicycle">Netherlands to Nepal by bicycle</a>, Ashish Dhakal
Thin traffic during the blockade gave me confidence, and although hard at first, muscle memory eventually kicked in. When the blockade was lifted after six months and fuel was plentiful again, traffic clogged the streets again.&nbsp;
Honking always troubled me, and I wished I could put a banner with bold letters on my bag: Don’t Honk. My wish was answered in 2016 when traffic police declared unnecessary honking a punishable offence.
A lot of people still warn me about the dangers of being on a bicycle on Kathmandu’s roads. That is true, they are not the safest place to be. I have had a few scrapes with bruises and aches, but that does not deter me. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/pedalling-for-life">Cycling</a> has become a part of my life.&nbsp;
And there are people who encourage me. One traffic police officer always greeted me at the intersection I crossed every morning during my commute to work. Once a little girl asked me if it was all right for a woman to cycle. I told her I hoped someday she would be a pilot.
One night, the driver of a private car switched on the high beam so I could pedal along the potholed street in torrential rain. Strangers on the sidewalk smiled when they saw me on my bicycle.&nbsp;
However, I am aghast at the utter recklessness and impatience of motorcycle and vehicle drivers on the roads, speeding and overtaking dangerously. On a bicycle one notices such rashness even more.&nbsp;
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/downhill-all-the-way">Most of Kathmandu is a cycle city</a>. Lalitpur now has bicycle lanes and that has made it easier to negotiate for space with other traffic. Moving slowly at my own pace, I have the opportunity to see and feel the things around me, to savour the beauty (and, yes, also the ugliness and dangers) of my city.
Cycling has become a ritual, and it does not tire me at all. It has given me a perspective on life, on how one needs to keep going no matter how steep the uphill, and keep an eye on the smaller wins every day. It reminds me that I am not in competition with anyone else, and I am only challenging myself to do better each day.
All these years, cycling has given me serenity, peace of mind, and a time for self-reflection. As the cycling culture continues to grow, it is also a reminder to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/re-cycling-kathmandu-is-not-so-easy">make our roads safer for everyone</a>. Fast or slow, all street users are equal.&nbsp;
Cycling teaches us to be civil and considerate of others. My right to use the road also comes with the responsibility to think for fellow citizens. And this could be small, yet meaningful contributions towards reducing my and your carbon footprint.
Eliza Sthapit is the National Director for Habitat for Humanity International Nepal.

Pedalling as a life lesson

Greenhouses are supposed to be hotter than the ambient temperature because the glass or plastic traps heat inside so plants can grow in winter. But one greenhouse here on the southern fringes of Kathmandu is an exception: it is cooler than outside. It feels like an enormous refrigerator, and there is no visible thermostat. The agro-tech company Muttho Nepal has deployed a combined concept of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/garden-walls">vertical layered farming</a> and hydroponics, allowing for plants to grow in a relatively small space with nutrient-enriched water. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/muttha.nepal/">Muttha Agro</a> is the brainchild of Kushal Gurung of Wind Power Nepal and Gandaki Urja, who has also been promoting alternative energy sources in Nepal with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/this-is-bullshit">Nepal’s biggest industrial-scale biogas plant</a> in Kaski and a series of wind farms.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230916020940_bd58b85ade5e1929ccaed09cac9c098ab4336f21b012480868f241ae08ce9818.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20230916020940_bd58b85ade5e1929ccaed09cac9c098ab4336f21b012480868f241ae08ce9818" data-rendition-name="original" width="5149" height="3433" loading="lazy" alt="Vertical hydroponics"></figure>   <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230916020940_4642c4b18e3936a530dcfc441b54b926ec69a1d249ba4c53e71419d8b3556458.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20230916020940_4642c4b18e3936a530dcfc441b54b926ec69a1d249ba4c53e71419d8b3556458" data-rendition-name="original" width="5398" height="3599" loading="lazy" alt="Vertical hydroponics"></figure>  “This is an alternative to traditional agriculture most suited to cities like Kathmandu with its limited land already crowded with concrete buildings and scarce water,” explains Gurung, showing visitors around his complex. “The once-fertile soil in Kathmandu is also becoming too acidic for crops because of the overuse of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/heavy-pesticide-use-and-low-consumer-awareness-affecting-public-health,1394">fertilisers and pesticides</a>. Muttha stepped into production in March 2023, and its applied demo system has also been installed in the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/small-is-possible-at-godavari-park">Living Mountain Lab in Godavari</a> for other farmers to adapt to or learn from. After <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/rooftop-agriculture-on-the-roof-of-the-world">rooftop farming</a> and the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/mini-forests-to-make-kathmandu-more-liveable">Mikawaki method of forestation</a> where diverse indigenous plants are densely planted in small city plots, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/something-fishy-in-new-nepal-farm">hydroponics</a> can maximise productivity in a limited area while saving water by circulating it again and again.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230916020928_9594937bc01ae879d754f233d3a48baa46c3849cbba130983f7ab26a4b17063c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20230916020928_9594937bc01ae879d754f233d3a48baa46c3849cbba130983f7ab26a4b17063c" data-rendition-name="original" width="3854" height="2569" loading="lazy" alt="Alternative farming in Kathmandu"></figure>  Muttha Nepal goes a step further by integrating the global practice with local knowledge, adds Gurung. “In Nepal, most hydroponics are investing millions and bringing experts from abroad to install their systems. But we installed the whole setup by ourselves, understanding our own needs,” he says. Also unlike most hydroponics that have artificial heating or cooling, Muttha uses the natural temperature balance, bringing down energy cost and making the venture most cost-effective. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/back-to-the-future-of-farming">Back to the future of farming in Nepal</a> “Artificial temperature control is costly whereas sunlight is free," says Erik van Os, a Dutch expert with 40 years of experience in hydroponics. Van Os is helping Muttha Nepal grow sustainably as part of <a href="https://www.carsu.edu.ph/?q=topics/programma-uitzending-managers">Programma Uitzending Managers</a> (PUM), which is committed to the sustainable development of small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries and emerging markets. In a natural temperature setup, the topmost layer gets most of the sunlight, which means plants that need more sun are placed above while others go in their shade.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230916020940_5ce9cb81d68990d2d7458658a417a836a8b7cc3eadc57c8cb1fc593946ce1a5f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="20230916020940_5ce9cb81d68990d2d7458658a417a836a8b7cc3eadc57c8cb1fc593946ce1a5f" data-rendition-name="original" width="5676" height="3784" loading="lazy" alt="Alternative farming in Kathmandu"></figure>   <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230916020940_8548ec4c064b9bcd33f3874af495f24525d3ec1612f0aa3bbcde2711f0ce0436.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20230916020940_8548ec4c064b9bcd33f3874af495f24525d3ec1612f0aa3bbcde2711f0ce0436" data-rendition-name="original" width="3749" height="2499" loading="lazy" alt="Alternative farm in Kathmandu"></figure>  Farming is seeing mechanical and technical advances globally, but Muttha is making the most of what it has with inputs from advisers. Gurung and the team do not consider the lack of high-tech appliances as setbacks. Using a mid-tech greenhouse, surrounded by a white net, the vertical hydroponics structure provides enough space for ventilation. The net of the surrounding walls can be covered with plastic during heavy rainfall. The topmost layer below the plastic roof is a shade net that decreases the temperature by 2-3°C. Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/rooftop-gardens-kathmandu,1415">Hanging gardens of Kathmandu</a>, Santa Gaha Magar Inside the greenhouse, there are five perfectly aligned separate columns with four systems each of six levels of pipes, each having six pipes with 28,000 holes in which leafy greens are grown. Each row has a 500 l tank half-embedded below ground level. The nutrient-filled water is circulated throughout the pipes through these tanks with the help of a water pump. The plants are high-value produce like lettuce, basil, kale, arugula and celery, and poke out of the vertically arranged holes in the pipes. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/waste-to-value-with-biogas-in-nepal">Waste to value with biogas in Nepal</a>, Sushmita Dulal  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230916020944_d33e3b643183fbe495a15c6f84e3515a830bf111adea934d61411ec309f7a5e0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_17" data-image-id="20230916020944_d33e3b643183fbe495a15c6f84e3515a830bf111adea934d61411ec309f7a5e0" data-rendition-name="original" width="5852" height="3901" loading="lazy" alt="Alternative farming in urban areas"></figure>   <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230916020944_8817163ed3831895da1e4bc0adb4708ff5a93762dea13b99abd20c89cbecd1b5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_18" data-image-id="20230916020944_8817163ed3831895da1e4bc0adb4708ff5a93762dea13b99abd20c89cbecd1b5" data-rendition-name="original" width="4668" height="3112" loading="lazy" alt="Alternative farming in urban areas"></figure>  “We have stuck with salads for two reasons. One, it has been the tested crop of hydroponics worldwide and is a sure success everywhere,” explains Gurung. “Second, it is a perishable high-value crop that cannot be imported.” Muttha is also experimenting with growing strawberries, coriander, and tomatoes but salads are their priority. With an investment of Rs6 in each sapling, it can earn up to Rs30 when it grows. Muttha also runs training workshops to share its knowledge to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-farmers-reap-what-they-sow-and-more">make farmers across Nepal climate-smart</a> to keep up with rising temperature and droughts. Just this monsoon, parts of Nepal’s hills and much of Tarai were not able to plant paddy on time due to reduced rainfall. For now, deploying this combined alternative farming in urban centres is a start to greening <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-lure-of-green">concrete jungles</a>, while increasing productivity of farms. Von Os sums it up: “Integrating hydroponics is the way forward to intensify the produce in places like Kathmandu with limited space but high demand.”

Greening a concrete jungle

Thakur Das Shrestha, originally from Nepal, established the famous Das Studio in Darjeeling in 1927. Since then, his descendants have been documenting the changes of their home country through photography.&nbsp; Their work will be displayed in Postcards from Kathmandu’s Past, an exhibition of photographs by three generations of the Das family, with works by Dwarika Das Shrestha (1926–2004), Gyanendra Das Shrestha (born 1955) and Kashish Das Shrestha (born 1982).&nbsp; The exhibition opens on 28 April and will go on till 4 May at Wind Horse Gallery located at Moksh Bar in Jhamsikhel. One particular image has an expressed commentary: The Basantapur AI Blue Sky, produced two weeks ago, on a day when Kathmandu city ranked as one of the top most polluted cities in the world.&nbsp; The sky and some colour tones of the smoggy day with fiery sunset has been deliberately AI enhanced to emphasise how blue-sky spring days in Kathmandu valley are rapidly becoming rarer.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/an-archive-of-nepali-heritage">An archive of Nepali heritage</a>, Ashish Dhakal  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230428090420_b235d6d0371004c3e1790a4146dea9cfd1627465d14bbfdc7f0d4d9a3d364b22.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20230428090420_b235d6d0371004c3e1790a4146dea9cfd1627465d14bbfdc7f0d4d9a3d364b22" data-rendition-name="original" width="1750" height="1751" loading="lazy" alt="Postcards from Kathmandu NT"> <figcaption>1960s Parked in Patan. Photo: DWARIKA DAS SHRESTHA</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230428090420_9a5a47250fdee06803a7aa69a1f6ff7731c99dad8c12748990b9bdd83166d2f2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20230428090420_9a5a47250fdee06803a7aa69a1f6ff7731c99dad8c12748990b9bdd83166d2f2" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1667" loading="lazy" alt="Postcards from Kathmandu NT"> <figcaption>1980s recreation of Parked in Patan. Photo: GYANENDRA DAS SHRESTHA</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230428090420_f68feaaf4402e1a082852ee153a78e3095579ad8d2f8600ff227c30e98750c2e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20230428090420_f68feaaf4402e1a082852ee153a78e3095579ad8d2f8600ff227c30e98750c2e" data-rendition-name="original" width="2750" height="1833" loading="lazy" alt="Postcards from Kathmandu NT"> <figcaption>2023 recreation of Parked in Patan. Photo: KASHISH DAS SHRESTHA</figcaption> </figure>  &nbsp;Dwarika Das Shrestha was the second of four sons of Thakur Das in Darjeeling. By 1950s, Das Studio was already a popular social hub for locals and visitors. People stopped by to have conversations about current affairs and photography.&nbsp; They bought Das Studio’s postcards and posters of Darjeeling and Sikkim which were &nbsp;immensely popular in the days before the Internet. Prince Peter of Greece and Denmark regularly spent time there, and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and French monk Matthieu Ricard were close family friends.&nbsp; Dwarika was active with the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute and went on several expeditions with Norgay from Darjeeling. Although he had wanted to join an Everest expedition, his grandmother convinced him to abandon the idea because of the risks involved.&nbsp; In 1960, Dwarika moved back to Kathmandu permanently and set up the Das Photo Store in Khicha Pokhari, just off New Road. Apart from studio services and documentary photography, he also offered photo and video classes, and volunteered as a photography teacher at St Xavier’s School in Jawalakhel.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/making-nepal-s-history-colourful">Making Nepal’s history colourful</a>, Kanak Mani Dixit  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230428090420_a26565105dad1a7d9a214ca68c4acc0962d2c695bfa7c7c3454c0f608b2c8344.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20230428090420_a26565105dad1a7d9a214ca68c4acc0962d2c695bfa7c7c3454c0f608b2c8344" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="3000" loading="lazy" alt="Postcards from Kathmandu NT"> <figcaption>Dharara, circa 1960. Photo: DWARIKA DAS SHRESTHA</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230428090420_0240e60ef0eb6c8b7fe0a969538cd75b9bebdae73e0577596238bd7e8e860568.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20230428090420_0240e60ef0eb6c8b7fe0a969538cd75b9bebdae73e0577596238bd7e8e860568" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="3000" loading="lazy" alt="Postcards from Kathmandu NT"> <figcaption>Dharara after the 2015 earthquake. Photo: KASHISH DAS SHRESTHA</figcaption> </figure>  Dwarika helped introduce the country to the outside world during the 1960s and 70s as he was the first person to produce commercial postcards of the country for visitors to mail back home. Dwarika maintained an active social life in Kathmandu, which included the royal princes of Nepal whom he had known since their boarding school days in Darjeeling. He also met Nepal’s former Prime Minister B P Koirala, who was at that time an underground national leader spearheading the pro-democracy movement against the monarchy. Dwarika took a photo of Koirala and printed it as a poster for his supporters to use. &nbsp; Dwarika’s image of Swayambhu, photographed from the stupa’s west face, had become immensely popular in the 60s and 70s as a postcard. His son Gyanendra re-created and published an updated version of the image in the 80s and 90s with equal success. It remains a defining frame and this angle on the stupa has been reproduced by countless professional and hobby photographers and, more recently, Instagrammers and TikTokers. Gyanendra Das Shrestha was born in Kathmandu, and is an internationally published award-winning photographer. In 1976, aged just 21, he won his first international photography award, the Koishikawa Rotary Club Prize, organised by the Asian Cultural Center for UNESCO. Two years later, he won the Asian Cultural Center for UNESCO Prize itself. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-way-we-were">The way we were</a>, Kunda Dixit  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230428090420_685d3a86237b764b87274f2abc2bda56da41cc45f97f4f7e4c77721a8c56362e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20230428090420_685d3a86237b764b87274f2abc2bda56da41cc45f97f4f7e4c77721a8c56362e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="2395" loading="lazy" alt="Postcards from Kathmandu NT"> <figcaption>1960s Swayambhu postcard that helped define the most popular framing of the stupa. Photo: DWARIKA DAS SHRESTHA</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230428090420_2b78871c45c09c1cdf4f2d925166c892686fb616d495fdab8e195f5afbfa3912.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20230428090420_2b78871c45c09c1cdf4f2d925166c892686fb616d495fdab8e195f5afbfa3912" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1965" loading="lazy" alt="Postcards from Kathmandu NT"> <figcaption>Recreating original Das postcard of Swayambhu 3 days after the earthquake. Photo: KASHISH DAS SHRESTHA</figcaption> </figure>  Gyanendra opened his own photo shop, Das Color Lab, in early 80s, pivoting from documentary to commercial photography, and focused on expanding the studio services and postcard and poster market his father and grandfather had pioneered. His ‘Top of the World’ poster of Mt Everest rom Kala Pathar became the defining image that popularised the Everest Trek and that vantage point. His Annapurna panorama from Pokhara lakeside taken in the 80s became another instant classic and the view has been replicated endlessly by photographers since.&nbsp; &nbsp;Das Color Lab closed its shutters for good before Gyanendra joined his family in New York in 2006. But the posters and postcards it produced through the final decades of the 20th century continue to influence and define the market for commercial photography today. His son, Kashish, is in turn an internationally published writer and photographer with 25 years of print and broadcast media experience. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/multimedia/reliving-analogue-photography">Reliving analogue photography</a>, Suman Nepali  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230428090420_ca26dbda68f45a529f752f84dd32610991c43f47db58a3f04385e4934b0cb117.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20230428090420_ca26dbda68f45a529f752f84dd32610991c43f47db58a3f04385e4934b0cb117" data-rendition-name="original" width="3000" height="608" loading="lazy" alt="Postcards from Kathmandu NT"> <figcaption>The classic Top of the World photograph from Kala Pattar that became the iconic view of Mt Everest. Photo: GYANENDRA DAS SHRESTHA</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230428090420_d52b8cbe5238ee7fc506189ca72ad577d0f8b6c8e014692971e8e6017a47ec07.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20230428090420_d52b8cbe5238ee7fc506189ca72ad577d0f8b6c8e014692971e8e6017a47ec07" data-rendition-name="original" width="3000" height="1327" loading="lazy" alt="Postcards from Kathmandu NT"> <figcaption>The Old Pokhara panorama, the city has changed but the mountains have not. Photo: GYANENDRA DAS SHRESTHA</figcaption> </figure>  Kashish picked up photography and writing as a teenager because it was in his blood, and also because he wanted to document the youth culture he was part of in the 90s. He also photographed Bhutanese refugee resettlement in eastern Nepal and the Maoist conflict, and later in North America. Kashish traveled to Rolpa and spent a week with the Maoist rebels, many of whom were teenagers. As the conflict continued to grow, he photographed and wrote about the rebels extensively for Nepali Times from deep inside their strongholds in the western plains and the eastern hills. Kashish uses his writing and photography to fund independent research and pro bono policy work on sustainable development in Nepal. His works have been exhibited at various venues over the years, including at UNHCR headquarters in Geneva, Stanford University in California, and all seven Bhutanese refugee camps in southeastern Nepal. His 2009 solo Americana exhibition, ‘Marfa to Manhattan’, was supported by the US State Department. Kashish is currently working on a food anthropology and pop culture project on the history of momo. “The transformation of spaces, as small as a public square, or as large as the valley, gives us much to think about,” &nbsp;he says. “These transformations have been shaped by us, and affect us. This is not to say that old was good or new is bad. Nepal has rapidly urbanised in the last decade, and it can fairly be said this transition has been neither thoughtful nor sustainable. It has simply just been.”&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/portrait-of-a-photographer-in-rural-nepal/">Portrait of a photographer in rural Nepal</a>, Monika Deupala &nbsp; Postcards from Kathmandu's Past Friday, 28 April 3PM till 4 May, 2023 Wind Horse Gallery with support from Photo Concern Moksh, Jawalakhel Limited Edition Prints from the Das archives on Hahnemühle paper. The first editions on display at the exhibition are Giclée prints.

Postcards from Kathmandu

<figure><img width="2048" height="1365" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a0229c7e80680e0d7022jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: RSS</figcaption></figure>A Yeti Airlines ATR72 aircraft from Kathmandu to Pokhara on Sunday morning crashed near its destination. The plane had 68 passengers on board and four cabin crew led by senior captain Kamal KC. Six of the passengers are children, 15 foreigners, of which five are Indians, and 53 Nepali nationals, including eight members of a single family.The 72-seater took off at 10:30AM from Kathmandu before it crashed into <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/setis-gorgeous-gorges/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Seti gorge</a> between the old airport and the Pokhara International Airport in Ward 15 near Sitaram Bridge. The plane was engulfed in fire immediately after.An eyewitness video showed the nose-up plane seemingly in a stall, banking in a steep dive before crashing.According to rescuers, 32 bodies have been recovered so far. But onlookers say it is unlikely anyone survived the crash given the accident site being in a deep narrow gorge. Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police teams had not been able to douse the fire even 2 hours after the crash.A crowd of spectators at the crash taking photos and videos with mobile phones have made the rescue more difficult and added to traffic in the area. <figure><img width="640" height="1241" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a0269c7e80680e0d7023jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="750" height="796" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a02a9c7e80680e0d7024jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>This is a rare instance where a plane on a trunk route crashed during a good weather. The plane was landing at Pokhara's new international airport that was only inaugurated on 1 January 2023. One aviation expert who did not want to be named, told Nepali Times: "It is too early to pinpoint the cause of the crash, but from the eyewitness video the plane appears to be in a nose-up altitude prior to a stall."The expert said what needs to be determined is what caused the stall: either a bird strike, mechanical issue, or a steep nose-up that bled air speed at low altitude.One of the reasons the inauguration of the new airport was delayed was because Pokhara's landfill site, which is located in the Seti River near the runway, posed birdstrike danger to landing aircraft. <figure><img width="843" height="483" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a02c9c7e80680e0d7025jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="2048" height="1536" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a02f9c7e80680e0d7026jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="2048" height="1536" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a0339c7e80680e0d7027jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="2048" height="1536" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230208140212/63e3a0379c7e80680e0d7028jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-opposition-less-parliament/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal</a> and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane who had visited Kathmandu airport's control room for the details are going to Pokhara on Sunday itself. Dahal had previously called an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers while Lamichhane has directed authorities for immediate rescue and relief. Nepal is one of the most challenging countries in the world for aviation because of treacherous terrain and weather. It has seen 67 fatal air crashes in the last 60 years. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/pokhara-jomsom-flight-with-22-missing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The most recent accident</a> was the May 2022 Tara Air flight from Pokhara to Jomsom crash killing 22 passengers. But the nature of Saturday's tragedy would make it a crash with the highest number of casualties on a domestic flight in Nepal's aviation history. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/60-years-of-living-dangerously/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">See: 60 years of Nepal's aviation history</a>. Most <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/60-years-of-living-dangerously/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">aviation accidents in Nepal</a> between 1952-2022 were caused by planes flying into mountains hidden in clouds, known as Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT). But this was in broad daylight, in good weather, near a new airport with modern navigation facilities.

Pokhara bound flight crashes in Nepal

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd5129c7e80680e0d30d1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Architect Götz Hagmüller and his wife Ludmilla have made the 18th century Kuthu Math in Bhaktapur their home for three decades. Photos: THOMAS L KELLY</figcaption></figure>The Himalaya may be famous globally for the world’s highest mountains and the people who climb them, but this 3,000km range has also evolved its own distinctive <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/niels-gutschow-leaves-home/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">art and architecture</a>.Kathmandu-based photographer Thomas L Kelly and author Claire Burkert have collaborated to document the elegance of the built environment of the Himalaya in a new edition of their coffee-table book, Himalayan Style: Shelters &amp; Sanctuaries.<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Himalayan-style-kelly-burkert-book-review,2032" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">First published in 2014</a>, the 2022 edition updates the content with new museums that preserve art and precious objects, and public gardens that are oases in the urban sprawl of Himalayan towns.‘Himalayan styles are not static, it is ever-evolving, absorbing the ideas of cultures within and outside the region,’ writes Burket in the introduction.This lavishly illustrated book combines photographs by Kelly, a former US Peace Corps volunteer with meticulously researched text by Burkert, who set up the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/colour-play-mithila-art-janakpur,796" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Women’s Development Centre</a> in Janakpur. The final product is a record of Himalayan design, style and culture across Pakistan, India, Bhutan, China and Nepal some of which is disappearing, and others are being revived.The first chapter features monasteries, dzongs, temples, palaces, and houses of nobility that have outlasted their original purpose and found a new one. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/Patan-town-as-a-museum-piece" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Patan Museum</a> in Kathmandu Valley is a model of adaptive reuse of a historic structure, with the former royal palace preserved and converted into a hub for art and history.So is the 17th century house of a royal secretary in Ladakh which is now the Ladakh Arts and Media organisation, and the Tower of Trongsa Museum, a transformed watchtower of Bhutan’s Trongsa Dzong.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd5159c7e80680e0d30d2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Himalayan Style has a chapter dedicated to the faith, rituals and objects of devotion of the people in the mountains. Another chapter highlights building materials and technologies suited to the mid-hills and high Himalayas including the dressed or undressed stone with mud mortar, mud brick, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/foundations-for-sustainable-buildings-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rammed earth</a>.Kelly and Burkert’s attention to detail is reflected in their portrayal of hand-crafted metals and wooden utensils in the homes and buildings. A section on Mustang in particular is a tribute to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/robert-g-powell-1948-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Robert Powell</a> who passed away in 2020.But no book on the Himalaya is complete without looking into their trails and retreats that cater to tourists. Burkert notes that hotels and restaurants in the Tibetan town of Gyalthang in China’s Yunan combine local design with Western elements adding to the comfort in a high-altitude environment.The clean, simple design of a mountain resort 360 Leti in Kumaon in India marks a new direction for Himalayan architecture — something that Nepal’s hotel architecture could emulate.But much of Himalayan Style, in fact, one-third of it, is dedicated to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-making-of-kathmandu-valley-style/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the style of Kathmandu Valley</a> and its various forms of art — from ceramics and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Putting-it-down-on-paper-nepali,3750" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lokta paper</a> maps to Tibetan carpet and cashmere shawls.The chapter also details the inner workings of some of the restored neo-classical Rana-era structures including the Baber Mahal Revisited and Garden of Dreams. Leslie Shackleford’s movable house and Taragaon’s modern Buddhist architecture inspired design with exhibition spaces, a café and specialty shops also make the cut.But the readers will have to get until the very end for the main highlights. In the chapter on Bhaktapur is a section on the 18th century <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/remembering-robert-powell/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kuthu Math</a> which has been lovingly restored by German heritage specialist <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/The-guardian-of-the-shadows-%20G%C3%B6tz%20Hagm%C3%BCller,3352" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Goetz Hagemuller</a> who has lived there for the past four decades.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd5199c7e80680e0d30d3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="273" height="377">Kelly and Burkert painstakingly document the architecture and objects of art from Kathy Math’s living spaces and stairways to metal idols, rugs and its elegant garden.A chapter on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/preserving-patan-post-earthquake/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Patan brings its artisans to the fore</a>, from skilled painters and stone carvers to a lost wax-casting master. The Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust (KVPT) building gets a special mention as does its director Rohit Ranjitkar’s family home, founder Erich Theophile’s penthouse near the palace complex and co-executive director Thomas Schrom’s revamped six-storey house in Patan Bahal.A book by non-Nepalis to remind Nepalis about the richness and treasures of Himalayan style and our way of life.

Sonia Awale

Style and substance

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd48e9c7e80680e0d30afjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="591" height="431"/><figcaption>Using oxen to plough a field in 1979 and in 2010 (right). All photos: ZDENĚK THOMA AND TOMÁŠ BERÁNEK</figcaption></figure>The Prague Spring democracy uprising had just been crushed by Soviet troops in 1968, and many Czechoslovaks fled the country. Photographer Zdeněk Thoma also left, but not as a refugee – he travelled overland to Istanbul, Tehran, Kabul and Kathmandu to discover the world.He went on to Calcutta, and in Singapore hitched a ride on a Polish cargo ship to Osaka. Thoma’s life-long love affair with Japan began then. He has been to the country 12 times and has since published three photo books, the latest on Japanese gardens.But after Japan, it is Nepal that Zdeněk Thoma is most fond of, and especially the valley of Manang which he first trekked to in 1979. He spent three weeks photographing the scenic trans-Himalayan valley and on return to Prague, held a photo exhibition ‘Village in the Shadow of Annapurna’.Czechoslovakia was still one country then, and the Communist regime had made it difficult for citizens to travel abroad. Which is why the dramatic photographs from an exotic corner of the Nepal Himalaya was an instant hit, were exhibited in galleries and museums in Czechia and Slovakia, inspiring a generation of mountaineers.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd4919c7e80680e0d30b0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="919" height="686"><figcaption>Three self confident girls Thoma encountered while trekking Manang Valley in 1979. Right: Nearly 40 years later the women are now in Kathmandu.</figcaption></figure>If it was any other photographer, that would have been the end of the story, and Thoma would have gone on to explore and photograph other parts of the world. But in 2008, he got his son Michal to retrace his steps to Manang, carrying with him an album of black and white photographs taken thirty years earlier.“The idea was to document and interpret the changes that had happened in Manang in the intervening years,” Zdenek Thoma, now 84, said during another visit to Nepal this week. Thoma went back to Manang on this trip, and the transformation has been even greater. In 1979, he had to walk for two weeks from Dumre up the Marsyangdi to Manang, today there is a road right up to Manang village.The road is rought, but has further altered the livelihoods and architecture of this once-quaint valley at the edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Even so, a lot of things have also remained the same.“When my father first came to Manang in 1979, I was just six months old,” says Michal. “I grew up listening to his stories about Nepal instead of fairytales. The photographs were imprinted in my mind, so when I finally got to Manang myself in 2008 I was already familiar with the place.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd4949c7e80680e0d30b1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="501" height="409"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Michal went house-to-house in Manang and surrounding villages trying to locate some of the people in his father’s photographs. A young Dalit girl carrying her baby brother on her back in 1979 was a young woman. Already in 2008, there were a couple of motorcycles in Manang that had been carried over since the road to Besisahar had not yet been built.Before the road (and concrete) got there, the terraced houses of villages like Braga, Chame, Humde looked unchanged in 30 years. But it has been 14 years already since 2008, and that is not the case anymore. In 2008, mobile phones had already got to Manang and Michal has a photograph of women carrying a load of buckwheat on their back, and one of them is texting while she walks.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd4979c7e80680e0d30b2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="525" height="760"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>The mountains seem eternal, and do not change much. But the impact of the climate crisis are now visible. The Gangapurna Lake at the terminus of the glacier did not exist 50 years ago. By 1979 it was a large pond. In another 30 years, the lake had expanded and the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Repeat-photography-of-Gangapurna-glacier-shows-glacial-retreat-over-32-years-A-A_fig5_281320415">glacier has retreated</a> up the north face of Mt Gangapurna. Today, the lake is gone -- covered by debris after heavy monsoon rains in 2000 washed down fragile glacial deposits no longer held together by permafrost.When Michal returned to Prague in 2008, he organised another exhibition ‘Manang: 30 Years Ago’ with before and after pictures by his father and himself. In 2010, Zdenek and Michal exhibited the photographs at the<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd49c9c7e80680e0d30b3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="460"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF), and after that father and son <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18132#.Y3mbqnZBy3A">took the photographs to Manang</a> where the photos were entrusted with a family to be exhibited.“When I first came to Manang, the people I photographed said they felt like the yaks that tourists took pictures of,” recalls Zdenek. “So we wanted to give the photographs to the people there. People there could see how much their villages had changed, sometimes for better sometimes for worse, so that Nepalis could decide how its remote mountains valleys should be developed in future.”<h2>Kathmandu Calendar</h2>1979 – 2023<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd4a09c7e80680e0d30b4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3372" height="2619"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Czech photographer Zdenek Thoma first visited Kathmandu in 1979 in his overland travel from Prague to Singapore. But that brief visit to Kathmandu Valley fascinated him, and he returned several times after that.The photographs he took of Manang are part of a father-son exhibition with his son Michal of the transformation of the HImalaya (see main story). But the Kathmandu photographs represent a valuable archive of the Valley then and now. The changes in the architecture, the skyline, the people’s attire and livelihoods is documented in black and white photographs.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd4a69c7e80680e0d30b5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1415"><figcaption>Bhaktapur’s skyline in 1979 and today. Tile roofs have been replaced with concrete, terraced farms with terraced roofs.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd4ac9c7e80680e0d30b6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1422"><figcaption>Nyatapola Temple Square in Bhaktapur has not changed much in 43 years, on the dresses of people.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd4b09c7e80680e0d30b7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1415"><figcaption>An all-purpose pond in Bhaktaphur in a span of nearly half-a-century.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100136/63bfd4b69c7e80680e0d30b8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1421"><figcaption>An ancient Hiti in 1979 and today where the water still flows.</figcaption></figure>Now, Thomas has brought out a 2023 calendar where he has juxtaposed some of the photographs with more recent colour images of the same places or street scenes by Tomáš Beránek and Jan Zalud. Proceeds from the sale of the calendars will go to <a href="https://www.namastenepal.cz/kontakt/">Namaste Nepal</a>, a Czech non-profit that focuses on development aid to Nepal and helps underserved children with education. It has also helped with rebuilding primary schools after the 2015 earthquake.

Back to Manang after 43 years

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-97649" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101212/639059929c7e80680e0ce1f7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1750" height="1813"/><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-97648" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101212/639059969c7e80680e0ce1f8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1750" height="1501">Then and Now: The Corona surveillance satellite image taken on 5 February 1967 shows the broad floodplains of the rivers flowing through Valley floor, Rana palaces, and the inner city of Patan and Kathmandu. The Google Earth Map taken on 20 April 2022, shows how much Kathmandu Valley has urbanised. From ground level, residents of Kathmandu Valley know how crowded the city has become. Many remember the terrace rice fields before they were covered over by concrete terraces.Now, this rampant and haphazard urbanisation is visible in satellite images thanks to the declassification of American spy satellite imagery from 60 years ago.The Corona strategic surveillance satellites were launched by the CIA and the US Air Force between 1959-1972 to gather intelligence on the Soviet and Chinese ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.This became especially important after an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960. The Corona satellite is code named Keyhole and would snap pictures from 150km in orbit, and return a capsule to earth to be retrieved by special planes with hooks, and the film developed in the CIA darkrooms.In all, 144 satellites were launched and many of them failed. But there are enough high resolution photographs of the earth’s surface. The images are now in the public domain after being declassified by President Clinton in 1992.The images have been useful for anthropologists to study ancient aboriginal settlements in Australia, and uncover hidden Mesopotamian migration routes before they were obliterated by modern infrastructure.Kathmandu Valley, obviously, has changed a lot. The Valley floor is now wall-to-wall buildings, the broad floodplains of the Vishnumati, Manahara and Bagmati are now choked with buildings, the Budanilkantha alluvial fan below Shivapuri, which used to be wrinkled with terrace farms are now built-up.<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-97658" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101212/6390599b9c7e80680e0ce1f9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1750" height="947"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-97653" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101212/6390599e9c7e80680e0ce1fajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1750" height="1115">Kathmandu Airport : The newly constructed runway at Kathmandu Airport 60 years ago. The then-Royal Nepal Airlines’ two Dakota aircrafts are visible, parked in the apron. Note the densely built-up Bagmati flood plain and Tinkune.<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-97656" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101212/639059a19c7e80680e0ce1fbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1750" height="1653"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-97659" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101212/639059a49c7e80680e0ce1fcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1250" height="1177">Bagmati and Manahara: The new settlement of Baneswor, Buddhanagar and BICC complex that houses Parliament in 1967. Today, the Bagmati River has been shrunk by the exploding urbanscape.<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-97651" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101212/639059a89c7e80680e0ce1fdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2250" height="1592"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-97647" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101212/639059ab9c7e80680e0ce1fejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1319">Vishnumati plains: Balaju Industrial Area was just being set up six decades ago. Today, much of the forest in the area is gone, with only a few trees remaining inside the British and Indian embassies across the river. The Nagarjun-Shivapuri National Park today has healthier vegetation. There are also things that have not changed. The Gokarna forests and the wooded areas of the British and Indian Embassies are still there. The ancient palace complexes of Hanuman Dhoka and Mangal Bazar are more or less intact.And while the photographs from 1967 show denuded hills on the Valley rim, these slopes now have thick forest cover when compared to Google Map images taken earlier this year. Partly this is because of community forests and also the establishment of the Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park.<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-97654" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101212/639059ae9c7e80680e0ce1ffjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1324"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-97655" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221207101212/639059b29c7e80680e0ce200jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1750" height="1109">Budanilkantha and Nagarjun: The paddy fields of Budanilkantha have been replaced by residential buildings, but the mostly denuded Shivapuri spurs in 1967 years ago are now reforested.The Keyhole satellites are of such high resolution that DC-3 aircraft parked at the the newly-expanded airport at Gauchar can easily be spotted. And just like the Corona images were used to study ancient camel caravan routes in North Africa and West Asia, the paths used by residents of Thimi to cross the runway to Pashupati can be made out in closeups.

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