Nestled in a long, deep valley south of the Himalayan mountain range, Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal and home to 4 of this remote country’s 30 million deeply religious citizens. A land locked country whose primary historical purpose seems to have been to serve as a buffer between the 1.1 billion Chinese to the north and the 1.5 billion Indians to the south. A basic economy, focused on the essentials.

As in India, weddings are an extraordinarily big deal, with families earnestly starting to save for the big day upon the birth of a daughter.

Seen around town – these markers are embedded in the ground in front of homes, with residents tossing colorful flour for good luck.

The Nepalese calendar is based upon lunar calculations, so this school was founded 28 years ago.

Here’s the translation, a room charge that I dated using both western and Nepalese calendar systems.

Leveled in 2015 by a 7.8 earthquake, restoration, rebuilding and makeshift fixes will be going on for many years to come.

Walking down a path in the middle of Kathmandu this monkey was on the bank of the river overlooking an open air crematorium that runs 24/7, burning 600 pounds of trees to consume one body. Families pay $200 for the full ritual, and there are as many as six funeral pyres at once. Ashes are deposited into the river in the foreground as it ultimately drains into the Ganges.

The eldest son will have his head, beard, eyebrows fully shaved as part of the ritual’s acknowledging the loss of a loved one.

80% Hindu but with a strong Buddhist population, there seems to be a greater melding / overlap of these two major religions compared to India. Temples and religious iconography are pervasive, literally everywhere.

Nepal closed their borders, tightly, for about 150 years, just recently opening in 1954. Friendly and courteous to be sure, but not as effusive and joyful and open as the Indians of northern India. Nepalese features, customs, values, religion, all reflect the Asian influence to the north and Indo influence to the south.