Kathmandu

OK, I'm not going to say much about Nepal. First because I don't know much about it and second because there are books (and websites) with much better things than what I could write. We were not in Nepal long enough to have the time to learn much about the country, just playing tourists around Kathmandu for a few days before going on to Lhasa in Tibet and then to Cho-Oyu. Here are just a few pictures.

Nepal / Tibet. Katmandu / Lhassa. The same or different ? One on either side of the Himalaya. One city Indian at heart, the other forcefully Chinese. Late monsoon clouds drifting above bringing drizzles of rain. We spend some days in Katmandu, getting our gear ready in large heavy plastic drums that we roll all through the hotel, visiting Buddhist temples, sorting things out with the trekking agency. A hot an humid city, bursting with energy, cars surfing around the many pedestrians and bicycles. There we purchase our last missing pieces of equipment, try new foods, start getting sick too.
Like in many countries, the most interesting things to visit are the temples (Durbar Square in Patan, left). I wonder why... Looks like mankind has never been able to show much ingenuity for better things than religions (and war by the way)...<

Well, I don't want to criticize one of the only place in the world where two religions (Buddhism and Hinduism) manage to coexist peacefully. Some of the temples are even shared by statues of Buddhas (Right) and Hinduist gods (left). I know more than one country that could use their example...

Gingerbread House at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort

Each Disney World resort hotel is elaborately decorated for the holidays every year, including this Gingerbread House in the lobby of the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. Pastry chefs create the intricate, life-sized gingerbread house from 1,050 pounds of honey, 600 pounds of powered sugar, 800 pounds of flour, 140 pints of egg whites and 180 pounds of apricot glaze. The house fills the lobby with the enticing scent of gingerbread.