After the formal part of the evening people were able to mingle and share their own experiences and catch up with friends.
The raffle was a great success, and overall $470 was raised. This money will go towards a small project in Nepal which Kylie and Brenda will identify early 2016.
Ray Baker
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| Dhaulagiri Himal |
Ray Baker, co-owner of Back Track Adventures, has been trekking in
Nepal for over 30 years. He shared his photos of one of the hardest treks he
has ever done – Around Dhaulagiri. He participated in this remote and
challenging 20 day trek with four other people in October 2003. They wanted to
do this trek with minimal impact and so carried all of their own personal gear
with a crew of porters who carried the food, fuel and tents.
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| Muri village |
The trek took them high above a remote Valley passing through remote villages and over suspension bridges, following glaciers and crossing high snow laden passes to get to Dhaulagiri Base Camp at 4740m. After Base Camp they traversed over the high pass of French Col at 5360m and then dropped into Hidden Valley camping at about 5000 metres. The views of the Dhaulagiri range (7th highest in the world) and over Jomsom and Thorong La were stunning! At the end of the trek, there was one last big down to an altitude of 850m.
Seeing Ray’s photos of this beautiful region that not many
lovers of Nepal trekking would get to do, was exhilarating; it sure made many of us want to sign up ASAP!
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| French Col 5360m |
Jiwan Kharel
Nepal has many diverse
cultures and people, and weddings are a classic example of this diversity. Jiwan explained the rituals of a Brahmin
wedding, from the ceremony and worshipping which he participated in as a groom
at his home and the customs the bride and her family follow in their home. 
The
couple are then joined for a third formal ceremony where both families come
together and celebrate. Jiwan also
explained some of the unusual customs and practices followed by Tharu and
Newari cultures.
Sarah Macaione
Sarah Macaione shared her experience as a volunteer in the village
of Jwanater in the Kavre District, a 3 hour drive from Kathmandu. She joined
with six other young Australians through the World Youth International
Organisation and helped build from scratch to completion a community building
for this village.
Before leaving for Nepal Sarah raised $6,000 which paid for
all the building materials for this project. Sarah worked & lived alongside
the village people for 5 weeks during April/May 2013 and she told us that it
was one of the most rewarding things she has done.
This was evident from the unique memories she shared - sleeping amongst bags of rice and stepping on mice in the middle of the night on the way to the toilet, having limited electricity, bathing in the local river as there was no shower and nearly getting washed away in the current, living with a Nepali Mother and Father who spoke no English, lugging water as there was only one small tap for the whole village, mixing concrete by hand and hanging out with the local kids at the end of her work day.
Seeing this experience through the eyes of a young woman was a real treat for the audience.
This was evident from the unique memories she shared - sleeping amongst bags of rice and stepping on mice in the middle of the night on the way to the toilet, having limited electricity, bathing in the local river as there was no shower and nearly getting washed away in the current, living with a Nepali Mother and Father who spoke no English, lugging water as there was only one small tap for the whole village, mixing concrete by hand and hanging out with the local kids at the end of her work day.
Seeing this experience through the eyes of a young woman was a real treat for the audience.
Peter Sneddon
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| Early morning in Bhaktapur |
He visited the main tourist areas like Swayambhunath, Boudhanath, Bhaktapur, Thimi and Pashupathinath, as well as the non-tourist areas of Kathmandu, capturing scenes of the local Nepali people going about their daily business, religious ceremonies and rural life but also some fantastic shots of the people up close. As he showed his photos to the audience he relived his time in Kathmandu and the memories that each photo conjured up for him. He said the days photographing started early and were very busy but very rewarding and that it was hard to take a bad photo!
He visited the main tourist areas like Swayambhunath, Boudhanath, Bhaktapur, Thimi and Pashupathinath, as well as the non-tourist areas of Kathmandu, capturing scenes of the local Nepali people going about their daily business, religious ceremonies and rural life but also some fantastic shots of the people up close. As he showed his photos to the audience he relived his time in Kathmandu and the memories that each photo conjured up for him. He said the days photographing started early and were very busy but very rewarding and that it was hard to take a bad photo!
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| Makeupless Hindu Holy Man |
Everywhere he looked was a photo opportunity and
quoting his tour leader who said “you could even take a great photo falling
over”. Kathmandu is a beautiful vibrant City and Peter definitely captured this
in his diverse collection of photos. Peter said he took about 3,000 photos in
the week he was in Kathmandu so we are hoping he may return again to Sano Katha
to share more amazing photos of the City we all love so much.
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| Kathmandu Rooftops |
To see more of Peter's photography click on one of the photos.
Many thanks to
Back Track Adventures for making their office space available for these events
The Paddington Curry House, 3/147 Latrobe Terrace, Paddington 4064 http://thepaddingtoncurryhouse.com.au/ for providing the dinner gift voucher for the raffle
