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@brittarnhild
Spring is on its way. Really, it is.
All the snow had left the garden when I came home last night.
Tomorrow, a day off, I will do another TRAVEL, this time in The Blue Garden.
And my destination will be: signs of spring
Until then I drink some beauty from the Garden of Dreams.
Many of the photos I have from this lovely garden in Kathmandu
would be perfect as postcards.
Or posters.
How is your spring right now?
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@brittarnhild
As soon as I took the camera out of its pocket, the taxi driver understood my passion;
The Jacaranda trees.
Every time another purple tree appeared, he slowed down, almost stopped.
The drive took twice as long as it could have.
Still he asked for the same fare.
350 rupees.
Caroly, my dear Indian mother, has a lovely book about blooming trees in Bangalore.
I wonder if there is a book about the Jacarandas in Kathmandu?
Photos: shot through a dirty taxi window.
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@brittarnhild
Busy, dusty, dirty, charming Kathmandu has a heart. A very special heart.
A garden of dreams.
Lonely Planet writes:
Field marshal Kaiser Shamser (1892-1964), built the Garden of Dreams in the 1920ies after a visit to several Edwardian estates in England, using funds won from his father (the prime minister).......the gardens and its pavilions suffered neglect to the point of collapse before they were lovingly brought back to life.........
There are dozens of gorgeous details in the small garden, including the original gate........, the new fountains and ponds, and a quirky hidden garden to the south. Of the original 16 hectars and six pavilions (named after the six Nepali seasons), only half a hectar and three pavilions remain.
Reading about The Garden of Dreams in Lonely Planet, I knew it was a place I wanted to visit. Our scedule has been tight though, so only the last day did I find time.
Or actually I made time.
While the others followed the plan set for the group, I dropped out and took a taxi downtown.
Walking in the gate I knew I had made the right decision.
A dream garden.
The world has a multitude of gardens.
One more beautiful than the other.
Anna, the "hero" of my novel,
has visited "them all". So now, as I am working on the novel, I must try to visit as many as possible myself :-)
A task I have nothing against.
Anna came to The Garden of Dreams for a very special reason.
I am looking forward to write about it :-)
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@brittarnhild
It is my last day in Nepal.
As I look through my blogging from this once in a lifetime travel, I see that I have forgotten to blog about the elephant safari. Or, I did blog about it, but that was over in my Norwegian blog: Blåklokkeveien. If you are interested you can go over there to see more photos and read about it (use google translate if you don´t read Norwegian)
After the elephant safari we continued to the Elephant Breeding Center, a center which is providing many of the elephants for the safaris.
A highlight there, according to Lonely Planet, is to watch the interactions between mother and baby elephants.
We saw two babies fighting, and were surprised to learn that the grown up they were fighting about, was their aunt, not the mother of any of them.
It was so much fun watching the two fighters :-)
At the breeding center I learned that you can make paper out of elephant dung.
Did you know that?
Now I have added to my paper collection two sheets of elephant dung paper, and a few envelopes. I also bought a couple of postcards made of the same material.
I want to send one of the cards to one of you.
Let me know if you want it.
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@brittarnhild
When toilet all your life has been right outside your house, or at its best a hole in the floor, a wenstern invention can easily be a frustration.
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text and images britt-arnhild
Kidnapped, sold by your own family, cheated, fallen in love with the completely wrong man, despair.
The victims of trafficking have many faces. HimalPartner supports a Nepali organization, Higher Ground, who helps some of these women back to life.
We have been visiting some of their projects today. And we have heard stories. Unbelievable stories. Unbearable stories.
They share the same heading: EVIL!
Outside the front door to the office we visited, was a wall.
A wall filled with red roses.
Beautiful red roses growing out of a dry, concrete wall.
What a perfect symbol!
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You can read about one of Higher Grounds projects here; Higher Ground Cafe.
Or you can follow them on facebook
Take a moment today and add these girls to your prayers.
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text and images britt-arnhild
I have been to Pokhara, on the foot of the Himalayas (the Annaputra photos were taken from the top roof of this house). There I met the Swedish/Norwegian missionary Mirjam Bergh, who was the writer of the book about the midwife Ingeborg Skjervheim, the Norwegian woman who came to Nepal around 1956 and gave her life to the Nepalese people. Regular readers of my blog already know Ingeborg and the impact reading the book made on me.
Mirjam invited me to stay in her house, a house she shares with a young Nepalese girl, Prothiba Manaen.
Prothiba is also a writer. She has published one book, A Friend in Thousand, and is working on her second, hoping to publish it next year. You can read more about Prothiba´s book here. Prothiba´s book is out of print for the moment, but more copies will be made, and as soon as possible I´ll get myself a copy. The money Prothiba earns on the book will be used to set up a foundation for school fees for rural Nepalese girls.
Staying with these two strong women was a blessing. Stories flowed between us, food were shared. I was tired when I came, and Mirjam made sure I got the best rest. I had an upset stomack, Mirjam baked bread and we ate them right out of the oven. She knew I needed sleep and told me when I went to bed in the evening: "Don´t set your alarm. I will be up in the morning anyway and if the sky is clear I will wake you so you can see the sun on Annaputra.
Before I left, Mirjam and I sat down and prayed together.
Mirjam prayed for my writing............
Thank you Mirjam for opening up your home for me.
May God continue to bless you and your work.
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@ photos brittarnhild, text Psalm 121
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is thy keeper, the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by the day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil.
The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
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5.30am, Annapurna Himalaya, photos taken from a roof in Pokhara.
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