Nagarkot

Forested ridges and terraced valleys stretch away into haze under a sky of heavy cloud. — The view from Nagarkot, with the Himalayas hidden behind the clouds.2022 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring

Nagarkot is a village on the eastern rim of the Kathmandu Valley, more than 2,000 meters up, and on a clear day its view runs along the Himalayas as far as Everest. I got there on the evening of September 17, 2022, at the end of a day that had taken in Boudhanath, Pashupatinath, and Bhaktapur. September is the end of the monsoon, and the high peaks stayed behind the clouds; what I saw instead was ridge after green ridge falling away into the haze, with terraced fields and villages on their slopes.

Photos from Nagarkot

Ridge after ridge, at the end of the monsoon.
2022 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring