HYMAL - Scapes :: Behance

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Sometimes you just let the moment go and this is the best thing to do. Sometimes you manage to capture it...

Some moments from two months in Nepal during the autumn of 2014.

Ama Dablam (6,812 m.) and Chola Tsho Lake, Himalaya, Nepal

I was already setup for the sunset and was patiently waiting for it. The tripod and camera were positioned to my liking so I just had to press the shutter release when the time comes. I felt uneasy - maybe I wasn't pleased with my compositon. I thought there might be something that I will miss. I see Chola Tsho lake in the distance and I see a hill which looks "not so far" and is perhaps overlooking the lake from a better angle. I couldn't really tell if it's going to end up as a wasted sunset but I didn't actually like the clear skies so I decided to risk it. Quickly got all my stuff and started running towards the hill... In reality it wasn't really far - only 20-30 minutes running with the gear... I barely made it before the sunset but it was right after that that the sky became so magical :) It was worth risking it.

Dudh Koshi river on the way to Namche Bazaar, Himalaya, Nepal

It's been 5 days in the Everest region. We've walked from Jiri to Lukla and yesterday we experienced our first culture shock - and it wasn't because of Nepal, it was instead, because of Europe, America, Australia. Civilization at its worst. For five days we've walked through some of the most peaceful rural lands I've ever been to. People were friendly, there was hardly anyone on the trail - a sense of tranquility we maybe got too used to. Once we reached Lukla it all changed in an instant - the flow of tourists comming from the countless flights every day was just enormous. We basically had to wait on a queue to go up the next hill. Drove us nuts for a couple of days. We were running most of the time where there wasn't so many people so we can get it over with. However, it is these kinds of views that just take your breath away - you stop, look, awe and forget all about this crazy world around you. You don't care anymore if all the people, yaks, mules that you've managed to pass on the trail with so much effort are going to actually keep up to you and you will have to do this all over again. It just doesn't matter and it really shouldn't.

On our way to Namche Bazaar. The shapes of the mountain are truly amazing and with the snow so close I feel more at home.

We did some mountain biking in Shivapuri National Park. The villages there were amazing. Tourists - none.

The house we sleep in is really a local house, not a guest house. Owners speak just a few words of english but we understand eachother perfectly. Clouds cover the lowlands and you feel you're in heaven. Chicken feast on some drying marijuana near the door and the owner, while dispersing them with a kick, shows us a few large bags of it with a grin on his face.

The night comes and stars pop-up. I wasn't really lucky most of the time with the night shooting. When we were high in the mountains the moon was always too full to get anything decent. This time I decided to shoot an amazing house so I've made a little light setup. Nah, doesn't work, I turn around and see the road. This is the road leading to our house :)

Somewhere around Dzongla village (4,820m.) in the Sagarmatha National Park, Himalaya, Nepal

Ganchempo (6,387m.) is a peak situated in the Langtang National Park, Himalaya, Nepal

Khatang (6,790m.) and Numbur (6,959m.) peaks, Himalaya, Nepal

The hills of the Himalayas - for the locals everything below 3500m. is called a hill, not a mountain

Nepali mountain homes - on the way from Jiri to Lukla

Somewhere in Langtang valley, Himalaya, Nepal

The longest glacier in the Himalaya range - Ngozumpa Glacier is 32km. long. Heaven and hell in one place

I get up and I don't feel so good. Today we are making our second high mountain pass - Cho La. We start early in the morning and it's quite chilly otside. We warm up quick going up, though. I keep quiet since I don't feel very well still, maybe I've caught a cold the other day - the wind was quite strong. Anyway, we make it to the top fairly quickly and I start thinking that everything is fine - we were fast, so maybe I'm actually fine. And then the descent starts... It's steep scree mixed with ice. Ice, snow, rocks, ice, rocks, some more scree. We don't have crampons so we are doing it quite carefully while some porters pass us by in a very carefree manner always wearing their ripped trainers (they actually wear flipflops up untill around 4000m altitude). This is shit... I feel like shit. We finish the stupid descend and I'm burning and can barely stand. We've made quite a few stops because of me already which does make feel even worse. So I get up and continue, we reach a small village and enjoy some coffee. And there it is, the thought I've been avoiding this whole time, just "around the corner" is this vast, vast hilly thing with gravel, rock, stone, snow and somewhere underneath - ice. They call it a glacier but in reality it's almost gone now. I see it and the thought finally hits me - this is going to take some time to cross... That, for me, is a moment of determination - I can't go if I feel the way I feel so I have to make myself feel better. And I do it. This place is a bit creepy though. There are rocks falling every 30 seconds or so and the inbetweens are filled with dead silence. I've got very mixed feelings about it - it's not beautiful, you could even call it ugly. In the same time it's so enormous, so vast and... so beautiful. It is the mountain itself and you feel like the little person you really are in there. I like this feeling :)