Happy Easter

Easter is my favourite time of the year and we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus at the international church in Kathmandu, followed by lunch with friends and phone calls to our children.
On Maundy Thursday we hired a taxi after language classes and drove up to Nagarkot, a hill on edge of the valley and had a 2 night break. At 2165 metres the air was clean, the temperature cool and the bird song in the mornings magical. Unfortunately cloud obscured the views of the mountains but we will return after the monsoon to see the views.
We watched the eagles soaring overhead and during our 4 hour walk saw a number of new (to me) bird species, my favourite was the monarch, a bright blue bird about the size of a blackbird with a glorious song. There were a few of the famous rhododendron trees out in flower too.
On Saturday we shouldered our rucksacks and walked down through the villages to Telkot. The trail  wound past village houses badly damaged by the earthquake a year ago. Some were partly destroyed, with people

le living in one part of the building , but others were so damaged their owners were in tents or corrugated iron temporary shelters. These must be like an oven in summer and freezing in winter, here are some pictures so you can see for yourself: