By HAVEN SAGER Tara Upreti was 12 years old when her father died from a heart attack. His death changed the trajectory of her future. Upreti was born and raised in Subhang, Panchthar, a small, green-hilled village in eastern Nepal. She grew up in a family of sustainable farmers that consisted of five sisters, three…
By HAVEN SAGER When I climbed into the rickety safari truck, my LifeStraw water bottle in hand, sweat slicking back my hair, I felt excited. We were in a community forest at the edge of Chitwan National Park and the gateway town of Sauraha. Sauraha is a place where rhinos stroll down sidewalks, goats clamber…
By MARLEY BARBOEISEL Since 1972, the Lama Thanka Painting School has stood in Baktapur, Nepal. Here, aspiring painters are able to learn from masters the art of creating Thagka paintings. The art involves creating a canvas from cotton or silk, then using paint made from rocks and acrylic to cover it in Buddhist deities and…
Text and photos by MARLEY BARBOIEISEL I’ve always been a fan of a roadtrip. As quick as a flight would be to travel from one place to another, you miss out on observing or engaging with anything along the way. I’ve spent weeks of my life driving around the United States, exploring everything from the…
By RILEY COMSTOCK We started Friday morning early at Tribhuvan University with a class of journalism students and faculty, discussing the current realities of journalism. Feelings in the room seemed lively, and both the Nepali journalism students and ourselves seemed excited for the cross-cultural exchange. Midway through the discussion, one student asked a poignant question…
Text and photos by HENRY DOELLINGER “Homocidal maniacs.” The description of monkeys from the University of Montana’s travel nurse rang through my head as our group sat on board the NTNC’s bus headed for Swayambhunath, the iconic Buddhist temple, also known for its food-conditioned rhesus macaques. I couldn’t picture what this excursion would entail, and,…
BY RILEY COMSTOCK Asmit Man Buddhacharya and his family have been the caretakers of the Swaynambhunath temple and its “Stuppa” for hundreds of years, he says. Buddhacharya himself has grown up there, and seen many changes; including changes in the monkeys. The Swaynambhunath temple in western Kathmandu, also known as “The Monkey Temple,” is a…
By KAEDENCE EAMES My first full day in Nepal was filled with market shopping and aimless wandering. Through my jet-lag, I enjoyed simply observing the busy streets of Kathmandu. The sweat dripping down my forehead made me desperate for a shower. I wasn’t the only one being hit by the heat. Feral dogs dotted the…
By VIVIANNE OSTHEIMER Baldri owns a small jewelry stand on a touristy street in Kathmandu. He’s a friendly salesman with a smile that’s missing a few teeth. In recent years, Baldri says unforeseen circumstances have impacted his business: first COVID, then political turmoil in Nepal as youth-led protests toppled the government. Promise runs another store…
By HATTIE BATCHELDER I was in the midst of a very high stakes running race in which my legs were not working correctly and I had a crowd of loved ones depending on me to win when I was abruptly awoken by my obnoxiously loud iPhone alarm clock. I sleepily assisted my roommate in getting…