On my way to the trek office, we pull out of the narrow alleys of central Kathmandu onto the more open Ring Road that encircles the city, and my Nepali friend must have heard me catch my breath. He glanced carelessly at the mountains, and said, “Yes, it’s mountain viewing season now.” Indeed.
The high Himalayas pop up in a few places where the green “hills” surrounding the Kathmandu Valley break or dip. Once crisp in the distance, the deteriorating air quality in Nepal now leaves them dusky in particulate haze. A massive road widening project is currently underway in Kathmandu, and the city dust is worse than ever. Everyone I talk to praises the road construction, complains of the dense dust, and barely notices the mountains they always live with.
Same view of the Himalayas taken above and below the Kathmandu layer of dust and smog. Credit: Chandra Shekhar Karki via Nepal Magazine