Travel journals

Tried to journal the Nepal trip and I did but it's all rather mundane and straight to the point, as I was too tired to give it much thought. Felt extremely blue when Monday rolled around and I had to go back to work. The two environments were just so vastly different that I needed time, I guess, to adapt back to life here, which is kinda hilarious given that i'd only been gone for two weeks. 

There's again this strange feeling that I do not belong here and I began reminiscing the time spent in the villages, where there was absolutely nothing to do (no tv, no wifi, only a small lightbulb in the room). I'd slept at 8-9pm there and woke up at 6am. With all the distractions in Sg, I could never do that. 

I also wonder if I have overly romanticized the village life. There was one time where I felt a little claustrophobic in the mountains, that dreadful "trapped" feeling because you know there's no way you can get out of the mountains anytime you want. I guess I have a love-hate relationship with the mountains but here I am missing that life and wishing myself back there again. 

For the past few days, I've been thinking whether comfort is really what we are always striving to attain. Is comfort really that important? Or is life more exciting with a little discomfort? Is this why we put ourselves in difficult places, just so to feel alive. In a lot of situations, we tend to take the easy way out, even in love sometimes, we seek an easy, comfortable companionship because we hate discomfort right? 

But I'm beginning to feel that comfort isn't really all that matters. Good to have sometimes but not all the time. 

Anyway, back to Nepal. I do think it's a photographer's heaven. The sights are incredible and it's not just about the mountain range but the people, the streets, everything. Kathmandu is practically covered in dust but I thought it lent this foggy, dreamlike feel to the city. In a rather "brown" city, the blue doors of shops, the brightly-colored clothes of the people, the multi-colored prayer flags and powder street vendors sold, made them interesting subjects to photograph.

I think it's really awesome to be able to let others see things through your eyes with a photograph, and yet, there's so much more the viewer is missing out on- the smells, the sounds, the feel, the vibe, which kinda nullify the idea of an armchair traveller.