The Thai airlines flight had good sized seats, flight attendants in beautiful silk outfits, a huge plane, and was practically empty. The food was great (Thai chicken curry) and they brought around extra bread, extra drinks and seconds for anyone who wasn't stuffed. Instead of peanuts, they served cashews. In addition to this, we got a free Everest flight included. OK it didn't go as close as the regular Everest flights but we flew next to the Himalayas and we could see Everest in the distance.

I hadn't thought much about taking photos of butterflies until I came to Nepal. I noticed lots of beautiful ones in a restaurant's yard where our bus stopped for a break before getting to Pokhara. After that, I have been taking the photos of them whenever I can. In Nepal, I took a few of these photographs while trekking, but most were from day hikes around Pokhara. To name the butterflies, I used a small book written by Collin Smith who has spent 30 years collecting butterflies and written several books on the butterflies of Nepal. He donated an amazing collection of butterflies, from Nepal and other countries, to the Annapurna museum in Pokhara which I also used for identification. However, I am not an expert and may have made mistakes in identification. If you notice any, please comment.

On the other side of Swayambunath are 3 gold statues in a park named Buddha Park. Walking around the base of the hill we were glad we returned since the first time we visited we walked up to the Swayambunath Stupa and didn't see any of the rows of prayer wheels (279 small ones) that circle the bottom and the large ones enclosed in ornately painted buildings. Monasteries have sprouted up all around the hill as well.