Ratna Park

Taxis and micro-buses--an industry which has exploded in recent years, causing environmental and social strains on the already overwhelmed valley--swarm for passengers across from Ratna Park--the city's largest plot of "green space". Traffic is unusually slow for the hour because of the Tihar/Diwali festival going through the week. Beyond, Kathmandu sprawls west toward India. Behind myself, it sprawls an equal distance into the Himalayas, toward Tibet.