If you asked me to describe the Annapurna Region of the Himalaya with a few words, I’d say “pink rhododendrons and breathtaking basecamp views”. The perfect time to visit? Spring. It’s when the magic of the mountain hills is in full swing with blooming trees popping up everywhere on the hills. Pure magic.

All Sherpa people told me they regard the mountain as God. Not in a religious sense, but in the sense of being humble in front of a power far superior to what any human being can harness. I asked one Sherpa how he feels about the mountain and he answered: “we’re at its mercy”. It doesn’t take much experience to realize, the Himalaya Mountain is something different.

Do you know that peculiar happy feeling when you discover photos of something you forgot you shot long time ago? Well, this is what happened to me while unarchiving and looking at the photos I took in Nepal back in 2018. I had forgotten I visited several Buddhist monasteries in the Himalaya mountain, but as soon as I saw the pictures, I had a flashback of what I felt back when I took them: a heartfelt curiosity mixed with astonishment.

The whole city of Kathmandu is practically nested in the Himalayan Mountain: a guardian that protected Nepal from invasion through the past centuries, but also a mighty force capable of causing destruction. I spoke with a Nepali friend of mine who told me proudly “we don’t celebrate Independence Day in Nepal, because we were never an occupied country”.