Nepal Through My Eyes — Gift Kitiya

Sixteen spreads, painted and written by hand after ten days in Nepal. Everything glued into it was carried home in a bag.

Gift Kitiya

The flight

A flight attendant painted from the front, hands pressed together, in a pink and deep blue wrap over a candy-striped apron

The meal tray from above, drawn in pale blue: rice and vegetables, a cake, a bread roll, and a cup of black coffee

The traditional Sherpa-inspired uniform were my first glimpse of Nepal's cultural beauty.

I was sitting in row 6. The meal cart started serving from the front, while another began just one row behind us. By the time they reached my seat, there were no more chicken-rice. Only the … rice, which I didn't know what it is.

And I realized later that it was a vegetarian meal… full of tofu!! I don't eat TOFU! A slightly tragic start to the journey … LOL.

The gold Buddha that stands in arrivals, seated cross-legged on a lotus with many arms raised, against a soft green-gold halo

A contemporary Nepali-Tibetan style Buddha statue welcoming visitors to the birthplace of the Buddha.

Airport signs drawn as outlined boxes hanging from the ceiling: Nepal Tourism Board, Tourist Police Service, Tourist Information Counter

A line of arriving travellers drawn quickly in brown ink, each with a red khata over the shoulders, suitcases at their feet

A khata scarf painted in red and white check, the words warm welcome, experience of Nepal written along the top

Curry, curry, curry

A quick line drawing of the pani puri stall, a rack of crisp shells over a row of sauce bowls

Two tall glass dispensers of flavoured herbal water on stands

One pani puri painted close up, a crisp golden shell cracked open with green and red filling inside

A plain naan, blistered and freckled brown

A buttered garlic naan, flecked with green herbs

Tired, hungry, and finally arrived!! The hotel's buffet dinner was a delightful welcome.

Three trays of curry stacked one above the other, red, yellow and green

The Siddhartha Vilasa menu cover, glued in whole, with a Nepali lunch set painted onto it: a wide metal plate of rice and small bowls, and a green salad above

Rice is long-grained. Very long!!

The propeller plane

A blue and white security-checked baggage tag with a serial number down its length

A strip of sweet wrappers, specially wrapped for Yeti Airlines printed over and over

A small maroon tea tag, Tokla Gold Leaf, with a gold leaf drawn on it

on both flight to and from Lumbini the flight attendants handed out candy & cotton balls.. P'Nueng had told me beforehand that the cotton was for earplugs. the propeller plane was incredibly loud !!!

A pink and yellow house with a teal garage door and a white outside staircase

A small ochre house with a red roof rail and red window frames

A dusty pink house with a shuttered garage and a bush at the corner

Houses along the road to Lumbini

Lumbini, mapped

Her own plan of the Lumbini grounds, drawn with a compass rose and red map pins: the monasteries down each side, west marked Mahayana and Vajrayana, east marked Theravada, with the Peace Pagoda at the top and a friend on the van roof photographing cranes

P'Nueng climb up the van to take photo of the cranes.

ฝั่งตะวันตกเป็นลัทธิมหายานและวัชรยาน ส่วนฝั่งตะวันออกเป็นลัทธิเถรวาทเช่นประเทศไทย

The World Peace Pagoda, a white dome with a gold finial, a crowd climbing the steps towards it, framed by two dark cypress trees — World Peace Pagoda

Maya Devi Temple

The white temple block with a small gold spire behind it, a long orange brick wall running across the front, dark trees behind, and flecks of ink thrown across the sky

A sacred place where a great soul was born. Guided by Dr. Basanta Bidari and Prof. Robin Coningham.

Kapilavastu, the west gate

The left half: a great soft green tree over a brick ruin, prayer flags strung across in front of it, two figures standing on the mound

The right half: a second tree, more flags running away to the edge, and a long fallen brick wall in the grass

The West Gate is said to be where Prince Siddhartha rode out into the unknown — the beginning of his journey toward enlightenment.

Boudhanath, from the café

The great white stupa, gold spire on top, strings of prayer flags fanning down from it like the guys of a tent

The café railing and the backs of two chairs, drawn in thin pen right across the view

The breathtaking view of BOUDHA STUPA from the Roadhouse Café. This place is the largest Buddhist stupa, a sacred center of Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal.

พระมหาสถูปโพธนาถ

Patan Durbar Square painted wet and loose: a gold stone tower on the left, tiered pagoda roofs on the right, and a crowd flowing away up the square in flecks of red

Patan Museum

The museum's red brick front, a three-tier pagoda roof rising behind it, a small gold shrine in the middle of the square and a knot of figures in red beside it

Bel Bibaha

Two girls in red and gold sitting close together on a brick ledge, a man in a white shirt sitting apart from them reading, a temple bell hanging above

Red appeared everywhere that afternoon — in folded saris, crowded courtyard and quiet smiles. These 2 girls are having her first wedding: Bel Bibaha. Bel or wood apple represents an eternal divine presence.

This rituals were deeply tie to protection, continuity and a woman's place within society across generation.

A lime juice stall: a blue cart on fat wheels under a checked green parasol, the vendor in a navy hat behind it

A cargo tricycle stacked far above the rider's head with brown boxes, the rider leaning into the pedals

A boy carrying a pole of pink cotton candy tied in bunches, taller than he is

A tricycle taxi painted all over in flowers and colour, a passenger tucked into the back

Lime juice stall · loaded cargo tricycle · cotton candy boy · tricycle taxi

Swayambhu, then Bhaktapur

Swayambhunath: the painted eyes on the tower, and a crowd of small grey and black votive shrines massed on the terrace in front of it

Amid noise, movement and restless monkeys, the stupa still teaches stillness.

A bride standing very straight in deep pink and red, gold at her throat and a red veil over her hair

Two clay pots of yogurt, one tipped towards you so you can see the set cream inside

A clay cup of lassi, thick and pale, with a lemon slice on the rim

Bhaktapur felt alive with tradition — timeless architecture, quiet craftsmanship, and simple moments shared.

Juju Dhau, king yogurt · lassi in a clay cup

Green ridges going back into haze, one behind another, with terraced fields cut into the near hillside in ochre and green

the terraced fields carved into the hills reflected how we live alongside nature.

Jacaranda

Jacaranda makes Kathmandu's spring feel soft & dreamlike.

Kala Bhairav

Kala Bhairav, the fierce guardian at Kathmandu Durbar Square. This reminds us that not all powerful energies appear gentle.. Sometimes protection and truth arrived in fierce form.

The courtyard, after rain

The museum courtyard after rain, the white façade and red tiered roof pulled down into the wet paving in long vertical strokes

After the rain, reflections become part of the white façade, altering the way the space was seen. This old palace seemed to hold its own light among the earth tone of Kathmandu.

A dark teak arch drawn in fine pen, carved all over, framing a plain red door

Teak carvings from Thailand, inside the museum

Pashupatinath

Temple roofs and shrines drawn in red and blue pen over pale washes, with the ghat steps running down towards the river and a long arcaded building on the far bank

The most sacred Hindu pilgrimage temple site of the world, located on the bank of Bagmati River, where life and death seem to unfold…

The back page: almost entirely empty paper, with one stamped ticket low in the middle — a small purple aeroplane, say yes to adventure, breathe, getaway

There are a few copies of the book, sewn by hand.

The pages themselves

Everything above is an adaptation — the spreads taken apart and re-paced to be read on a phone. Here is the book as it sits on the table: every page, in order, nothing moved.