Eagles grasping arrows and leaves, psychedelic pyramids, and dead presidents is not all currency
was destined to be.  Witness these examples of Nepalese rupees, as we cross the border from India
into Nepal ...

One Nepalese rupee, front side ...

and the other side ...

Twenty-five Nepalese rupees from the front,

and from the back.  There's gotta be a conservation theme going on here ...

The flip side of twenty-five Nepalese rupees ...

Ten Nepalese rupees as seen from the front, quite a beauty.

Click here to see a few more colorful Nepalese rupees.

Money changed successfully, I look for a place to stay in Nepal's border outpost, Belhiya.
The moon rises full over the Nepal Guest House, where I take up lodging for a night.

The full moon sets as the sun rises, and it's time for another bus ride.  A full bus, rattling along relatively smooth roads between Belhiya and Pokhara.  Mountains, or foothills by Nepalese standards, can be seen through the haze.  We come over a summit, pass lush vegetation and descend into a fertile valley.

Square cement houses, wooden structures and raised thatch huts line the road, interspersed with square plots of land and dry riverbeds that sit waiting for the monsoon rains.  Schoolchildren dressed in dark-blue shorts and light-blue long-sleeved collared shirts stand obediently in neat lines in front of a square cement schoolhouse.  Their backpacks are huge on their small frames and threaten to make them topple over backwards.

After winding along precipitous mountain roads, we descend to the jungle oasis of Pokhara.

Situated on a picturesque lake and surrounded by mountains, the second-largest city in Nepal after Kathmandu, Pokhara feels like a small town.

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