Kathmandu

Unfortunately we didn't take many pictures while we wandered around Kathmandu. However we saw this site from the footpath as we walked past. We are not sure why monkeys are associated with temples but wonder if it is because of the food being offered there. We did notice lots of banana skins on the footpath nearby.

This is one of the temples at Bhaktapur. The city has been rebuild with German money after it was destroyed by earthquake. We had to pay a fairly hefty fee to get into the square and then another fee for a guide. However he did draw out attention to the fact that the profile of the roof mirrors the shape of the Nepali flag.

This was the main part of the potters square and you can see all the pots leathering awaiting bisking. In the top picture the woman appeared to be painting the top half of each vessel presumably with glaze or stain of some kind.

 This potter was out in the main square doing his craft. He has a notch in his wheel to get it started. As soon as he realised we were watching he raised his head and yelled "Money". This is the normal kind of wheel they use.

Ken was intrigued to watch this man pugging his clay. He thought it was quite a bit to be handling at once especially by hand like this.

 This is where they were firing. You can see wisps of smoke escaping. There is straw underneath covered by ash. There were at least four piles like this all smoldering away.

This is the clay they all seemed to be using. The firing temp is very low around 600-800.

This potter was able to speak English and Ken spent quite a bit of time with him. He starts the pugging process by belting his clay with a sledgehammer. He has made his own wheel from a truck tyre and spins it with the stick before he starts work. Most of his vessels were quite small though.

This is made on an electric wheel- not sure how they manage to produce much because the power supply in Kathmandu is even more erratic and infrequent than Pokhara. However he had a good stack of these vessels in his shed. 

One of the nicer things we saw for sale there.

These pictures are all from the pottery place that supplies goods to the Fair Trade shop, Dukuti. While we watched this woman made several bowls, all the same size and dimension. She was very quick and skillful and is apparently one of their best potters- more than 20 year experience. Her wheel is electric and we were not aware of them having a generator of their own.

 This is Ken and the master potter and factory manager discussing clays, firing temps etc. This place blend two clays together  (local terra-cotta and imported Indian stoneware) and fires at about 1200.

 This is their trial kiln- electric, but their main kiln is gas.

Ken found a piece that was glazed with ash (pointing to it) so there was great discussion about his onion ash work and what kinds of materials (e.g. bamboo) they could use to get similar effects. The ash in this case was rice straw ash.