Himalayan spring

A rhododendron tree in bloom on a ridge in Kakani, just outside the Kathmandu valley of Nepal. The red rhododendron flower, known as lali guras in Nepali, is the national flower here and I spotted the tree on a location scouting trip with a group of filmmakers. We are planning to make a short film adapted from a screenplay originally based in the Maldives with the flamboyant tree or reethi gas as its central visual metaphor.

Although I've visited Nepal four times previously to trek, this is the first time I'm actually living here. Nepal is a filmmaker's dream come true, with extraordinary variety in landscape and a very enthusiastic pool of professional and non-professional acting talent.

After a bitterly cold winter in which I, nevertheless, managed to sneak a trek in the stunning Gosaikund area, days are longer and warmer now.