Crumbled temples. Shattered towers. Buildings dashed to pieces on the street.
The people of Nepal face a difficult if not impossible task to rebuild their lives and, eventually, their cities in the wake of Saturday's earthquake that killed more than 2,500 people, left hundreds of thousands homeless, and turned buildings into rubble.
Toronto resident and frequent Nepal visitor Kevin Fitzsimons says the Nepalese may never fully rebuild after the devastating quake.
"I don't know how they're going to recover," he told CTVNews.ca by phone on Sunday. "The place was already rough to begin with. It's just such a hard life there."
Fitzsimons has strong ties to the Tibetan Buddhist community and he's visited Nepal several times to see friends at the Kopan monastery on the outskirts of Kathmandu. His monk friends are now living outside, afraid their monastery will collapse on top of them, Fitzsimons said after being in contact with his many Nepalese friends through social media.
Fitzsimons says most earthquake survivors are hesitant to re-enter their homes until the aftershocks pass, meaning many in the country are living in tent villages.
Fitzsimons predicts Nepal's architecture and history will likely take a back seat in the coming months to more immediate, human concerns like securing shelter, water and food for the survivors.
When the rebuilding efforts begin, Fitzsimons says the Nepalese will face a tough task putting their cities back together. He says there is little modern construction equipment, meaning the Nepalese will likely have to sift through the rubble by hand, brick-by-brick. They'll also have to navigate city and country roads torn up and split open by the earth-rending quake.
That means centuries-old Hindu and Buddhist temples will be left to crumble while survivors struggle to find the bare necessities of life.
In some cases, Fitzsimons said, ancient relics will likely be looted from damaged temples and sold on the black market by people in desperate need of food or money.
Fitzsimons says he's already aware of scam charities cropping up. He recommends people send their donations to long-established, recognized charities to make sure the money goes to the survivors who truly need it.
"I can't even imagine how they're going to repair the infrastructure right now," he said.
"It's going to be hard for them to get over this. I don't know if they can."
Here's a look at some of Nepal's sites before and after the quake:
Statues in Durbar Square are shown in Kathmandu, Nepal before the earthquake. (Kevin Fitzsimons)
Durbar Square is shown in Kathmandu, Nepal before the earthquake. (Kevin Fitzsimons)
A pillar where a statue of Garud, a Hindu divine character, stood is partially damaged after Saturday’s earthquake at the Basantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, April 26, 2015. (AP / Bernat Armangue)
A Nepalese woman walks past a collapsed temple in Bhaktapur Durbar Square after an earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, April 26, 2015. (AP / Niranjan Shrestha)
Rubble from damage caused by Saturday's earthquake lie in front of an old building at Basantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, April 26, 2015. (AP / Bernat Armangue)
A Nepalese woman walks past a collapsed temple in Bhaktapur Durbar Square after an earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, April 26, 2015. (AP / Niranjan Shrestha)
