India and Nepal

We have just returned from a month travelling in India and Nepal.
Business took us to Delhi in India. Delhi is always such a chaotic place.

The markets are fun to wander through though, and we always stock up on tea and spices to take with us.

I always enjoy Nepal and Kathmandu.
Kathmandu didn't seem to suffer that badly from the earthquake, but walking around the villages outside the city the devastation was much more obvious. You can read more about our experiences here.

Here a woman is carrying fodder home for her goats and cows.

Life goes on-weeding the potato patch,

and carrying compost to the fields in preparation for planting.

Due to a blockade at the Indian border there was a shortage of cooking gas, so many people went back to burning wood in their clay stoves.

Time to harvest the potatoes in this village.

In spite of the earthquake and the blockade at the border the people are getting on with their lives and there is a sense of optimism and cheerfulness in each of the villages we travelled through, that I for one could learn something from.

Travels in Nepal

Some of my favourite places are in the tropics at high altitudes....Guatemala, Ecuador and Nepal.
Somehow the exoticness wrapped up in sunny days and cooled down by the altitude, makes my senses come alive.

This trip to Nepal, in spite of the pollution and haziness  had all of this going for it and more.
Unfortunately it was so hazy the mountain views were almost non existent, but wandering around Kathmandu and then up in Nagarkot, which at over 2000 mtrs is very cool, was still a joy.

The food carts are everywhere on the streets of Kathmandu. Fruits and nuts. Lots of healthy snacking.

 I love the way they sell the fruit from their bicycles.

The ubiquitous marigolds threaded onto thread for offerings brightened up many a street corner.

We like to take time to go and wander up in the foothills above Kathmandu and visit Nagarkot for a few days then walk back to Kathmandu exploring the countryside and meeting some of the locals and check out what is growing in the gardens there.

Marigolds brighten up the countryside and are growing wild amongst all the homesteads. No wonder they are used as offerings as they epitomise the abundance of the land.

Vases of flowers being prepared for one of the fancier hotels.

We tracked down a cheese factory up in the hills and hoped to score some yak cheese, but felt like we were intruding and didn't see much except for these yellow gum boots. Later we found some cheese in Kathmandu.

Children and chickens having a  meal on the front step.

The large homesteads cling to the hillsides above the terraced fields. It seems like the animals are housed in the bottom and the people live on the upper floors.

 
This woman was carrying a load of straw and manure from the barn to her garden.
It is great to see that good old fashion fertiliser is still being used.

 I love the sentiments of this outhouse.

The steep hillsides are terraced for cropping. Some of the narrow terraces had just had the rice harvested and all that remained was the golden stubble. Others had been planted in potatoes that were already starting to flower.

Drying laundry brightens up the countryside.

Locally grown food for sale at a small local store.

Looks like laundry day here as well.

Those of you from New Zealand will recognise these tree tomatoes. I haven't noticed them growing in Nepal before and didn't see any in the market. I wonder if they are a new thing they are trying to grow here.

 After wandering around the countryside for a few days it was back to Kathmandu to wind up business before heading back to Thailand.

High in the mountains

We just returned from a short trip to Nepal. While wandering the dusty potholed streets lined with buildings that could either be in the midst of construction or falling down from old age (it's hard to tell often),in Kathmandu, it was sometimes hard to remember we were in the middle of a city. It seemed like every vacant lot was being used to grow a crop of something. The effect was quite charming, not to mention how much sense it made to grow food where the people lived.

 

 

Even the roof tops had gardens on them.

 

It was nice to think that the majority of the food for sale on the streets was locally grown.

I especially liked the bicycle vendors moving around the city selling their wares.

 

I could have spent hours poking around the small shops selling their home made low tech tools for the kitchen or garden.

 

The tea and spice shops were especially interesting with their exotic aromas.

 

Our time there was far too short this time, but we'll be back.