It has turned cold in Pokhara, with rain 3 nights in a row. The locals are now wearing toques, and dressed in sweaters and jackets, bundled up in the cool air, complaining of the cold, saying winter is coming early. It is +20C!! I guess compared to the normal +28C in recent weeks, this is quite a change.
Walking the streets in the morning is an experience of the senses! The air is hazy, a slight breeze with smells of the earth, cows and goats, their droppings, garbage, exhaust, diesel fumes and delicious smells of food cooking. Motorbike and bus horns are endless, disruptive but necessary for navigation. Cows wander and chickens scratch freely in the streets, searching for another meal. I watch a small herd of water buffalo head for a yard under construction where they have just cut the trees, happily discovering something green to eat. You dodge gobs of spit, cow poop, speed bumps, orange peels and various food debris, and really need to watch you don't fall into holes, cracks or trip on pipes, rocks and people. There are women in front of small restaurants washing the breakfast dishes under hoses that come out of the ground in the gutters, rinsing them and tossing the water into the streets. Children as small as 3 up to class 10 are dressed in neat school uniforms clustered in front of schools, homes and colleges. The business of the city evident on the streets each day.
Unfortunately the cool wet weather means the farmers cannot cut rice for harvest and must wait for warmer weather. They need about 3-5 days of dry weather after cutting to properly dry the rice. This is a staple crop for the people of Nepal. A late start to monsoons, a late finish and early winter have made it very challenging to farm this year.
There are lots of fruits and vegetables available in the market now. Potatoes (alu), tomatoes, radish (mula), zuccini, ginger (adwa), onions (piatz), escous, bitter gourd, cabbage (banda), spinach (saag), etc. are readily available, much of it grown in home gardens. An abundance of fruit is also available - bananas (keera), apples (seew), oranges, lemons, pumpkins, pomegranates, squash, pomellos, etc.
You now get the picture!
Unfortunately the cool wet weather means the farmers cannot cut rice for harvest and must wait for warmer weather. They need about 3-5 days of dry weather after cutting to properly dry the rice. This is a staple crop for the people of Nepal. A late start to monsoons, a late finish and early winter have made it very challenging to farm this year.
There are lots of fruits and vegetables available in the market now. Potatoes (alu), tomatoes, radish (mula), zuccini, ginger (adwa), onions (piatz), escous, bitter gourd, cabbage (banda), spinach (saag), etc. are readily available, much of it grown in home gardens. An abundance of fruit is also available - bananas (keera), apples (seew), oranges, lemons, pumpkins, pomegranates, squash, pomellos, etc.
You now get the picture!
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