Wonderful Beautiful Nepal | Travel, Culture & Food

October 25, 2015 update: We have been told the border to China will open on Tuesday, but please keep up on the news. If the deal falls through this is what you can expect: It seems most Nepali were able to get back to their family's village for the Dashain festival in spite of the current fuel crisis. Our hilltop is alive with families enjoying this most special festival.  We have this giant festival swing for both young and old alike to enjoy. Swinging on it during this festival will keep you young and I can testify to that. I'm feeling younger already. Being in  Kathmandu during this festival time is not always a good idea for tourists. Here in the Kathmandu Valley most of the staff are gone and most of the businesses are completely closed; there seems no reason to open because no one can get to your store due to the fuel crisis. But even in normal years many small businesses close during this week. I started getting stressed out about this crisis; as an American I'd nev...

As I write this article there are few buses with enough petrol to run. Yes, there is gas being brought in, but in such small quantities that even the rescue helicopters are not flying. I’m fortunate to be in a farming village in the Kathmandu Valley because few buses are bringing supplies to anywhere. They are so packed people are riding on the roofs and hanging onto the back. There aren’t many on the road anymore and we are just waiting for someone to make all this craziness go away. This picture was taken in 2012 during another fuel crisis, but this time the cars and motorcycles are just parked and abandoned for miles. The sad thing is that we finally got the constitution the Nepali have been waiting so many years for. Now it is clear why it’s taken so long to get. India wouldn’t allow it, but finally they did it and the people were happy, at least the people I know. I try to stay out of politics because it isn’t my issue. I am a guest in this lovely country hope I don't over-st...

Written by: Maartje Geverinck, volunteer from the Netherlands  Kay Garnay for Nepal, an NGO registered in Nepal, is the brain child of Amanda Summers, a retired expat living in the Kathmandu Valley. It is a humanitarian, nonprofit agency with the goal of supporting the artists, craftsmen and other residents of Changunarayan, an ancient village in Nepal, as well as those in neighboring communitie s. Clean-up Campaign in Changunarayan People talk about how Nepali are litterbugs and don't care about the environment. There are actually some good reasons for this to appear to be true.   First, there are very few sanitary landfills in the entire country. Additionally even municipalities will use the river as dumpsites. We, at Kay Garnay for Nepal, NGO, wanted to clean Changunarayan before the coming festival, Dashain. Our chairperson, Sajana, purchased gloves and other clean-up gear and about 50 people participated in the morning activities. This was our first of such community acti...

What to do if you can only be in Nepal for a week? You aren't going to have much time so you need to pick an area to explore . If coming by land you could see Lumbini and Chitwan area. Here in my village I say it's like a step back in time, but in Chitwan time just stops. You will hear yourself say 3 times, "Is it still Tuesday?" It's quite hot there throughout most of the year, but it's great in January. Tip: Bring binoculars. Bird watching is amazing. As I write this, in October 2015, there is a bit of a political problem in that area because Nepal didn't make the new constitution the way India wanted them to make it. So, be sure to check the news regularly. It's probably not a good idea to come until the blockade India has made is gone. The conditions are becoming quite dire. Be careful about just camping out in that area; a rino wandered through our guest house property when I was there. If you come by air you'll want to stay around th...

Buckwheat Bread - Phaapar ko Roti (फापरको रोटी) The secret of amazing buckwheat bread  - a simply delicious traditional bread, much loved by many Nepalese in different parts of Nepal!  I want to wish my blog readers a "Happy World Vegetarian Day" 2015! The vegetable awareness month is observed annually on October 1 and ends in the beginning of November (30 days). According to official website : "World Vegetarian Day was established as an annual celebration to promote the joy, compassion and life-enhancing possibilities of vegetarianism. The day was originated by the North American Vegetarian Society in 1977 and endorsed by the International Vegetarian Union in 1978".  Dear friends, family, neighbors and colleagues - please gather around my table and let's observe the "World Vegetarian Day" by cooking a simple and tasty phaapar ko roti  made out of buckwheat flour and accompanied dishes are fresh vegetables, yogurt and pickles.  Phaapar ko roti ...

And such an amazing day The following post was written by Laura, from Lille in Northern France. Laura is one of our Volunteers from our NGO, Kay Garnay for Nepal. She's only been here at the guest house for a little over a week, but got into the spirit right away and has been a wonderful Helpx.net helper ( http://www.helpx.net/profile. asp?email= lora.raph@yahoo.com ). As one of her volunteer tasks, she wrote the following article: We had an amazing experience in the rice fields in Changu Narayan. Almost all the team went to the Krishna and Bagvati’s fields and enjoyed a lot. For sure,  It’s Harvest time.   On the road to the Fields We went down to the valley through many houses, some half destroyed by the earthquakes. We did not cross paths with many locals along the road and the views is just peaceful.  After 30 minutes, we were surounded by rice lands and finally arrived at our field destination. All the villagers were there. We finally understood why houses looked s...