Know Disaster No Disaster - Wall graffiti. Thamel. Kathmandu

February 28, 2023

After our decent from Nagarkot, we had half a day left in Thamel, Kathmandu - time was of the essence… I have been very drawn to the fabrics here in Nepal. Similar to my paper addiction, I also have a fabric addiction, it has developed initially from interior design to now incorporating fabric into my artwork. There is something very different to the feel of Nepalese fabric so I did a bit of hunting and found a contact online, coincidently just down the road from our hotel. A few what’s app messages later and we met Ajay who has a weaving factory. He produces modern raw-silk fabrics using traditional methods and more recently using eco-dying and we were going to visit where the magic happens.

Firstly Ajay took us to his premises in Thamel - a small, modern clothes shop which had just opened for business that very morning. The rooms behind were where the clothes were made before being exported to select countries around the world. Customers can either buy the fabric or the garments.

The Nepal Handloom Silk Industry is the first and only company in Nepal to manufacture and export hand-woven raw silk fabrics and garments. It is currently a 2nd generation business run by Ajay who took over from his father.

The room where the handmade fabrics were stored took my breath away. What is different is that many are created using natural dyes and woven in unique combinations and thicknesses on a hand-loom. I have never seen or felt silk, linen and wool worked like this. These fabrics do not have the conventional weight, look or feel of silk.

After a while we jumped into a car and went over to Ajay’s factory - some bungalows behind his home.

Ajay’s business - ‘Nepal Handloom Silk Industry - uses an aged and traditional style of handloom weaving, which creates fabric with a luxurious feel. The fabrics are woven on an old and long-established Foot–Treadle Floor Loom. Weaving is done by intersecting the longitudinal threads, the warp, i.e. “that which is thrown across”, with the transverse threads, the weft, i.e. “that which is woven” ‘- as explained on his website http://www.nhsi.com.np

In the first building are the foot-treadle floor looms and the spinning wheels. The sound of the looms is magical. The weft takes many days to set up.

The warp is spun the onto spools and they go into the shuttles. The shuttles weave together the 2 layers of weft. The tension determines the weight and feel of the raw-silk.

In the second bungalow are some enormous pieces of machinery that are dedicated to the semi-automated weft alignment. The weft is set up for the desired meterage then transferred on a large roller to the loom where is it fed through all in perfect alignment. They do not make the weft, the thread is bought locally. This saves some time setting up the foot-treadle floor loom, especially with large lengths of fabric.

Semi-auto weft aligner

Nepal Handloom Silk Industry first started dealing in Linens in the year 2005. Linen yarns are imported from China and India, then all the manufacturing process is done in Nepal. Like the process of manufacturing Handloom Silk and Pashmina, they use the old Foot–Treadle Floor Loom for weaving Linen fabrics.

The sad fact is that there is a decline in weavers. It is an artisan job but has never been well paid. Ajay is doing his best to raise the profile of weaving but youngsters are not really interested in this career choice. He has a small but talented team which I hope he can build on in the future. It would be a shame to lose this craftsmanship.

Ajay loves experimenting with the different weaving combinations of the raw silk or linen. His natural creations are beautiful and unique.

Raw silk weaving — 2 colourway raw-silk and avocado dyed linen.

Ajay has begun exploring eco-dying. Indigo - deep blue, avocado stones - pink, pomegranate - green/yellow, marigold - yellow/ orange and madder - vivid red with beautiful results. Only relatively small pieces can be dyed at a time mainly to ensure continuity within one garment.

Marigold Plant

Marigold Dye Bath

Dye Baths

Young Avocado Plant

Pomegranate & Avocado

Avocado Dye Bath

Madder Dye Bath

Indigo Powder

Indigo Dye

Ajay has begun growing some of the relative plants in his garden - some with mixed success. Patience is required as it can take up to three years for a plant to yield any fruit. The monkeys from the nearby temple also pose a future threat to the success of the fruit supply.

After a cup of tea we returned to the office to collect a beautiful selection of raw silks that shall be put to good use back in the UK.

What a wonderful, spontaneous experience. Thank you Ajay!!

Farewell to the huge, beautiful mountain range and a country filled with beautiful people. How can we not return.

So its back to India and on to Chandigarh in the Punjab.

A Ride To Your Dream - Viking 22 bus slogan. Nagarkot

February 26, 2023

The Himalaya mountain range runs across Nepal’s northern and western parts, and eight of the world’s ten highest mountains, including the highest, Mount Everest, are within its territory. How could we miss that!

Our taxi driver, Raju, took us up Up UP the mountain. How we managed to go up is beyond me. The road was seldomly there. Raju told us there was a better road but not to go up, up, up, only for down, down, down. We were to experience that later.

It was a rattling ride up to our destination, 2000m up in the air. When we arrived our feet didn’t feel like they were touching the ground. The town was pretty bereft of anything or anyone. The hotels looked deserted.

We knew from the start that we would not be seeing the mountains in all their glory as it was the wrong time of year. That didn’t stop us getting our 6.00 AM sunrise knock on the door curtesy of the very keen hotel-staff. The peaks we did see poking above the clouds were amazing - they are way, way bigger than anything I’ve ever skied down. We felt like we were on top of the world. We were more than happy to chill out here in the beautiful garden, watching the eagles and stare with wonder at the mountain peaks.

After acclimatising for a day we headed out on an adventure. A 3 hour hike - on a tarmac road curtesy of the military, rewarded us with even more breathtaking views, accompanied by music and chanting filling the valley below us. It was very moving.

En-route to our destination, an observation tower an extra 200m, we heard music nearby. A bus was parked on a bit of wasteland, an oven was being set up, food unpacked and a loud speaker turned up to max - A women’s community picnic had just rocked up.

In Nepal, communities can pay into a fund that assists people, similar to how our building societies originally worked. This fund also funded days out for its members and today was picnic day.

Before we could even introduce ourselves I was whisked off to the dance floor, the cook grabbed my phone and while he waited for the dhal to heat through he videoed my poor attempts at dancing with a very lovely group of ladies.

Nagarkot rocks.

The journey down on the better road was vastly steeper, unfortunately once the military area ended so did the road. It was a white knuckle ride and Raju certainly entertained us as he expertly navigated the rubble, holes and rocks.

Before we arrived back in Kathmandu, Raju insisted we tried some King Kurd - his favourite snack. A sweet yoghurt made from Buffalo Milk and served in disposable terracotta pots. Good call!

Farewell Nargakot, it was an unexpected delight.

One day left in Kathmandu, then back to India for the final part of our journey.

Sweat is Just Fat Crying - Epic Fitness Advert. Thamel. Kathmandu

February 24, 2023

The biggest surprise was to find the population of Nepal was over 80% Hindu and not predominantly Bhuddist as I first thought. The second surprise was the quietness. This is a relatively new phenomenon. Three years ago honking the horn was banned - unless you can validate its use. The traffic police have come down hard on the road traffic causing recent protests from the taxi drivers. I have to say after India, I’m enjoying not having my ears assaulted.

We are staying in the Thamel neighborhood of Kathmandu, a very popular backpackers area. Wires are strung up all over the city, but are slowly being tidied up. Kathmandu used to practice “load sharing,” so during the day there were scheduled power cuts to help conserve energy, this has nearly all been eradicated in the major cities but you still get caught out with power cuts.

The area is just one big souvenir, trekking and pashmina shop. Cheap imitations getting caked in dust. If the pashminas were real they wouldn’t be hanging on the dusty roadside. The contents of the shops are predominately out on the street, the shopkeepers hidden inside in the dim light.

Kathmandu is very, very dusty due to brick factories, building works and unfinished roads being churned up by rickshaws, motorbikes and cars. The air is constantly filled with a haze of dust that makes the air have a golden glow.

On the face of it I wouldn’t say Kathmandu is a particularly attractive city or very photogenic. However, look beyond the main shopping thoroughfare and the tourists and it’s another story - we found interesting dark narrow alleys, buildings shored up, courtyards and a calmer view of everydaylife.

We made our way to Durbar Square as suggested by the manager of our hotel in order to witness a phenomen we would never have experienced before.

How could we say no!

With only seconds to spare we made it to an inner courtyard just as the doors were shutting. About 20 of us were locked in. There was a strange air of expectation. We were told to put our phones and cameras away, quite a few times and a few times more. Photography was not allowed under any circumstances.

We were about to witness the presence of a living Goddess - the Kumari. A living reincarnation.

An old woman appears at the window to scan the group for any photography equipment and then…. a gasp from the crowd and she appeared. A young girl, a very young girl, always chosen from a clan of the Newari community to be a living Goddess.

The bejewelled Royal Kumari stared down at us. No flicker of emotion, just stared.

Officials were touching their foreheads, praying or just gasping in awe. She will carry out this role - appearing at the window each day- until she reaches menstruation age then she will no longer be a goddess and will be integrated back into society.

Throughout her Goddess life she has to pass ritual tests and be inspected for 32 specific attributes of physical beauty, including a neck like a conch shell, eyelashes like a cow, a chest like a lion, and thighs like a deer. Her eyes and hair must be black. And she must be brave.

‘The-would-be Kumaris are kept in a dark room with slaughtered buffalo heads while men dance around to monitor their levels of “fearlessness,” says a former Kumari, Rashmila Shakya in her autobiography, From Goddess to Mortal. She found the transition from being living goddess to just another girl was emotionally challenging.

Apparently Kamari tradition is frowned upon by child protection groups.

Once the Goddess had gone back inside we were allowed to take photographs then the doors were unlocked and we were set free. Well the hotel manager was right, we have never experienced anything like that before!

There are a number of beggars, but, although not rich, people do give to the most needy.

We climbed up 180 steps to the Swayambhunath temple, also known as the Monkey Temple. Swayambhunath sits high on a hill overlooking the Kathmandu Valley, it was relatively quiet and peaceful here, and the temple is beautiful.

While the 2015 earthquake was devastating, it didn’t change the heart of the city. Much of the city escaped the damage too, while the ancient parts that were hit still live on with all the character of Kathmandu. It’s not a place you can really compare to any other. While it does possess a chaos somewhat similar to India, everything else about Kathmandu is too different to really compare.

We really liked it here because of the the people. The Nepali people are very welcoming, polite, and friendly and they went out of their way to make our visit very enjoyable. It is often said that people first come to Nepal for the mountains, but return for the people.

That will most likely be true in our case!

In the meantime it’s time to pack our bags and head up the mountain.

It's better to die than to be a coward - Ghurka Recruitment advert. Bhaktapur. Nepal

February 22, 2023

Bhaktapur is a small Newar town in the Kathmandu Valley where the past meets the present. It is known as the cultural capital of Nepal, and its streets and squares are teeming with vendors selling and creating the most intricately designed woodwork, pottery and bronze singing bowls. It is also the setting for Bertolucci’s acclaimed film The Little Buddha. This heritage town attracts not only tourists but wedded couples having their official photographs taken against the beautiful backdrops.

Although temples and castles are generally not our thing, this town is remarkable in its sheer scale and beauty. This is a UNESCO heritage site. The temples have been rebuilt since the 2015 earthquake - funded by UNESCO.

Following the 2015 earthquake the surrounding old town has been rebuilt by the residents without any financial aid.

Bhaktapur is famous for the rows of grey clay pots that bask in the sun to dry.

There are two pottery squares in Bhaktapur, with a communal kiln for the potters to fire their work.

Anyone who knows me even a little bit knows my affinity for paper. Nepalese Lokta paper frequently features in my art work so it comes as no surprise that I tracked down a paper-making factory ‘coincidently’ hidden away in the back streets of Bhaktapur.

The Peacock Shop, named after the nearby Peacock Window symbolising good luck and prosperity, is a monument to the work of Mr. Prajapati who is saving much of the Newar Heritage and rebuilding earthquake damaged buildings. His premises comprises of the paper-making factory, printing and book creations and also on the top floor is the owner's collection of carvings and furniture, some of it many years old which he has saved from being lost or destroyed.

Mr. Prajapati’s son, Suyog has published a handmade book describing culture and Hindu-Buddist imagery. It has been handprinted in 6 languages. It was beautiful to see the actual old letter-press machine, the layout of the pages and the plates used to print the book.

The Lokta grows wild at an altitude of 6500ft or above in the Himalayas.

The Lokta bark is cooked, washed and beaten into pulp before it is dyed and then spread out on the mesh frames to dry out in the sun. Some papers have flowers and leaves added.

The paper is then pressed to the desired thickness and texture and cut to the required size.

Mr Prajapati has also designed a house for a potter. It is made entirely of terracotta and glows a beautiful orange in the sunlight.

The Dharka Topi - a hat worn by Nepalese men is part of their national identity.

As the sun begins to fade we leave a glowing Bhaktaphur. We throughly enjoyed our visit to this artists hub and my bundle of Lokta paper will be carefully packed and taken home, eventually.

You Are Exactly Where You Need To Be - Cafe Sign. Panauti. Kathmandu Valley

February 21, 2023

Hello Nepal. Well this feels different!

Outside of temples and a starting spot for mountain trekking, I was going to Kathmandu without any real knowledge of the area. Immediately upon arrival from India, it felt different. Calmer, quieter and less chaotic.

Surrounded by incredible scenery, Kathmandu has a unique and interesting character to it when walking around the city. There’s a ruggedness to it. Many of the streets are dirt roads, the buildings aren’t in the best shape and the architecture and temples all over the city give it its own identity. There’s a mix of Nepalese culture and modernity throughout the city, while feeling you are still far away from a more developed urban life. Since the country has become government run, buildings higher than 2 storeys are now permitted. A new building era has begun.

Roads are unpredictable, Power-cuts randomly happen, it’s all part of the experience. Everybody is smiling. But before we explore Kathmandu any further we took a jeep ride out of the city.

As we made our way out of the city, brick factories and rural developments give way to rice fields on the way to the hillside village of Panauti.

Panauti is still regarded as one of the oldest towns in Nepal. It offers a poignant look at the passage of time. The crowded bus-stop in the sprawling mess of the new town gives way to small brick streets leading through a once prosperous, trading medieval city with a relatively small temple at its centre accompanied by an antiquated yet charming museum. The main visitors here, it appears, are a multitude of pigeons.

With the exception of a few motor vehicles there seems to be little evidence of modernity. Washing is done in the river, cement is made by hand, wool is hand-spun and wood is hand-carved.

Earthquakes and age have taken their toll on the village but some building renovations are underway. The tiny, lopsided doorways, hand-carved wooden structures and wonky, subsided brickwork provide a historical backdrop to the day to day chores of everyday life.