After a week and a half in the backpacker mecca of Kathmandu- where restaurants overflow with pizzas, burgers and iodine-soaked (ie: SAFE) veggies, we knew we were in for a lifestyle change when we got out of the jeep in our new village homeland. Putali Bajar, literally ‘butterfly market’ is a 20-minute ride via a dilapidated 3-wheeled tin box (almost resembling a vehicle) to the ‘bustling’ city of Hetauda. One of the bigger cities in all of Nepal, Hetauda consists of about 4 paved roads intersecting at a statue of the Buddha. To our great surprise and utter glee, there is one shop in town that sells toilet paper and peanut butter.
Despite the lack of Western comforts, we have genuinely grown to love the slower pace of life, the friendly faces, the strong sense of community in our village of Putali Bajar—and we're starting to feel like we are live inside a fairy-tale land.
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| Our village marks the exact dividing line in Nepal where the epic mountains of the north meet the plains and jungles of the south. We get to enjoy the best of both worlds from the rooftop of our home shown above. |
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| 75 degrees by day and 45 by night, the early morning mist shrouding our farmland merits the 5AM wake up call... (now and then) |
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| Our shower, laundry mat, dishwasher, sink, bathroom |
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| the flapping prayer flags of Kathmandu are now replaced by something equally holy... our first round of clean clothing! |
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| Avi picks a papaya, one of the many crops found in our backyard jungle/farm (including, but not limited to: coconuts, pineapple, guava, mango, ginger, avocado, pomegranate, coffee beans, garlic, lichee, paan, turmeric, oranges, lemons, bananas, assorted berries, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, radishes, potatoes, yams, mustard greens, onions, thyme, coriander, medicinal tea, peas, kidney beans, soy beans, wheat, rice and cotton). We are not joking. |
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| We're not the only farmers in town- most people in our village subsist off their own land |
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| Signs of a modernizing world- many villagers have built brick or concrete houses next door to the mud/straw houses in which they were raised |
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| Our daily commute to the center of town |
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| Where you can find a vegetable market, a handful of shops and this restaurant. |
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| We are fortunate to have a local cyber cafe- but it is difficult to get online when you only have electricity 6 hours/day! |
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| Vibrant colors paint the village sky over a roadside food stand |
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| Front cover of the next sci-fi meets spooky-halloween-in-the-village blockbuster? |
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| Cassie out for a stroll by the light of the moon |
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| Mystical Putali Bajar |
