these are images that i took while driving from budar in doti to jalpadevi in achham ten days ago. up and down mountains, across the seti river valley... where fields were getting prepared for ropain... a season of 'plantation of hope'... and then when we reached jalpadevi and were preparing to walk the last half hour to the village, we got caught in sudden heavy showers which offered up a whole new beautiful world...
we stopped for some kheer at bhatkanda... of course it turned out to be not more than doodh bhaat... the shop had a huge 6-ft-long log feeding the fire!
... driving through dadeldhura we met a group of women taking home logs and leaves from the jungle...
... entering doti again we met the seti river at bandungrisen, where fields were being readied by bauseys for ropain...
... further east these were fields dotted with manure that farmers will later spread as they plough the fields in preparation for flooding and paddy (rice) transplantation...
...seti's rapids...
... child in 'hotel' in silgadhi...
coming down the hillside towards saajghat, a bausey takes a breather as others, including and oxen, prepare the field for plantation by women...
these women's hands were almost a blur as they shifted the paddy saplings from one hand to the other and then planted them in the mud... clockwork speed!!!
... such had work, plastered in mud...and yet full of cheer and high spirits!!!
'dus rupiya dus rupiya' these girls selling us largely unripe kaaphul
as we neared chaukhutey, the border between doti and achham, we saw the spot from where a couple of weeks earlier a bus had plunged down the slopes at night, taking the lives of 17 passengers... all that we could see of course were the broken and wilted branches, and odd bits of clothing stuck on them... it seems the driver had wanted to rest at saajghat, but the passengers in a hurry to get home.. egged him on.. he must have dozed at the wheels?
a patch of oft-unnoticed beauty by the side of the highway...
... further down the slopes gwalas find time to play khopi...
once we reached jalpadevi (half an hour ahead of sanphe bagar) we got off to walk down to the village of loli.. but there was loud thungerclap and the rain and wind beat down upon us...
after ten minutes of fury the rain moved off.. and as a parting gift left us a wonderfully close rainbow.. one that was below us!!! that was a new experience!
the rainwater cascaded down the hillside.. some slightly clear like this one...
...and others muddied like this one...
.. the angry water jostled its way downhill...
it was difficult crossing some of them... one braveheart nimbly crossed this one!
...while the 'blue' team of village women sprinted across this one!
... as we went further down we crossed many pine trees like this one being bled of resin for the turpentine industry...
... and finally we were in loli...
we stopped for some kheer at bhatkanda... of course it turned out to be not more than doodh bhaat... the shop had a huge 6-ft-long log feeding the fire!
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