these are pix from the second trip to mugu in early december 2011, a week after we came back from the first trip. the weather was crisper, a bit colder. we followed the exact same route we had in the first trip.. all the way to luma and back. so you will also meet familiar faces from part 1...
this time we were flying on tara air. here is the twin otter in nepalgunj, coming in from bajura.
we had to rush in as we were told winds were picking up in the mountains... our luggage being loaded into the plane
strange bald-headed mountains as we near mugu..
landing in talcha airstrip in mugu... the plane turns southwards.. the ground comes closer and closer.. and then a bumpy and dusty landing... the plane comes to a halt next to a pile of luggage and a clump of passengers being herded by police...
its cargo and passengers dropped off, our plane gets ready to fly back to nepalgunj
to the east, the faint but huge moon was rising from behind the mountains...
women and mules make their way down the side of the runway with loads of nutritious flour on their backs
talcha airstrip from the side. the airport is currently undergoing repairs to make the field more level
a grandfather and his grandchild heading up the hill to talcha
the next day we headed downhill towards mugu karnali and the suspension bridge once more .. chankheli danda and cousin still in the backdrop...
a mother of four with her youngest child, a few months old, at the bridge over the karnali. her eldest girl goes to a 'boarding' school in gamgadi.. and walks up and down every morning and evening.. at least an hour each way
fall colours in winter on one tree as we start climbing towards neta
in a week, the emerald green waters of the karnali had turned milky... rain or landslide upstream??
a puff of beauty among pine needles...a dandelion in neta
in neta, while waiting for lunch i once again met moti sheela, the lady from ruga who had made fun of my size. she showed me all her rings... nepali coins on one hand, and india 'company' coins on the other.. and of course the chinese coin pendant... from her cholo tuna she hung a whole lot of accessories... from an inhaler and scissors, to a nail cutter and an ear cleaning tool...
this khadka lady in whose new 'hotel' in neta we had an inaugural lunch, is also decked up in coins
back to the bubbling brook at the bottom of the hill
climbing up to luma, i met these schoolgirls returning from their exams (pink question papers in their hands). girls wearing skirts had incongruous suruwal (trousers) added to their school uniforms! most of these children would walk upto one and a half hours each way between their villages and school. they need to come to ruga because their own villages just have schools up to primary level.
an adorable puppy that i was sorely tempted to adopt!! look at his eyes!
grandma wearing a 'company mala' around her neck, and flies all over, with her grandchild
a 60-year-old house in luma being pulled down with the help of neighbours, including our host, lok bahadur rawat (looking at camera)... dust all over the village!
lok bahadur's brother weaving raadi pakhi. another elderly man in the village said that the life in the village is like it has always been. "development comes in those airplanes that you see flying above.. doesn't touch ground here..."
luma village where half the inhabitant are chhetris and the other half 'dalits'.. but no visible problem with intermingling...
an old shrine"thaan" in the village...
...and its decorated wooden pillars
sister, brother and flies...
shaded grandma, grandchild.. and flies....
surprisingly no grime or flies on this baby
evening sun on a limestone outcrop atop a nearby hill... there is a shrine there too, the locals said...
our hostess, lok bahadur's daughter in law, gaungora, cooking dinner.. the stinging smoke from the pine logs making it possible only to sit around
my companion hen with her now week-old chicks (one died, and then there were five)
woman de-husking and winnowing rice, while a girl pound on mustard to be fed later into an oil press. the women spend a lot of time pounding rice for meals every day.
laxmi buda, the curious luma girl...
...with her happy littlest 'buini', nirmala
her other buini, pabita, is busy eating healthy millet bread with honey on the comb
luma's layered homes stacked against a deep blue sky...
as we head back towards gamgadi... school children literally 'sitting' for their exams in the school yard...
ruga village and mugu karnali
transporting karnali sand to sell for construction in gamgadi
next morning.. an early goodbye to the 'sleepy' mugu district headquarters
as we head towards talcha, the sun comes up and gives a ruddy glow to the mountains
this father wanted to take his sick child to nepalgunj for medication.. she was swollen all over... his wife and other child followed them on foot towards talcha
a few clouds now played with the himals
the check-in spot on the hillside next to the runway at talcha
there was a spate of flights that day (6th december) in talcha, as it was the last day before the airstrip was being closed for month-long repair works. the tower siren would blow every time a plane took off from nepalgunj or surkhet airports.. and then the policemen posted all along the airstrip would be constantly blowing their whistles to keep the runway free of people and animals...
the lone doctor present in gamgadi hospital was evacuated (for medical reasons) to surkhet in one of the planes, thus leaving the district hospital without any doctors for a whole month...
our flight arrived after a four hour wait, as the airplane made several shuttles to other locations... this is what the take off was like in the tara air twin otter.
our plane flew over gamgadi and then banked right...
the dust we'd kicked off during take-off still visible in talcha
... looking down at gamgadi from the south east and up
talcha airport as seen from the east... carved into the side of the mountain
the dust still visible in talcha as we then head westwards.. behind those tree lined hills is rara lake.. chankheli danda standing prominent in the back
the emerald/sapphire jewel in far western nepal's crown!
a short glimpse of rara from the southern skies...
heading south over patchwork mountains
closeup of the white waters of the karnali... rafters' paradise??
a tranquil valley just above the river bend
fog hugging the hillsides.. all the way down to the terai plains...
... our journey ended twenty minutes from this point in nepalgunj....
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