<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101116/636b70439c7e80680e06006cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Photos : JOSIE WANG</figcaption></figure>Standing in his field on the outskirts of Pokhara and below the dazzling snows of the Annapurna mountains, Xiang Shaohua points to peach saplings in his orchard.The seedlings were sent to him by his son and daughter who are studying back home in China. And just like Xiang himself, the peach are striking roots in Nepal’s soil.Xiang first came to Nepal 10 years ago as a tourist, travelled to Pokhara and was so mesmerised by the place and people here that he never left.Today, he rents 2 hectares of farm and is growing lettuce, cauliflower and fruits commercially to sell to the market and restaurants in the lakeside tourist town. He also works as a subcontractor at Pokhara airport, and at other infrastructure projects.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/miyahara-san-a-life-devoted-to-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Miyahara-san: a life devoted to Nepal,</a> Kunda Dixit“In the beginning, it was only supposed to be for three years, and if it did not work out, I planned to go back to China,” Xiang recalls. “It has not all been smooth sailing, but it has been worth it.”Xiang now has his father and wife helping out at the farm. The fact that he came from a farming family back in Sichuan where the climate and soil are similar to Nepal, has been helpful.Xiang says his most challenging period was during the 2015 blockade, when supplies were scarce. He felt like quitting, but realised he had greater responsibilities.“Actually, I could have left, but that would have meant that my Nepali employees would be out of their jobs,” recalls 32-year-old Xiang, who speaks Nepali with a distinct Pokhara lilt and considers himself “half Nepali”. Everyone here knows him by his Nepali nickname, Sandesh, and some call him China’s “non-governmental ambassador” to Nepal.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/from-liz-hawley-in-kathmandu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">From Liz Hawley in Kathmandu</a>, Kunda DixitHis Nepali side was heartbroken to see the destruction after <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/photos-nepal-earthquake-2015,2207" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the 2015 earthquake</a>, and reminded him of the deadly Sichuan earthquake of 2008. He and some other Chinese from Pokhara set up a rescue team and headed off to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2015/11/26/winter-emergency-for-quake-survivors/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gorkha</a> to dig among the ruins with their bare hands and shovels to rescue people.While tens of thousands of youth from Pokhara have migrated to the Gulf or Malaysia for work, Xiang is proof that there is plenty to do in Nepal itself, and it is possible to prosper if one is prepared for hard work.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101116/636b70469c7e80680e06006djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">“Farming is very labour intensive, and I notice that most educated young Nepalis are unwilling to do it,” says Xiang, who recalls the first time he came to Pokhara and noticed that farm productivity could be easily improved. That is when he saw an opportunity to put some of his own farming experience to good use, and stayed. Now, Xiang regards Nepal as his second home, and his Nepali neighbours regard the cheerful Nepali-speaking Chinese as a Nepali too.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/uncategorized/goodbye-jan-and-christine-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Goodbye Jan and Christine</a>“I know Nepal. I know what Nepalis need. At the same time, I can communicate with Chinese enterprises to know what they want, and I can be a good go-between,” says Xiang.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/pokhara-nepals-new-aviation-gateway/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">With the new airport</a>, and Chinese contractors working on various hydropower projects in Central Nepal, Xiang sees lots of opportunity for mutual learning between Nepali and Chinese people.Xiang is not interested in making the quick buck, and says: “I would rather do something I like doing even if I do not make money for a while.”Farming is not that profitable, but it is a passion and he enjoys growing food among people he likes, and in a land he calls his second home.In his office, a poster on the wall in Mandarin characters says: ‘Remain true to your aspiration’. Xiang appears to follow his motto to the letter. And as he starts his second decade in Nepal, Xiang wants to make the best of his life in Pokhara.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4163#.XhbhGVUzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">We'll stay</a>, Ramyata Limbu

original

674x448

610x380

500x500

400x266

400x240

400x203

301x200

1250x600

1084x550

Chinese farmer strikes roots in Nepal

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141124/636a58cf9c7e80680e05485bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1400"/> T his time of year <a href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/high-and-dry-upper-mustang" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mustang</a> is a profusion of colour: lapis lazuli sky with dazzling clouds, purple fields of buckwheat, ripening golden barley terraces, Dhakmar’s towering red cliffs, yellow rocks, salmon sunsets.So why would <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nepali-times-buzz/profile-of-kevin-bubriski-photographer,1954" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kevin Bubriski</a> and Sienna Craig publish a photo book called <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mustang-Black-White-Sienna-Craig/dp/9937623871" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mustang in Black and White</a>?As Tibetologist Charles Ramble explains in the preface, ‘Mustang: Black and White, But Never Gray’, the Kingdom of Lo was historically perceived as a ‘dark’ corner. Even early Bon Tibetans found the place forbidding and inhabited by demons.But Ramble gives <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2012/09/07/monsoon-in-the-rainshadow/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mustang</a>’s ‘darkness’ a positive attribute. ‘Sometimes, darkness is the best place in which to see the cosmos in its full radiance,’ he writes. Anyone who has gazed up at the Milky Way from the starlit landscape around the ancient monastery at Lo Gekar will know what he is talking about.Mustang is technically in Nepal, but is part of the trans-Himalayan plateau, situated on what used to be the shores of the Tethys Sea. Exposed boulders high on cliff faces were once strewn on the banks of the prehistoric Kali Gandaki, which cut through the mountains as they rose, lifting fossilised ammonites that once crawled the ocean floor.Bubriski writes that Mustang’s colours have always fascinated him, adding: ‘My choice to represent Mustang in black and white was motivated by the dramatic power of how the bright sunlight and deep shadows transform the physical earthen forms and shapes of chörten, gompa, mountains, ladders and doorways into visually powerful and compelling compositions.’<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1153" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bubriski first came to Nepal</a> in 1975, spending two years in Humla as a <a href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/untitled-project-rmc8q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peace Corps</a> volunteer. Most of his photographic life has been in darkrooms working with black and white prints, eschewing the digital camera. Finally giving in, he now uses a smartphone app for square black and white images with artificially frayed edges.Artists have been <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/mustang-on-canvas/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inspired by Mustang to use various medium</a> to capture its richness. Robert Powell took to water colour to depict Mustang in his book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Earth-Door-Sky-Paintings-Mustang/dp/0906026539" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Earth Door Sky Door: Paintings of Mustang</a>. Bubriski explains his choice of black and white photography: ‘As the reality of the colour world was distilled by my eye… I found the visual transformation and abstraction intriguing with what it added, yet also with what it took away.’<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141124/636a58d29c7e80680e05485cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="700">Sienna Craig is an anthropologist who first travelled to Mustang in 1993, and has kept coming back for research. In stark, poetic prose in chapters that take us town-by-town up the trail, she describes how the place is changing with outmigration, the arrival of the road and mobile connectivity.Even the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/living-below-nepals-melting-mountains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate breakdown</a> is forcing villages to relocate and swollen glacial lakes' bursts regularly bringing down destructive torrents of grey mud paste and boulders.  There are now <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mixed-blessings-in-mustang/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vast apple plantations</a> where it was once too cold for orchards.Change is a constant in Mustang today. The trails at Tsarang have hoof marks next to tractor tyre tracks. Mule trains are being replaced by Boleros, young men in Adidas caps and Nike sneakers loiter by sidewalk shrines, waiting for travel documents that will take them to Korea or Iraq. With no men to work the fields, diesel threshers do the harvesting. The sound of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/k-pop-in-k-town/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">K-pop</a> wafts with the wind in the poplars in Choser.Yet even with change, the ruins of ancient forts blend back into the cliffs they were built on. Eroded by the wind, it is hard to tell what is monastery and what is mountain — they are embedded in each other.‘Has the wind carved this landscape to resemble the ruins of ancient buildings? Or are these manmade remnants of an ancient civilisation?’ asks Craig. Maybe both, as abandoned homes dissolve back into the landscape. In exquisite monochrome and lyrical text, Bubriski and Craig have captured Mustang in a photo frame of time ‘neither past nor future, just present’. Change has come to Mustang, but Mustang will keep its mystery and darkness.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141124/636a58d59c7e80680e05485djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="276"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141124/636a58d69c7e80680e05485ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="276"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Charles Ramble has himself co-authored a new book (also published by Vajra) on the abandoned settlement of Chuksang, where once stood a 17th-century nunnery. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blessing-Land-Architecture-History-Buddhist/dp/9937928826" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Blessing for the Land</a> traces the history of the head lama of Künzang Chöling, who dedicated his monastery to the land, choosing the slope on the other side of the Kali Gandaki known as ‘Convent Ridge’. Although on the academic side, the book is part-archaeology, part-architecture, part-anthropology, but mostly it is deep history.Ramble and other authors work with archaeologist Nyima Drandul from Mustang, who is a descendant of the Künzang Chöling nobility. A Blessing for the Land and Mustang in Black and White are both available in Kathmandu book stores, and are fascinating journeys in time and space. Both books force us to rethink Nepal’s diverse cultural history, and to ponder how much more of our past we do not yet know as we plunge into an uncharted future.

Kunda Dixit

Mustang in shadows and light

<figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a580a9c7e80680e054811jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>All photos: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>The second edition of Mr and Ms Blind Rockers was held in Nachghar, Kathmandu on 16 September 2019. Organised by Blind Rocks!, a non-profit organisation working to empower the visually impaired, the talent contest saw participants from all over the country vying for the title.  Miss Nepal 2005 Sugarika KC, Miss Nepal 2017 Nikita Chandak Maheswori and Nepal Television presenter Neha Sharma made up the jury.Saugat Wagle and Smarika Pokhrel were announced the Mr and Ms Blink Rockers 2019.  <img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a580d9c7e80680e054812jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58109c7e80680e054813jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58139c7e80680e054814jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58169c7e80680e054815jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a581a9c7e80680e054816jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a581d9c7e80680e054817jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58209c7e80680e054818jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58239c7e80680e054819jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58269c7e80680e05481ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a582a9c7e80680e05481bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a582d9c7e80680e05481cjpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58319c7e80680e05481djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58349c7e80680e05481ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Saugat Wagle and Smarika Pokhrel (third and second from left) after being crowned Mister and Miss Blind Rocks 20189 at Nachghar, Kathmandu on Monday.</figcaption></figure>Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-right-of-passage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The right of passage</a>, Sahina Shrestha<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/seeing-it-a-different-way-for-visually-impaired-in-Kathmandu,2933" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seeing it a different way</a>, Smriti Basnet

Blind Rockers 2019

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813110/636a45349c7e80680e04d373jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="7935" height="3540"/>For a glimpse of what Kathmandu's air used to be like. Or for a hint of what it might be in future if the Valley's air pollution could be cleaned, these pictures taken on 7 June are proof that it is possible to clean the capital's air.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813110/636a45389c7e80680e04d374jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3992" height="1967">All it took was a sharp short thunderstorm in the morning to flush the air of soot and dust, leaving it squeaky clean for most of the day. The mountains looked close enough to touch, Ganesh IV showing a fresh cover of snow. Dorje Lakpa peeping over the Shivapuri ridge, and Choba Bhamare gleaming on the eastern horizon.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813110/636a453b9c7e80680e04d375jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="8256" height="3947"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813110/636a453f9c7e80680e04d376jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="8196" height="2823">Most of Kathmandu's air pollution is from vehicular emission, so it was not long before the air quality went down again. But for a few brief hours on Friday, we saw, felt and breathed the possibility of clean air. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwQEx3WNNPo&amp;feature=youtu.beRead also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/how-to-clean-up-kathmandus-air/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How to clean up Kathmandu's air</a>, Anil Chitrakar <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/green-sticker-green-light-to-pollute/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Green sticker=green light to pollute</a>, Sonam Choekyi Lama <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/air-pollution-is-more-dangerous-than-smoking/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Air pollution is more dangerous than smoking</a>, Sonia Awale

When Kathmandu is clear

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a260e9c7e80680e0439f7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="1437"/><figcaption>This week's heavy snowfall has turned Nepal into a winter wonderland. This is Rara Lake from Murma Peak in northwestern Nepal on Thursday.</figcaption></figure>Rara Lake is the biggest lake in Nepal, and its remoteness protects its pristine beauty.Although almost as hard to get to as Phoksundo Lake in neighbouring Dolpo, Rara had remained blissfully untouched. Lack of proper lodgings kept foreign tourists away, and only 95 visited the Rara National Park in the past year. However, the Karnali Highway has now arrived nearly at the perimeter of the Park, and the airfield in Talcha that also serves Mugu district, has been upgraded.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/snowbound-rara/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Snow bound in Rara</a>, Achyutraj BhandariNepalis now make up most of the visitors to Rara National Park, and they thronged to the lake after the heavy snowfall of the past weeks turned the mountains surrounding the lake into a winter wonderland.Located at an altitude of 2,990m, the lake is surrounded by peaks up to 4,000m with a low forested ridge to the north keeping the water in. The thick pine, oak and rhododendron forests are home to rich biodiversity, with the lake itself harbouring an indigenous species of trout found nowhere else in the world and home to thousands of migrating water fowl.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/frozen-shivapuri/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Frozen Shivapuri</a>, Min Ratna BajracharyaRara is not a stopover, but a destination, a place to linger and contemplate nature. The lake changes it colour every hour of the day, from pastel sunrise to fiery sunsets, the metallic silver of a rising moon and by ghostly starlight. There is no better place on Earth to let its healing power cleanse the soul.Photos by Bharat Bandhu Thapa<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a26129c7e80680e0439f8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="1141"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a26169c7e80680e0439f9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="1269"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a26199c7e80680e0439fajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2999" height="1496"><figcaption>Sunrise over the snowbound lake.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a261c9c7e80680e0439fbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="1200"><figcaption>With the arrival of the Karnali Highway and the upgraded airfield in Talcha, Rara is becoming increasingly popular with Nepali visitors.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a26209c7e80680e0439fcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="1430"><figcaption>Horses are available for hire for visitors.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a26239c7e80680e0439fdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2999" height="1160"><figcaption>The lake with Murma Peak in the background.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a26269c7e80680e0439fejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="836"><figcaption>Talcha Airfield in Mugu district is a three-hour walk from the lake.</figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a26299c7e80680e0439ffjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="1704"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a262e9c7e80680e043a00jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2999" height="1723"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a26319c7e80680e043a01jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1011"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a26359c7e80680e043a02jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="1347"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a26389c7e80680e043a03jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="1196"><figcaption>The placid lake from the entrance of the Rara National Park.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a263c9c7e80680e043a04jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="637"><figcaption>A mother and baby waiting for the first flight in Talcha Airfield near Rara Lake after heavy snow closed the airport for five days.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a263f9c7e80680e043a05jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="667"><figcaption>A visitor flies the national flag on Murma Peak above the lake.</figcaption></figure>Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/snowbound-rara/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Snowbound Rara</a>, Achyutraj Bhandari

Rara’s rare beauty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcaWYJSU5y4&amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;fbclid=IwAR2Qnf8iXarhb9omsTAfo3FB-fITc8Z9i8Snve_1T9mfrPCF2_9p5KMvgUgEver since trekking became the mainstay of tourism in Nepal, guidebooks have decreed that hiking in the Himalaya is only advisable in spring and autumn. What nonsense.As we saw this past week, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15649#.XFLWtlUzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal becomes a winter wonderland</a> during January. The mountains emerge with a fresh coating of snow, the air is crisp and the sun blindingly bright. And the best thing about it is that there are very few other tourists.Winter trekking is now possible not just because of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/on-thin-ice-in-the-khumbu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">global warming</a>, but also because there are new roads, guest houses, homestays and facilities along the trails. And while the high passes like Thorung La and Kang La in Manang, the Mardi and Khopra Treks, or Cho La in the Everest region may be completely snowed under, the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/annapurna-base-camp,3697" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Annapurna Base Camp</a> trek is do-able.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101144/636a25379c7e80680e0439b8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"/><figcaption>Hikers on their way from Machapuchre Base Camp (3,700m) to Annapurna Base Camp (4,130m). This part of the trail is closed due to heavy snowfall this week, and may reopen in about 10 days. All photos: MONIKA DEUPALA</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101144/636a253a9c7e80680e0439b9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="900"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>A recent trek to ABC showed that the trail is mostly occupied by Nepalis and Koreans who are more adventurous and no longer satisfied with throwing around snowballs on Pulchoki or Chandragiri.“It is hard to describe the pleasure of walk on a snowy trail with just the sound of your heavy breath, friction of your jacket, or boots crunching through the snow,” says Lee Chul from Korea, at Machapuchre Base Camp.After Kathmandu Valley did not meet his expectations about Nepal, Chul headed off to Pokhara and the ABC trek despite the snowfall. He went without a guide, and says that although he had to rough it, the adventure was worth every minute. He adds bravely: “The cold cannot keep us away from the Himalaya.”At the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/municipalities-want-to-manage-annapurna/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Annapurna Conservation Project</a> checkpoint in Chomrong (2,177m) Sarita Pun shows us the entries for January which have numbers that are almost the same as for December.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101144/636a253d9c7e80680e0439bajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="1067"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101144/636a253f9c7e80680e0439bbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101144/636a25439c7e80680e0439bcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“After this week’s snowfall, some trekkers have turned back because of ice on the trails,” she tells us, while many trekkers are waiting it out in Ghandruk for the snow to start melting on the trails above Bamboo, which is at 2,340m.Unique Gurung, 21, is a cook at the Annapurna Sanctuary Lodge at ABC (4,130 m) and says the temperature hit -20 this week. He has headed down to Deurali (3,200 m) along with his team to shovel the snow to keep the trail open for trekkers.Gurung says October is the peak season at ABC with 70 guests a day, and although the number is lower in winter, there has been an unusual surge of Nepali trekkers venturing up through the snow.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101144/636a25479c7e80680e0439bdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="495" height="706">Almost as adventurous as the Nepalis are Koreans, and tourists from China have started arriving for the Chinese New Year Holiday. Some 50 of them had to be evacuated by helicopter from Deurali after heavy snow blocked the path down this weekend.Nabin Balla from Bhaktapur is a new breed of Nepali trekker who has been exploring different parts of Nepal. Although he finds October the best time for treks in Nepal, he is always open to adventure and was in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=2701#.XFLV81UzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABC</a> in mid-January.“It is actually more expensive to trek in winter because you need extra heavy-duty gear to keep warm, but it has its rewards in mountains that are crystal clear and empty trails,” he says.Rana Roka of the Eastern Light Trek in Pokhara recommends Poon Hill and Jomsom as the best bet for winter, although he does not rule out ABC once the snow on the trails has thinned.Says Roka: “You have to be careful about avalanches and sickness, but trekking in winter is challenging and exciting at the same time."

Monika Deupala

The ABCs of a winter trek in Nepal

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107111148/6368e2929c7e80680e033336jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="764"/>Little Sangjay was fascinated by the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10794#.WxkjTO6FPIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">birds</a>: brightly coloured tragopans, garish impeyan monals and strutting Chinese golden pheasants. His small fingers gripped the wire netting of their cage whilst the sunshine lit their feathers.The speckled grey guinea fowl fussed in the rough grass of Col Jimmy Roberts’ Pokhara garden, and his flock of quail cackled nearby. The fishtail peak of Mt Machapuchre glowed in the high distance, and the red poinsettia and orange marigolds straggled his land. Over the dry-stone wall, the murmur of Sherpa voices could be heard as they sorted Mountain Travel’s tents and camping gear between treks.Col Jimmy enjoyed an eccentric retirement, in the same vein that he had lived an unusual life. Raising rare and endangered pheasants became his passion, and he introduced the delicacy of diminutive quail eggs to the finer restaurants of Kathmandu. Next to the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/trekking-in-Nepal-turns-50,2658" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trekking</a> depot, his stone house in Pokhara had been built to suit his needs and those of his Sherpa attendants -- one open living room, no spare bedroom and an upstairs loo with the “best view in the world”, as he proudly told Princess Anne during her 1981 visit. Along with the pheasants, a succession of liver and white spaniels were his preferred company.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107111148/6368e2969c7e80680e033337jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="733" height="506"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Unmarried and solitary by nature, Col Jimmy was the only son of a Gujarat headmaster. He returned to South Asia after being sent “home” to school in England (King’s Canterbury, which I never heard him mention) and military training at Sandhurst. The product of a British Army career, he had a distinguished and highly decorated record in India, Malaya and Singapore. He always said that the few women he ever met were limited to the sisters of fellow Gurkha officers.Instead, Jimmy went climbing. He pioneered Himalayan peaks in the days when access was constrained by tensions between China, India and Tibet, and visits to Nepal were “by invitation only”. As he put it: “At that time, for a mountaineer at least, the lure of Nepal was far more potent than Tibet or Bhutan. And in the mountain book, only the chapter titled ‘Nepal’ remained closed, the pages uncut.”He became a legendary Himalayan mountaineer and explorer, bagging many first ascents and getting to 50m below the sacred summit of Mt Machapuchre. Disdaining to join John Hunt’s 1953 Everest expedition, which he himself had been shortlisted to lead, Col Jimmy helped with oxygen logistics then preferred to explore alone, making the first ascent of Mera Peak which he dismissed as: “rather over 21,000 feet and not difficult”.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107111148/6368e2989c7e80680e033338jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="778" height="513"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Jimmy first came to live in Nepal when appointed Military Attaché with the British Embassy Kathmandu in 1958, then stayed on. By the time my young boys were enthralled by his extravagant pheasants in Pokhara, Col Jimmy’s mountain days were curtailed by arthritic hips and failing health, and Mountain Travel had joined forces with <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/So-far-so-good/fire-in-the-afternoon-tiger-tops,846" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tiger Tops</a>. But he could still describe every trek trail, twist, and turn from memory, and was relied on to compose the Sherpa teams as he understood upper Khumbu family dynamics better than anyone.Without being able to walk them himself, Jimmy devised new circuits such as the Royal Trek for Prince Charles, which I recced for him with Pertemba Sherpa in 1980, and the Prince’s Trek south of Pokhara. His stature in Nepal was secure as the creator of the trekking industry and inventor of the word ‘trek’, derived from a South African Boer word meaning ‘an arduous journey on foot’.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107111148/6368e29a9c7e80680e033339jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1904"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>A shy man, often gruff and never profligate with words, his writing surprised with a poetic grace and elegant turn of phrase. The invention of the trekking business was Jimmy’s gift to the Sherpas, the people whom he greatly appreciated for their mountain skills but whose lives he saw as vulnerable from closed trade routes and cancelled expeditions of 1960’s geopolitics. In many ways one could say that Jimmy dedicated his life to the Sherpas, ensuring that change brought them options and livelihoods. He wrote: “A wind blows across the highest of mountains of Asia and rattles the tiles on the roofs of houses in the valleys below. Doors swing open and others slam shut.”Mountain Travel was registered in 1964, and for four years was Nepal’s only trekking agency. His first trek group were six American ladies to Everest Base Camp in 1965, and he worried about the impacts of expanding beyond his set of camping equipment for eight clients. Today there are 2,500 trekking agencies, nearly 200,000 trekkers and over 2,000 mountaineers annually, and mountain tourism provides income and employment for many more Nepalis.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107111148/6368e29d9c7e80680e03333ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="523" height="740"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Jimmy opened up Nepal’s network of trading trails and hill villages to generations of walkers who might otherwise be daunted by the world’s highest mountain range. Debate rages about climbing expeditions, particularly on Everest, but there is no doubt that the country benefits from the royalties received, the jobs created and helicopters hired by this valuable long-staying and goal-obsessed section of Nepal’s tourism market.It might have seemed like a more innocent age, but in his quiet way Col Jimmy was prescient about the changes to come. Just before his death in 1997 he worried about “dirty camp sites and trails littered with rubbish … and crowds of hikers invading the peace of the mountains”. Even then, when Nepal’s visitors numbered a fraction of today, he lobbied for the advantages of quality high-value tourism: “Why are we selling our beautiful mountains so cheap?”Trekking first brought me to Nepal, and the spirit of mountain hiking is lodged deep in the hearts of my two sons as part of the fabric of their childhood. Without Jimmy, and his stubborn persistence to realise his dream and vision, things would not have been the same.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107111148/6368e2a09c7e80680e03333bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="448"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>

Lisa Choegyal

Hiking with Jimmy

Nepal’s only international aviation gateway, at Kathmandu airport, will cut night-time operation hours to allow construction of taxiways, and airlines have been told to curtail flights. This is expected to lead to more than normal chaos during the height of peak autumn and spring tourist seasons at an airport that is congested even at the best of times. The airport will close from 10PM to 8AM from 8 November-31 March 2025. The taxiways will now connect to the thresholds at both ends of the runway, making the airport more efficient in handling higher frequencies of landings and takeoffs. The parallel taxiway extension will allow international flights to land every 4 minutes instead of the current every 7 minutes. At present planes have to wait to land until a plane taking off backtracks along the runway.&nbsp; Kathmandu is Nepal’s only airport with international operations, and it has only one runway that is only one way in from the south over the mountains. With the taxiway improvement, the airport will be able to handle 42 aircraft landings and takeoffs per hour — double the current capacity.&nbsp; The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has been trying to entice international airlines to also start flying to and from the other two international airports at Pokhara and Bhairawa (Lumbini) by slashing landing and handling charges. But so far only Nepal Airlines operates a weekly flight to Bhairawa from Kuala Lumpur.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241018161016_046569e53d1d66cd445cc66c697c0ef724810aec9f54bdf827481e3cd6b80c32.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241018161016_046569e53d1d66cd445cc66c697c0ef724810aec9f54bdf827481e3cd6b80c32" data-rendition-name="original" width="2356" height="1134" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu airport expansion"> <figcaption>Kathmandu Airport Expansion plan with extension of taxiways to the thresholds of runways 02 and 20 that will limit airport operations from 8 November 2024 - 31 March 2025. Areas in blue are existing structures, including the international terminal which in future will be the domestic airport, and the new international terminal near the north end of the runway,</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241018121028_6e17cc2ee87c1b02d78cb54905825b7aa15299b7a00f5eddb01a59579ab85c1a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241018121028_6e17cc2ee87c1b02d78cb54905825b7aa15299b7a00f5eddb01a59579ab85c1a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1353" height="1328" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu airport NT"> </figure>  CAAN has reportedly told international airlines to cut their flight frequency to Kathmandu citing the shorter operation hours and has told budget airlines to shift some of their flights to Pokhara or Bhairawa, or face cuts. Many airlines currently operate regular flights to and from Kathmandu between 10PM and 8AM: Air Arabia to Sharjah, Fly Dubai to Dubai, Jazeera Airways to Kuwait, Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, Singapore Airlines, several Nepal Airlines flights, and one of four daily flights by Qatar Airways to Doha. Jazeera Airways, FlyDubai, and Thai AirAsia have applied and got permission from CAAN to begin regular flights to Bhairawa’s Gautam Buddha International Airport. Starting 9 November, FlyDubai will start making a stopover in Bhairawa before flying on to Kathmandu. Immigration, customs and security are all fully functional in Bhairawa. In Kathmandu, the next phase of the airport upgrade includes converting the current international terminal for domestic operations, the construction of a new international terminal where the domestic departure area is now, as well as moving the hangars and the Nepal Army Air Wing to the eastern side of the runway. The apron area will also double its parking space for widebody jets. This is part of a Airport Capacity Enhancement Project that was initially funded through a $80 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the entire masterplan is expected to cost $800 million. This project is the latest upgrade to Nepal’s only international airport since it saw its first flight in 1949. The current international and domestic terminals are too small to handle the current annual traffic volume of 8.5 million passengers a year that is growing at 20% a year.

Kathmandu airport to cut flight hours

As Kathmandu becomes more congested and polluted, and with remote online work becoming the norm, many professional Nepalis are planning to retire in Pokhara, or move there.&nbsp; With its stunning mountain panorama, balmy winters and proximity to a profusion of wilderness areas, builders are responding to this demand with new townhouses, housing development and apartments. One such block of flats is the 10-storey <a href="https://sungavaapartment.com/">Sungava Apartment</a> located at Phulbari above the Seti River, near the point where it flows into and under Pokhara. The imposing structure near Manipal Hospital is almost complete, and on a recent visit the site was strewn with huge boulders unearthed while digging the foundation.&nbsp; The Seti brought down these boulders during a gigantic flood that geologists estimate happened 800 years ago when a chunk of Annapurna IV broke off and ploughed into the glacier below. Today, Sungava (means ‘orchid’) sits safely on a high terrace, 100m above the blue-green Seti and commands a view of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South, Machapuchre, Annapurna III and IV.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024102411104_5f8fc736c86ea3c08d7bef43bb727081d3cc1a2caa55ae2b441717e6044de7e9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024102411104_5f8fc736c86ea3c08d7bef43bb727081d3cc1a2caa55ae2b441717e6044de7e9" data-rendition-name="original" width="2016" height="1512" loading="lazy" alt="High living below the Himalaya NT"> </figure>  The soil here is conglomerate that has solidified like concrete, and the boulders were extracted by heavy earthmovers. It is intriguing to think that these metamorphic rocks as big as cars, rounded by glacial grinding, were once a part of a much higher Annapurna IV. Even for those with little interest in geology, Sungava is an ideal place to contemplate the tectonic forces that pushed these peaks into the sky to be sculpted into delicate shapes by wind, snow, earthquake and avalanche over millions of years. The view of the Himalayan panorama from Sungava’s many balconies are breathtaking when not obscured by clouds, or the haze that drifts in from across the southern border. On most days, just watching the towering pyramid of Machapuchre (Tamu name: कतासुँ क्लिको) play hide and seek with the clouds is mesmerising. There are rocks aplenty at Phulbari, and it is probably the flowers that grew along the flat terraces e that gave the place its flowery name. The boulders will hopefully be turned into a rock garden while landscaping. An nearby restaurant complex is making the best use of the stones in its design, using flat rocks as outdoor benches and tables. Sungava was designed by the husband-wife architect team of Deepak Sherchan and Jyoti Joshi of <a href="https://thedarkmermaidamarbshrestha.blogspot.com/2013/12/creative-builders-collaborative-cbc.html">Creative Builders Collaborative (CBC)</a>, which also built Heritage Plaza, Indreni Apartment and numerous other projects in Nepal. Sadbhavana retains CBC’s trademark Newari-style masonry and here it borrows from the orange brickwork of the old town of Pokhara, integrating it with modern design elements. A few of those heritage houses are still standing in Ganesh Tole and Ram Krishna Tole in Pokhara’s old quarter.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024102411108_5eb64a4885961b6d30781cefeb1e8a313da313ac5227c7a66b60f0c7d48d6fab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2024102411108_5eb64a4885961b6d30781cefeb1e8a313da313ac5227c7a66b60f0c7d48d6fab" data-rendition-name="original" width="1362" height="595" loading="lazy" alt="High living below the Himalaya NT"> </figure>  About 400m from the apartment past a bend on the river, and down below three tiers of terraces in the canyon is a suspension bridge. Below it, the Seti is still swollen with post-monsoon flow as it tumbles away in a hurry to head down south.&nbsp; Back at the apartment, it is quiet, far away from the hubbub of Lakeside a 15 minute drive away, and in the lap of greenery. There are 52 units at Sungava and it already has a close-knit prospective community of professionals, including doctors, publishers, engineers, and businesspeople from the renewable energy and IT sectors.&nbsp; Some residents say they opted for a second home in Pokhara to make it a ‘base camp’ to explore the Annapurnas with its many hiking trails made newly accessible with new roads. With the NRN citizenship law, overseas Nepalis can now also buy the flats. &nbsp; The floor plans include options for north and south-facing 3-bedroom apartments with verandas, and the facility has underground parking has EV charging, heated pool, sauna and gym. There are still some unsold apartments with panoramic views of the mountains and one can imagine oneself at the kitchen with its huge window, humming a ditty while preparing breakfast: “खाना पकाउँ हिमाल हेरेर...”

High living below the Himalaya

When the United Nations held its Summit of the Future at its headquarters in New York in September, many world leaders, including Nepal’s Prime Minister K P Oli, highlighted the effect of climate breakdown in increasing the frequency and intensity of natural disasters. What did not get as much attention was the long term impact of the climate crisis on food production. In fact, heat stress, weather extremes and the consequences on rain-fed agriculture is already being felt worldwide, undermining the chances of the <a href="https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/">UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)</a> being met by 2030.&nbsp; The SDG’s 17 targets commit countries like Nepal to reduce poverty and inequality, end malnutrition, protect the natural environment, and ensure that citizens all enjoy health, justice and prosperity without leaving anyone behind.&nbsp; However, besides the impact of climate breakdown on agricultural production, in Nepal the area under cultivation is impacted by urban expansion, falling productivity and the need for expensive inputs like fertiliser and pesticides.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_626413c5baf4dae407ac9579231b41daeb51510aa636b75aeb7489d94cca6a62.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241019041052_626413c5baf4dae407ac9579231b41daeb51510aa636b75aeb7489d94cca6a62" data-rendition-name="original" width="999" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>Kathmandu's urban sprawl is eating into its fertile cultivable lands. Photo: TAYLOR MASON</figcaption> </figure>  Now, a new study led by Nepali researcher Prajal Pradhan at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands looks at how urban agriculture may offer a solution to falling food production and meeting SDG targets. The researchers evaluated 1,450 publications exploring the contributions of urban agriculture with both positive and negative effects, and published their findings in the journal Cells Report Sustainability. Urban agriculture can help achieve 17 SDGs, positively influencing 81 targets. However, it could also undermine 51 goals.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-vanishing-land">The vanishing land</a>, Taylor Mason “Urban agriculture offers immense potential for sustainable development, but realising this potential depends crucially on adopting practices that minimise its adverse effects while maximising its benefits,” Pradhan explains. Urban agriculture can substantially enhance urban food security, provide employment to the urban poor, serve as ground water recharge in built-up areas, and preserve open spaces that can serve as safe havens during disasters like earthquakes. However, it also presents problems like the potential health risks from contamination and the need for expensive inputs. &nbsp; “Urban agriculture plays a definitive role in advancing the SDGs, but achieving this requires tailored, context-specific solutions that address the unique challenges of different regions,” says Yuanchao Hu of Wuhan University in China and who is a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. “But it needs equitable access and rigorous management of environmental risks.”&nbsp; Rapid urbanisation is eating into Nepal’s most fertile agricultural land, which means farming in remaining open spaces inside cities can be a viable alternative, especially as food prices rise.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_7b7c9413086226fbdc630d45acf772cfa1ced77a8970b9056ec5ec7e5226fdf8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241019041052_7b7c9413086226fbdc630d45acf772cfa1ced77a8970b9056ec5ec7e5226fdf8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>A vegetable patch in between new houses in Thimi. Photo: TAYLOR MASON</figcaption> </figure>  “The conversion of Nepal’s most fertile land into cities is a severe problem,” Pradhan told Nepali Times. “Crop cultivation, horticulture, agroforestry, beekeeping, livestock rearing, or aquaculture can all be farming activities within and around cities.”&nbsp; The study makes recommendations for sustainable practices that build on the positive aspects of urban agriculture while mitigating the downsides, thereby promoting more resilient cities in future. Research shows that urban agriculture has been helping many countries attain SDG targets by enhancing food security and biodiversity while helping education and preservation of open spaces.&nbsp; Indeed, many farmers from the hinterland who have settled in Kathmandu Valley or other urban areas of the country have been practicing urban agriculture, leasing neighbourhood patches or cultivating roof gardens both out of necessity because of inflation and falling income to grow their own food, and also as a fulfilling hobby. Saurav Dhakal, a sustainability advocate with Story Cycle and now research fellow at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand, says there are socio-economic and environmental benefits of urban agriculture. “It provides benefits to all urban dwellers, regardless of their income status,” says Dhakal, “families get fresh food, and there are many other benefits like water retention, heat regulation and biodiversity. These are all public goods, so special government incentives may be needed.” It is not unusual to see vegetable patches and even paddy fields within inner city Kathmandu where an older generation of farmers are using available fertile land and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/rooftop-gardens-kathmandu,1415">roof gardens to produce fresh, nutritious food </a>to reduce their dependence on food items that have to be bought after being trucked in from large distances.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024101905100_1291ce98dbbb8caed8702ac4b1d469b3e13016d7ecaaf3bfd5f91c974d3c0c77.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2024101905100_1291ce98dbbb8caed8702ac4b1d469b3e13016d7ecaaf3bfd5f91c974d3c0c77" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>An older generation of farmers are using any available fertile land to continue farming but it is getting more and more difficult. Photo: TAYLOR MASON </figcaption> </figure>  Nepal’s urban population grew rapidly from only 3.6% in 1991 to 25% today. There is large outmigration from the mountains to peri-urban areas of the Tarai, to Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara, with many young men then moving abroad for work. Kathmandu Valley’s population has swelled to nearly 3 million, and is growing at 6.5% a year. Dilip Shrestha, 71, used to work for Nepal Food Corporation, so he knew firsthand about inflation, shortages and vegetables with pesticide residue. So, when he designed his new house in Kathmandu, he built a spacious roof where he grows cucumber, ginger, garlic, coriander, onions, tomatoes, chili, beans, okra, pumpkin and lettuce. His family eats healthier, and he has reduced dependence on the market.&nbsp; The co-author of the Cell Reports Sustainability journal article, Daya Raj Subedi who is a PhD candidate at Beijing Forestry University, says urban agriculture also promotes inclusion and psycho-social wellbeing.&nbsp; He says, “A crucial finding of the study is the identification of opportunities and challenges associated with urban agriculture, it can promote sustainable transformation of society.” In Banepa, 55-year-old Bijaya Manandhar in her lifetime has watched the fertile farms of her neighbourhood that used to supply vegetables to Kathmandu, now completely built up with no open space left. The pandemic lockdown prompted her to turn to the family’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/rooftop-agriculture-on-the-roof-of-the-world">ancestral livelihood by growing food</a> not on terrace farms, but on the roof terrace. Manandhar is now a part of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/rooftop-agriculture-on-the-roof-of-the-world%5C%5C">कौसी खेती र करेसाबारी क्रान्ती</a> (Rooftop Farming and Garden Revolution) which has an online membership of 52,000, and awards annual prizes to women who excel in urban agriculture.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_7257f5def8f823f35a799fa6f6825e153f2ffa406ac11325d4fe74049b79e96d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20241019041052_7257f5def8f823f35a799fa6f6825e153f2ffa406ac11325d4fe74049b79e96d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="736" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>Rooftop farming is gaining popularity as a form of urban agriculture. </figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_beff1a4494ce896dd8fd383ee1f518e5448bcf7ea8bb138255391c7bcb9769ed.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20241019041052_beff1a4494ce896dd8fd383ee1f518e5448bcf7ea8bb138255391c7bcb9769ed" data-rendition-name="original" width="4000" height="3000" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> </figure>  Pradhan says the challenge now is to upscale such examples of successful urban agricultural practices so they support Neal’s efforts to meet SDG targets. He adds, “Crop cultivation around cities can be protected by land use plans and regulations. Promoting community-based agriculture, including rooftop gardens, requires community engagement and public-private partnerships across the food value chain.”&nbsp; Such support would accelerate the popularity of existing rooftop farming and community gardens in Kathmandu Valley, or kitchen garden initiatives in Pokhara, and building on traditional farming practices that are preserved and integrated into urban settings like in Bhaktapur and Banepa. In Lalitpur, the Women Entrepreneurship Facilitation Center promotes urban farming enhancing both sustainability and empowerment.&nbsp; Another co-author of the report, Yuanchao Hu from China says followup research of the team will aim to identify good practices in local urban agriculture practices. He adds, “There are examples of urban agriculture that optimise sustainability, ensuring that it remains a viable solution for cities globally while countries try to meet SDG targets.” Prajal Pradhan, Daya Raj Subedi, Kshitij Dahal, Yuanchao Hu, Prakriti Gurung, Sijal Pokharel, Sagar Kafle, Biplav Khatri, Sudeeksha Basyal, Monika Gurung, and Aruna Joshi. Urban Agriculture matters for sustainable development. Cell Reports Sustainability, 1:100217, 2024. [DOI: 10.1016/j.crsus.2024.100217] Prajal Pradhan (<a href="mailto:p.pradhan@rug.nl">p.pradhan@rug.nl</a>) This article is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758" data-rendition-name="original" width="680" height="103" loading="lazy" alt="SDG logo"> </figure>

Back to the land in the cities

The 700-year-old Lakshmi Narasingha temple in Bhaktapur houses a rare half-lion and half-human incarnation of Lord Vishnu carrying the Goddess Lakshmi. The temple was destroyed in the 1934 mega earthquake that killed 10,000 people and destroyed many monuments in Kathmandu Valley. It was rebuilt by a German project in the 1980s, but as a single-storey structure instead of its original two-tier pagoda design.&nbsp; With new findings from in-depth research, Bhaktapur municipality began re-restoring the temple in 2021, preserving its original architecture.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_2fae38cce543ad7b1f6de632feb3e212e08ed1acedd747830e949d7b8e878f18.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241017131016_2fae38cce543ad7b1f6de632feb3e212e08ed1acedd747830e949d7b8e878f18" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “Our temples and heritage sites hold deep meaning. It is disheartening to witness how often they lose their original elements, whether by design or accident,” explains Kumar Chawal of the Consumer Committee of Bhaktapur. “There is a need to preserve our architecture and protect its historical value for future generations. Otherwise, we risk losing a vital part of our identity.” The Laksmi Narsingha restoration is similar to the Bhai Dega temple in Patan Darbar Square which also collapsed in 1934, but was rebuilt with a Moghul-style dome by the Rana government at the time. Only two months before the 2015 earthquake, heritage conservationists had started to rebuild Bhai Dega as the original three-tier based on early photographs. But priorities shifted when four other temples in the square were brought down by the 7.8M earthquake on 25 April 2015.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_697ea707d9ad163be5de5f2efbf5b70d3cab771adcc22f0fae6bf937c6cb0130.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241017131016_697ea707d9ad163be5de5f2efbf5b70d3cab771adcc22f0fae6bf937c6cb0130" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  This showed how damage to monuments in Kathmandu Valley spanned from one earthquake to the next. Bhai Dega restoration remains half-complete to this day because money for its restoration ran out.&nbsp; Whereas Bhai Dega restoration was done by the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust with grants from western embassies and international foundations, in Bhaktapur it is the municipality itself that allocated the Rs30.7 million needed to restore the Lakshmi Narasingha temple. The expected date of completion is early 2025. The municipality and local communities are focusing on two main aspects: preserving the past and promoting localisation. The restoration team has designed a blueprint for the temple by using historical photographs and insights from older generations.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_182882fdc393c99e70d1d0490319e415229563666c4934e3a582426ebf00ca30.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241017131016_182882fdc393c99e70d1d0490319e415229563666c4934e3a582426ebf00ca30" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="560" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “At first, the Lakshmi Narasingha temple had only one entrance, but during the demolition process, we uncovered the foundations of four doors. Now, we are restoring all of them. This is an example of how our ancient structures have changed over time, often without our knowledge,” says Chawal. “Constructing temples is not like building houses. They carry historical and spiritual values, which is why they hold a special place in our hearts,” he adds. By replicating ancient design elements and rebuilding the temple as accurately as possible to its original form, the team has stayed true to Bhaktapur’s soul. But the restoration also revived ancient techniques that were in danger of being forgotten, generating employment for woodcarvers, masons, and contractors. The community of Bhaktapur’s Gahiti neighbourhood near the famous Nyatapola Temple has also set aside specific days for locals to volunteer in the reconstruction work. This has encouraged young people to take pride in ownership of their heritage. Families have also supported the effort by donating funds for bells, the temple pinnacle, and other structural features to the temple.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_db850ec0c084cdbe54f65bee92dad2ad8122d20fd60ec87ec086fbb9d2f72bd6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241017131016_db850ec0c084cdbe54f65bee92dad2ad8122d20fd60ec87ec086fbb9d2f72bd6" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “I feel at peace knowing I have contributed my sweat to restoring this temple,” said one volunteer. “It is our duty to preserve our temples and heritage. The Nyatapola area will look magical once this temple is completed.” Community mobilisation is a long-standing tradition in Bhaktapur. In the past, locals have actively participated in the restoration of other temples in the city, such as Bhairav and Nyatapola fostering a strong sense of ownership. This collective engagement has not only been crucial in preserving the city's historical monuments but also in strengthening the bond between local communities and their heritage, says officials at the municipality. While securing funding is essential, and the municipality showed it values heritage conservation, the Lakshmi Narasingha restoration is proof that active involvement and sense of responsibility of the local community is as important, if not more. Local involvement also means that the monuments will be cared for into the future, When locals take ownership of these efforts, the restored monuments are not only protected in the present but are also cared for in the future.