Chauris are a beautiful breed of yak and cow. The chauris in this village provided milk, butter, churpi, and meat to the villagers. During our stay in the village, we were served lots of chauri meat with our daal baht and mixed into chowmein. It’s a very tough and salty meat with a high fat content. Chauris also transport packs of goods from village to village on their backs. We were very fortunate to see these animals. They tend to live in cooler places. In the summertime, you can find them grazing in pastures while in the winter they feed on fodder tree leaves. However, the availability of both of these feeding systems are becoming scarce in the places that chauris live. Newer generations aren’t very interested in chauri farming because the business is difficult since chauri population isn’t growing and productivity of pastures aren’t improving.

Chauris have proven to be more productive than yaks. Chauris can adapt to lower altitudes than yaks since they don’t have as much hair. They can live in higher altitudes than cows. They can also produce more milk than both yaks and cows. As of 2007, in Nepal, it was estimated that there are about 46,000 chauris and only 10,000 yaks. It seems that the population of both are decreasing. The estimated production of chauri per year is only 70-100. It’s believed that the reason for a decreasing presence in chauri in Nepal is due to casualty by leopard, diseases, natural death, or being exported to Tibet for meat.

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While travelling through Taplejung we had the opportunity to spend time with our local friend Rabina. As we walked through the streets after a long mountain trek she asked if we would be interested in trying the local Taplejung coffee. Of course our answer was a resounding yes!

As we walked into a small shop we settled in with anticipation for a plain cup of coffee. We were sitting for about 15 to 20 minutes simply enjoying each other’s company when a woman with a short thin frame appeared in the doorway carrying a silver tray with glasses filled with a drink that looked the consistency of a milkshake. When we went to take a glass we half expected it to be cold because of its thick texture and appearance. We soon realized it was not cold at all and in actuality was too hot to even pick up. We watched as the locals sitting next to us swirled the thick foam.

With that first taste I was shocked! The richness of the coffee was complimented with the sweet creaminess of frothed milk. We all sat with grateful hearts for such a delightful treat from our dear local friends. After we all finished our first glass of Taplejung coffee a deep sigh of pure satisfaction rested over the room. It was not very long before we started to wonder how exactly this famed local coffee was made.

One of our friends inquired of our host. She left the room and soon returned with her ingredients. She held out a small silver bowl filled with what appeared to be a golden coloured marshmallow fluff. We watched as she explained the process.

In this small silver bowl she mixed one part instant coffee and 1 1/2 parts sugar. She stirred them together and added a few small tablespoons of boiling water. She quickly stirred them together for a little over 10 minutes with a spoon. All the while whipping as much air into it as possible. Once the mixing process was completed 1/4 cup of the mixture was added to a glass. She then slowly stirred and poured in boiled milk to the top of the cup. And that was it!

As soon as I had access to a kitchen again I tried to make it myself! I am pleased to tell you that the kind owner of the coffee shop did a very good job of teaching me.

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Primary School in Wulongchong Gola

“Where are all the children?”

That was one of our first observations as we walked into the village of Olungchung Gola. There were no playing and dancing children. There were no chatting teenagers. There wasn’t even children’s clothing hanging out to dry. Where were the little ones?

It was shortly after this realization that we learned they did in fact have a village school of their own. However that was the extent of our knowledge at that time. The lowest age limit appeared to be mid-to-late twenties. As we met more villagers, we discovered only 4 children all of whom were under the age of six. How was a village of only 198 people planning on continuing to exist with only 4 children in the entire generation under the age of twenty?

By law, the children of Nepal must be enrolled in a school. However, this law is not often or easily enforced. The farther you get from the capital, and all other major cities, the higher the rate of absence. Education for children is treated as much more of a privilege than a right or necessity. Because children far from the main cities do not attend school it is much more common to see children labouring with their parents.

The education system in Nepal was adapted from that found in Europe. Therefore, it looks very similar to the British system. Children begin their first class at the age of five. Entry level for schools is called the Primary Level. Primary Level education consists of 5 classes (each is one year in length) with children ages 5-10. The core subjects for Primary Level education are Nepali, English, Math, Social Studies, Science, and History. After completing Primary Level the children continue into the Lower Secondary Level (aka Middle Level). Lower Secondary Level consists of classes six through eight and ages 10-13. The core subjects for Lower Secondary Level are the same as Primary Level with the added subjects of Health, and Environment. Thirdly, students attend Secondary Level which consists of classes nine through ten, ages 13-15, and the same core subjects as Lower Secondary Level. The final level of education before continuing onto University is the Higher Secondary Level. This level has classes eleven to twelve and ages 15-17. The core subjects of Higher Secondary Level are English, Nepali, and three subjects of the student’s choice.

One morning, we went up to the local Primary Level school. The 4 little kids were there. We started up a conversation with one of the 2 teachers who worked there. They informed us that there are 50 kids at the school. You can imagine the look on our extremely confused faces. The next day we returned to the school to ask some more questions. We asked one more time how many students attended the school. Once again we received the same response. This time we spoke to the second teacher. We asked where the other 46 children were and learned that the number 50 was how many children were registered not necessarily attending. We still did not have the answer we were looking for. Where were all of this village’s children?

Another day had passed by. We were eating lunch in Auntie’s kitchen and the topic of her 5-year-old little boy arose. He was one of the four children who we had met. We started asking about his education. Auntie told us that because the local school only had the first 5 classes of Primary Level education all children leave the village at the age of 10 or younger to attend schools in either Taplejung, Japa, or Kathmandu. These children only return home for small breaks. They attend these schools and live in hostels until they complete their studies at the age of 18 unless they decide to attend University. The lack of young adults was due to the fact that once these children complete their schooling they are usually able to find jobs much easier in the cities. Because of this, they do not often travel home to visit.

The importance these people placed on education was the most dedicated we had encountered in the mountains so far. At first thought, this seemed to be amazing news. However, as we pondered what we had learned, we realized how detrimental this loss of a generation could be to this village where physical labour was the primary source of income. No one new is moving into the village and the people currently living there aren’t getting any younger. How can a village survive when nearly every young person leaves indefinitely to pursue opportunity either in Kathmandu or even abroad in foreign countries? It appears to be the sign of the ending of a way of life and the beginning of something new. So we await with the parents to see who shall return home and continue the legacy left by their family and who will enter the flow of the busyness that is city life.

http://www.educatenepal.com/education_system/display/education-system-in-nepal

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We made the decision to hire porters to carry our bags down, an option we were completely unaware of on the way up. At first, I felt like we were almost cheating by not carrying them ourselves, but I was reminded that pride could not be an issue and we need to use wisdom because our bodies were physically not capable of completing the task without help.

These are without a doubt the strongest men I have ever met… all of them. Despite being incredibly thin, both porters strapped three packs to their back and head (a total of close to 100lbs) and then began to run with them. We were only able to keep up with them a small portion of the time and we had around 3lbs worth of baggage in our day packs. When we finally reached lunch, each of them refueled on a huge plate of daal bhat (a traditional rice-lentil-curry dish) and greens.

Shelby and I watched the porters the first day and studied how they moved, resolving ourselves to give it a go because of the obvious results of their technique. We watched their feet as they jogged down the steep slopes, light as a feather on their feet. Next, it was our turn. At first, planning where I would place my feet several steps in advance as I hurtled down the mountain required my brain to be quite active, but after awhile my brain kind of turned off and feet began to instinctively just ‘find’ where to go, flying down the dry rocks, which would soon become wet with the onset of monsoon coming just days later.

In Nepal, like all people, the porters support the weight they carry with a strap around their head. The culture here finds it very strange that Americans carry heavy items with both arms in front or in a backpack. I’ve even seen school children using a single strap on a standard backpack around their forehead to carry a large load of books.

It is standard for a male Nepali porter to be able to carry around 90% of his body weight up and down the mountains. The strong men are well compensated by the tourism industry on main trekking routes, and are usually paid double the amount of days they are carrying the packs, so that they receive compensation for their return trek home.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/03/12/517923490/how-does-a-nepalese-sherpa-carry-so-much-weight

Photo from: https://ecoclub.com/headlines/interviews/all-interviews/912-131218-jim-duff

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The couple pictured here live in the far eastern part of the country.  Their homes are simple and made of bamboo & mud. Neighboring homes are found fairly close together.  As we walked through their village, the people took us to the community lake to show us these men fishing.  Onlookers of the community anxiously watched to see their “catch.”

The children of the community followed us down the road and were anxious to show us their climbing skills.

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