A key aspect of my mandate is visiting small rural remote Milk Cooperatives throughout the catchement area of Hetauda. Over the past three days I have been travelling with Praveen (Intern) and Niraz (Accountant for the central Coop). I am stared at constently. I am told that everyone who sees 'that foriegner' travelling up into the hills is talking about it at the dinner table that night. The upside is seeing parts of a country that are not frequented by outsiders. I have learned a lot about milk production (and food production) in Nepal. Adequate infrastructure is a recurring theme (more on that later).
Small motorcylces and South Central Asia are like peanut butter and jelly. Its hard to have one without the other. Its a prime means of transport throughout this entire continent, and Nepal is no exception. A typical scene is a man (with helmut) and a female, one passenger, and baggage. The law requiring only the driver to wear a helmut is bizarre; before the Maoist insurgency the law was universal. However to avoid covert transport of militants and to bring transparency, the law was reversed for passengers. It has not been reinstated.
Overseas workers in Southeast Asia are discouraged from using motorcycles, and public transport in general. Frankly with my mandate and where I am stationed that is more or less a joke.
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| Me and Niraz's bike (he is nervous I think) |
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| Praveen takes a selfee on route- there are three of us on this by the way (Robin- I am driving, wearing the helmut). Only in Asia. |
Until the Nepal market was flooded with cheap Indian made wannabe Honda's and Yamahas over the last 20-30 years or so (ie less than 500cc- that's the law in Nepal) milk transport was the old fashioned way- by foot or by mule. The good news for highland food producers is that its all down hill from here.
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| Coming home from a visit to Chandrasurya Milk Producer Cooperative |
