This is the DMPCU Milk Truck. It has taken several days to collect the amount of milk needed to fill it. Milk has come from a number of primary dairy cooperatives scattered throughout the hills and regions surrounding Hetauda, brought by hand from the original farm, then by small vehicle or motorcycle here. It has been kept chilled for the final trip to market; Kathmandu.
Considering how far it has travelled and what it took to produce it this milk is already precious. And the trip has just begun.
The driver will not travel the shorter 3 hour route we took over the mountains. If he did, by the time he got to the first incline the milk will have been churned to curds. Instead, he will commence by travelling in almost the opposite direction westbound on the East West Highway through Basamadi and Ratna Nager. After 2 or 3 hours he will pass Bharatpur and only then he will start making any real directional progress back north east, to “reach” his destination, hopefully within the anticipated 6 hours. In much of Canada this trip can be achieved in 45 minutes to an hour- faster if you disobey the speed limit.
Whether by foot, car, truck, motorcycle or rickshaw, Nepalese use the term “reach” whenever discussing the measure of time and distance, the same way we would describe how long it takes to get somewhere, or when we expect to arrive. Increasingly I find its use has a compelling intelligence about it. Reach implies to me effort, strain, overcoming obstacles, hazard, and the very real possibility that you may not get to your destination when you thought you would, or even at all.
From its highest peak of nearly 9000 meters, to its lowest point less than 100 meters above sea level, Nepal’s rich topography provides some of the world’s most stunning mountain scenery. However it also poses what must be some of the most daunting economic and infrastructure challenges known to modern mankind.
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| Elaborate interior of truck- very typical. |
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| Prepping Milk and Testing Equipment |
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| Milk comes and goes in extraordinary forms of transportation- whatever works, I guess |
