Now, before we go any fyrther, you must realise that you cannot buy any hats in the HaaT Bazaar. No, it is the colloquial name for the weekly market that appears in local villages on a circuit, once a week. There is a local village called Fridays Field simply because the HaaT Bazaar meets there every Friday.
Well, as it happens I went for a wee spin up the track this morning on my mountain bike and at 8:30 in the morning, the Haat Bazaar was setting up. Traders had arrived carrying their wares on their backs in large baskets. It is amazing the amount of stuff they can carry when you see it all laid out in the little shacks made for purpose.
The local village of Gunmune has grown from maybe one house to about 20 local houses, then our compound housing 200 - so a ready market for the traders, then their is the attraction for the surrounding villages too. The local village committee encouraged the traders to come by making about 30 bamboo huts for the traders. So they come prepared with their plastic, in case it rains, and their wares, in case customers turn up, which they invariably do.
So, what can you buy in this once a week extravaganza? Shirts, saris, shorts, pants, cloth, cosmetic, sewing stuff, then their is the food, local snacks - samosa, pakoda, purey, chaat, amongst others and of course there are the raw ingredients...vegies such as potatoes, onions, cucumber, beans, chillies, egg plant and a few local root plants. Finally, a buffalo and a pig also made their way to the market, driven by the local butchers who slaughtered them there and then in the middle of the HaaT Bazaar. You can buy a choice piece, but usually one buys a kilo of everything, and that what you get, freshly sliced and diced there in front of you by large kukri knife. Unfortunately, the buff is as tough as leather. Nepalis would dry it over a smoked fire to chew on later...or stick it in a curry to have with the traditionaldaily meal of dhal bhat, rice and lentils.
On up the road, the beautiful morning continued and after the rain, the air had cleared so that every tree was focussed down to the leaves. God's creation really is amzing.
Well, off to church now, having been usually asked to share, lets see hat the Spirit says today. He's very friendly, you should get to know him.
Well, as it happens I went for a wee spin up the track this morning on my mountain bike and at 8:30 in the morning, the Haat Bazaar was setting up. Traders had arrived carrying their wares on their backs in large baskets. It is amazing the amount of stuff they can carry when you see it all laid out in the little shacks made for purpose.
The local village of Gunmune has grown from maybe one house to about 20 local houses, then our compound housing 200 - so a ready market for the traders, then their is the attraction for the surrounding villages too. The local village committee encouraged the traders to come by making about 30 bamboo huts for the traders. So they come prepared with their plastic, in case it rains, and their wares, in case customers turn up, which they invariably do.
So, what can you buy in this once a week extravaganza? Shirts, saris, shorts, pants, cloth, cosmetic, sewing stuff, then their is the food, local snacks - samosa, pakoda, purey, chaat, amongst others and of course there are the raw ingredients...vegies such as potatoes, onions, cucumber, beans, chillies, egg plant and a few local root plants. Finally, a buffalo and a pig also made their way to the market, driven by the local butchers who slaughtered them there and then in the middle of the HaaT Bazaar. You can buy a choice piece, but usually one buys a kilo of everything, and that what you get, freshly sliced and diced there in front of you by large kukri knife. Unfortunately, the buff is as tough as leather. Nepalis would dry it over a smoked fire to chew on later...or stick it in a curry to have with the traditionaldaily meal of dhal bhat, rice and lentils.
On up the road, the beautiful morning continued and after the rain, the air had cleared so that every tree was focussed down to the leaves. God's creation really is amzing.
Well, off to church now, having been usually asked to share, lets see hat the Spirit says today. He's very friendly, you should get to know him.
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