Of Nepali suspension bridges and grinding grains: 1986

Though all of the above are photos of photos the top two are suspension bridges of the type we crossed at various times traveling through across deep canyons and crossing rivers on foot. Locals would often be carrying heavy packs or even aluminum roofing across these bridges for their homes. When a gust of wind came up you had to quickly grab something not to be blown off, especially if you were carrying anything heavy at all.


In the bottom photo a man is posing for us as his Water Buffalos were grinding grain down into flour for his family or neighbors. This was how it was done locally at that time along the road from Kathmandu   in Nepal heading by rented Car to the India Border at Raxaul, India. Remember this is December 1985 and our drivers name was a Nepali called Johnny. He let me drive for a while but I wasn't used to larger vehicles driving slower vehicles off the road as they passed. Every so often there was a head on of two trucks or buses because they were the biggest. This was a one lane road at that time that two directions of traffic shared going from Kathmandu, Nepal towards the Nepali Terais of Nepal and Northern India.

terais - definition of terais by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus ...

www.thefreedictionary.com/terais

(Placename) (in India) a belt of marshy land at the foot of mountains, esp at the foot of the Himalayas in N India. 2. (Clothing & Fashion) a felt hat with a wide brim ...

A few months later a friend would fly in from Switzerland and we would return by bus from Kathmandu to Chitwan National Park in Nepal on the Terais to see White Rhinos and Tigers and large snakes there and a type of thin mouthed alligator I think it is called a Gar. However, it doesn't seem to be listed as such in wikipedia for some reason. They live in Chitwan National Park on the Terais of Nepal near the Indian border.