Helambu is a land of rocky mountains and sloping hills covered with terraced fields. "He" means potato, and "Lambu" means radish in the language of the Hyolmo people, whose ancestors migrated to the region from Tibet long ago. Most people here are indeed farmers, and grow maize (corn), millet, beans, potatoes, radish, onions, garlic, and several kinds of vegetable including leafy greens, cabbage, snap peas, and some squash varieties. They bring their rice in from other areas as the elevation is too high for it to grow here. Many families have one or two water buffalo, who are large, black, cow-ish beasts with long curved horns. Villagers spend a lot of time cutting grass and leaves for the buffalo to eat. The buffalo produce a heavenly delicious milk, sweet and creamy. (I actually used it to make mashed potatoes for my host family on Thanksgiving). Buffalo meat is also tasty, if at times a bit chewy, and reminds me of a gamey beef.
To be continued...
Here are some photos of the school where I taught dance and English for 6 weeks:
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