Features of national fishing

Photoblogger Ivan Dementievsky says: “Today is a story about heavenly places on the border of India and Nepal, where crocodiles once lived in the rivers, and elephants and rhinoceroses rushed through the jungle. These forests were called Terai, in fact, the real jungle. Now there are people everywhere, corn fields, and banana plantations.”

(Total 11 photos)

Source: Zhzhurnal / dementievskiy

1. Early January morning (are you already shivering from the cold?), no, early January morning, a heavy fog descends on the fields and rivers of Chitwan, and the inhabitants of the surrounding villages gather by the river, where they take ablutions, brush their teeth and wash their hair. For Nepalese accustomed to 50 degree heat, the morning fog is the epitome of winter, they wrap themselves in warm clothes, and in the absence of winter hats with earflaps, they wrap their heads with a piece of cloth. And although the sun has risen for a long time, dense layers of fog do not want to dissipate at all. After seeing the ghostly images in the fog, I was about to go to have breakfast, when a group of Nepalese women with baskets approached the river. Well, probably, too, to swim or wash off, I thought, watching the Nepalese young ladies climb into the water. Although where has it been seen that they would swim with baskets, and I became curious, sho tse take? One of the Nepalese who passed me spoke a little English and explained - this is fishing, sirrr!

2. Wow, I thought, and breakfast was forgotten.

3. From the place where I lived, the river is within easy reach, well, 30 meters, no more. Therefore, even a day earlier, when I first arrived here, the river was explored up and down, and it soon became clear that it was very shallow, a lot of greenery, and full of small bathing nepalchego. Seeing women with net baskets early in the morning was a surprise to me.

4. But I was not the only one who experienced some surprise, they also had to be surprised, still, a white man came and was watching! However, they soon calmed down and one young Nepalese woman even asked how old I was and if I had a wife. In my opinion, it is very practical, no unnecessary questions, only on the merits. Having found out that I am not quite old yet, but I already have a family and children, they no longer paid attention to me (well, yes, who needs me there)))) And the fishing began. In the Nepalese understanding of this process.

5. No usual fishing rods, only hadhor, only hadhor, just this little net-net. Having chosen, as it seems to them, the most fishy place, they lower the net and, passing it along the bottom, pull their catch to the surface. There are mostly small pebbles and lots and lots of algae.

6. And the fog did not even think of dispersing, however, sometimes the wind dispersed it a little, but the steam from the water immediately filled the vacated space. And as leisurely as the course of a river, the women trawled the muddy bottom. Silently, occasionally making short remarks, as happens in real fishing. And if you do not look in their direction, you could even imagine this classic fishing.

7. Naturally, I had a question, is there anything at all here, but none of these women spoke English. I had to explain myself with gestures, which also did not help, the classic gesture of a fisherman, with their arms spread as much as possible, is not known here. But I guessed the size of the fish when one woman put something in a small box tied to her belt. Can you see what size it is? Catfish are definitely not found here.

8. For an hour, while the girls moved upstream to the bridge, they did not come across a single perch or roach, or whatever should be found there. Probably there is no bite, or according to the lunar calendar, today is not the best day for fishing. But no one is discouraged, on the contrary, now with jokes and laughter, not being afraid to scare away the fish, the Nepalese roam the river, and the Nepalese passing by tease the girls.

9. In the meantime, people continue to bathe and bathe ... Shampoo, toothpaste, soap, all this gets into the water and, of course, contributes to fishing ...

10. In general, there was no catch, the girls gathered their gear and went home, do housework and work in the field. For the sake of interest, I asked the chef of the hotel where I lived, really order fish and taste it? He said that it is real if they bring it. A little later I saw this fish, small, overcooked as if it were chips, and there is nothing from the taste of fish.

11. The same girl who took care of my well-being.