Momentoes from Nepal....grubby money love notes...aaaah!

So I have been back in the UK madly getting out the A/W 2010 orders for the new season! Been really pleased with the response, with a few reorders already and happy customers!! phew!!

When I was unpacking my stuff from the trip, I found these two nepali bank notes that I had saved....a five rupee (5p) and ten rupee (10p) note........I liked the little love note graffitti on grubby money! I think I am going to start collecting them if I get any more with doodles on, when I go back to Nepal next month.

The five rupee note says 'Do u love me? yes, no' on one side and then 'I love u my boy' on the back - wonder what the story was there? I will never know....

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Escape from the city before I leave Kathmandu

Before I left Kathmandu, with the A/W 2010 production all quality checked and sent to the UK, I managed to get out of the city for 2 days - was a breath of fresh air, quite literally!

It has been quite hard this time to get out the city, with manufacturers having their weekly days off/holidays on different days, there is always some work to do, especially with the manufacturers scattered at opposite ends of the city!  So I was really happy to get out of Kathmandu briefly before I left.  I went to Kurintar, which is 95 km west from Kathmandu, on the way to Pokhara.  With friends, I went camping on the riverside, across the swinging metal footbridge, then up to Mamakamana Temple on the only cable car in Nepal!

Manakamana is the name of a Hindu Goddess, and it is believed that the Goddess fulfils the wishes of people....and if the wish comes true, you have to go back to the temple to thank the gods.  And I am not telling you what I wished for! The ten minute cable car ride from Kurintar to Manakamana, is amazing. It rises over 1000 metres, and has incredible views of the Nepali countryside, though no himalaya views because of the monsoon, but the rain clouds are really eery spilling over the mountains - awesthome! The view kept me silent the whole way up and down.

Though only in Nepal do they stop the cable car for 1.5 hrs for 'lunch' so took us ages to get back down with the endless queues of locals, indian tourists and sacrificed goats in plastic bags....

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Meeting Meera from Sana Hastakala

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]Meera coordinates all the productions at Sana Hastakala where all the Jogi bags and Allo Hemp items are made - efficient and strong willed, she oversees all the women working at the in-house stitching unit and has been working at Sana Hastakala for over 15 years. With many different customers, such as AURA QUE, she manages to juggle all the different products from different designers and companies internationally, with a huge smile.

With her son Sagun, back from working in Bangalore, I went around to their house to meet them and other family members as well as have some fantastic Newari food!  Meera brought up her son and daughter single handedly (now both in their late twenties/early thirties) which I think is really impressive, especially in Nepal.

I had got Meera a watch as a present when I arrived this trip, which she seemed really pleased with - and then she presented me with an AURA QUE brass presentation plaque, designed by Sagun who works in the family business with his Uncle - they produce the brass embossed AURA QUE tags for the new A/W 2010 collection (see the Key Fob). Sooooo cool - another reminder of why I started working here - how kind and welcoming people are!

 

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