The Nepali border villages that empty for six months every year

As Nepal celebrated Tihar festival earlier this week, families across the country were preparing to reunite, decorate their homes with garlands of marigold and globe amaranth flowers, and exchange colourful tika. Even those who had been unable to return to their villages for Dashain were making plans to go home. Before her family could move out, it had to store its harvest and make preparations for six months away.

“There’s so much to do before we leave. We have to get everything in order, both at home and on the farm,” she said last week. Her 13-member family was busy gathering firewood, cutting and drying fodder for livestock, and collecting dried leaves to use as bedding when they returned in April.

For six months each year, the long winter brings heavy snowfall and extreme cold to Tinkar and Chhangru. Snow remains on the ground for long periods, making life in either village difficult. To escape the harsh conditions, residents leave in November for Khalanga, the district headquarters of Darchula, and other lower-lying areas.