Threshing at Nar - trek 3

Namaste.

Nar (middle right) and the surrounding fields

In today's world it is unusual for whole villages to work together as communities, for the benefit of all residents.  However as we walked into the remote village of Nar this is what was happening.  The able bodied of the village were all involved in threshing the barley crop, which had recently been harvested from the surrounding fields and left to dry on rooves in the sun. The atmosphere amongst the workers was one of purpose, everyone had a job to do and there seemed to be no grumbling or shirking.  It was hard work too! The threshing had begun at 3.30am and continued all day until it got dark at around 7pm. Produce from 3 families were threshed each day - and there were around eighty families in total in the village, so many days work!

Barley stalks drying on the house roof.

There were several flattened pieces of land, threshing yards, near our hotel, and there was a buzz of activity there. Teams of around a dozen men, armed with long poles with a rotating flail at the top, were rhythmically beating the barley heads on the ground between them, to remove the grain from the husk.
The men had their heads and most of their faces covered because of the dust.

Dried barley heads waiting for threshing.

The women were on hand to winnow the threshed grain, tossing it into the air from round flat baskets to allow the dust and chaff to blow away.  After several winnowing sessions the grain was packed into yak hair sacks ready to be stored until use.

Winnowing - notice the snow-capped mountains behind

Sack made of yak hair, being filled with barley grain.

As it was two days walk from the nearest road, the residents of this village have to be self-sufficient in their food.  This threshing work is a wonderful example of a community working together for everyones benefit.