Fikkal and Pashupatinagar market morning

Fikkal is where the villages around Kanyam do their shopping: cloth, tools, phone credit and groceries along the Mechi Highway. It is a working bazaar rather than a sight, and a good place to see the hill economy up close, from farmers selling vegetables to porters loading jeeps. We stop for tea and sel roti, the ring-shaped fried rice bread, and walk the main street with our guide, who knows many of the shopkeepers.

Pashupatinagar lies a short drive east on the border with Darjeeling district in India. The market here draws buyers from both sides, and you will hear Nepali spoken by everyone, whichever side they come from. Look for local cheese and hard chhurpi, tea from small growers, cardamom, ginger and, in winter, piles of oranges from the hill farms. Prices are lower than in Kathmandu, and bargaining is polite and light.

Nepali and Indian citizens cross here freely; other nationalities should stay on the Nepal side unless they hold the correct entry permissions for India, and should not assume this crossing handles foreign immigration. Our guide helps with prices and introductions, and makes sure you know where the border line runs. Then we drive back to Kanyam for lunch or on to Ilam, with your bag a little heavier than when you started.