We spent two nights at the Summit Hotel in Ilam Bazar and enjoyed at least lukewarm water 🙂 The hotel was nice enough and I got some of my clothes washed. Here in Ilam we made several visits to local entrepreneurs; a fabric factory, a candy-factory and a pickled fruit- and vegetables factory. All run by women! As our guide Jenny had told us the eastern part of Nepal is a little more forward thinking and creative and we could see it for ourselves.

Ilam is known for its six “A”s: Alu, Alan, Alainchi, Aduwa, Amriso and Akabare khursani (potato, milk, cardamom, ginger, broom grass and round chillies) but tea is also a big thing here. And looking at all the tea plantations on the hills surrounding the city it actually seems like a pretty major thing!

I took almost no pictures in Ilam Bazar, and even fewer that are worth showing, and I don’t know why. I really liked this city and I do hope to come back and stay a little longer next time.