Food Prices in Asia's Poorest State

Supermarkets in Kathmandu are a rarity. People are stuffed with products mainly in the market and in private "caps". During a week of wandering through the mazes of the capital of the poorest Asian country, I came across only one decent online grocery store. Travel "markets" in Thamel does not count - they take prices from the ceiling, multiplying by atmospheric pressure. Therefore, the more or less real cost of basic products can be found only by going deep into the "sleeping" areas.

Introductory

Prices are in Nepalese rupees. One Nepalese rupee = half the Russian ruble. That is, we stupidly divide everything by 2. Let's start training and pretending. From a conversation with a taxi driver, it was possible to find out how much a traffic controller or a policeman gets - 30,000 rupees. This is dofiga for Nepal. Only the strongest and most beautiful are taken to the police. The average salary in the capital in general is 15,000-20000 rupees.

Gasoline costs 98 rupees per liter. Very expensive. With fuel in Nepal, in general, everything is bad - it happens that they simply stop selling it or sell it according to quotas. There is no fuel of its own, and there are always some "good neighborly" relations with India, from which it is being transported. Arrange a funeral (burn the body) - 28,000 rupees. This is with firewood, on the banks of the river, as it should be by religion. There are cheaper options - an electric cremator, which most people use. This is similar to how we would have been buried in an ordinary bag, without a coffin and a monument with a fence.

And now to the store.

Product Prices

Sliced ​​bread in bags can be bought for 80 rupees. The usual half-kilogram edge is about 50 rupees.

It’s very difficult to find cow’s milk cheese in Kathmandu, so it’ll probably be made from yak’s milk. By the way, very tasty and sealed in a vacuum. The cheese is hard and designed to look like parmesan. The price is 210 rupees for a 300 gram slice. 300-400 rubles per kilogram, if ours. Inexpensive for seasoned cheese.

Fresh milk in Kathmandu is also almost never found. But I have found. True, in some frightening form - in a clay bowl covered with parchment. 35 rupees apiece.

There is still pasteurized milk in bags, I did not find a price. In general, pasteurized in Kathmandu is a rarity. Because the refrigerator is a luxury. Not every store can afford such an expense of electricity, which is still constantly turned off. But in many places you can buy powdered milk. Very expensive.

Drinking water - 55 rupees. Almost everywhere they sell in the same liter containers. It is categorically forbidden to use a visitor - poison. Naturally, local people don’t buy water.

Chicken eggs - 225 rupees for 15 pieces. In terms of ours - 70 rubles per dozen. Expensive!

Where without mayonnaise? 148 rupees (per share) per 360 grams.

Coffee "3 in 1" for a pound - 491 rupees per share. Normal Nescafe Gold - 1160 rupees. 600 rubles for a can of sublimate!

Tea bags (25 pieces per pack) - 700-1000 rupees. Now it’s clear why the local market goods?

Some boiled rice with additives - 1800-1900 rupees. Who buys it here at all? In general, a kilogram of ordinary rice in Nepal costs about 100 rubles.

Chocolate bar - 80 rupees (40 rubles). We have 35 rubles, for comparison.

Sunflower oil - 484 rupees per share for 2 liters.

Chips - 195 rupees.

The fruits are local, so cheap. The price of bananas here was the lowest of all that I met - 8 rupees apiece. Yes, bananas in Nepal are sold individually, regardless of their weight. These shorties are much tastier than "our" feed. Tangerines here are called oranges and are sold at 90 rupees per kilo. Moreover, Indian ones are somehow cheaper than local ones, which are 122. Chinese apples are 128 rupees per kg. Like ours, about.

Household goods

Toothbrush - 160-250 rupees. Expensive, but even more expensive dentist.

Detergent - 149 rupees per share.

Toilet paper (6 rolls) - 443 rupees.

Dog food - 440 rupees. How much do we have?

Hair dye - 216 rupees.

Very good natural branded cosmetics from India - creams, tonics, lotions. We definitely have a lot more expensive. Here in the range of 100-300 rupees. Many and all.

Something like this. Prices are high even for Russia, not to mention poor Nepal. I don’t know for what segments of the population these supermarkets are, but most of them there definitely can’t afford to buy. Perhaps that is why there are so few people in the store and such crowds in the market and at the "caps". In general, life in Kathmandu is expensive - at a minimum, a tourist will spend 20-30 bucks a day only for food. Here you have a poor state.