Its Calm in Kathmandu

The rains? Fatigue? Sense finally coming in? There must be some reason... but there is a lull in the mindless political aggravation seen in the streets of Kathmandu. I landed on the 16th August to a relatively quiet Kathmandu... OK, that is an exaggaration. Kathamandu is never quiet. But there was no big demonstration or tyre burning that is the symbol of defiance. And it has been quiet ever since... No, its not because I arrived! :-)

However, the good news is for travel. There has been no disruption to travel to any of our travellers recently, and that is very very good sign for things to come, specially since the season is coming upon us.

So, ADVISE for those coming in the season - There might be an odd burst of demonstrations from time to time, but it is getting rarer and rarer.

These are good times. Utilize it to the fullest!

See you in the mountains!

No respite for Kathmandu streets

pic from www.daylife.com

There is no respite for Kathmanduites... the maoists at the end of their marathon politburo sessions have vowed to continue on with protests... which right now runs at around 3 to 4 general strikes a week or so... Daily life in Kathmandu is getting more and more complicated.

-------------- from www.nepalnews.com

The marathon meeting of the politburo of the Unified CPN (Maoist) concluded on Monday, deciding to go for a 'national government'.

"We had serious discussions on the current problems in the country as well as the party's internal issues during the politburo meeting. We were successful in reaching the right conclusion and consolidating the party unity," party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal at the end of the meeting.

He said the politburo has decided to push for a national government in place of the "unethically and unconstitutionally established" government of 22 parties. A government, he said, should be formed as early as possible.

Saying that the 'reactionaries' are trying to derail the peace process and keep the Constituent Assembly inactive, Dahal said the party has vowed to stand up to the 'conspiracies' of reactionaries. He also said the party would continue agitations unless the President's 'unconstitutional' move is rectified.

The politburo meeting, which ran for two weeks at the office of the Maoist sister organisations at Koteshwor, passed Dahal's 19-page long political document with minor amendment.

Senior leader Mohan Baidya and his hardliner loyalists had criticised Dahal's document for deviating from the long-held policy of 'people's revolt' to establish 'people's republic'. However, they did not bring up separate proposal to counter Dahal's policy document.

It was the first meeting of the Maoist politburo after the party's exit from the government.

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TRAVEL ADVISORY: Avoid cities as much as possible (as this is where the protests are), do pad your trips with some extra days, as there could be delays due to the hassle factor... also the monsoon has set in, so delays are even more inevitable. Once you are out of the cities, you are fine.