May 8

And the strike is finished.



May 7

Entering day 6 of the strike. People are getting restless and frustrated. The schools are closed and are now living accommodations for people who (both willingly and unwillingly) are participating in the strike.

In regards to the picture. I thought I had taken pictures on this day but realized I deleted all the ones I took (they weren't very good) and only have these to show for for this day.

Picture: Me surrounded by deadly snakes...yup.


May 6

Yet another eventful day. During the 7 hour journey back to the capital our journey was only interrupted twice due to road blocks (i.e. logs covering the roads). Other than that it was a smooth journey. When we reached the outskirts of the city, the protesters said we had to walk the rest of the way into the city (about a 20 min. walk). Only media, police, and food/water delivery vehicles were allowed into the city during the strike.

It was such a surreal experience walking into the capital and seeing children playing badminton rather than go to school, and adults sitting on the sidewalks drinking chai and talking rather than working.

The shops and restaurants in the Capital were only allowed to be open from 6-8 p.m making it very difficult to find a decent restaurant that wasn't full and ordering something other than a sandwich, pasta, or soup. If any shop owner was bold enough to break the curfew protesters would vandalize their shops and most likely injure the owner as well. There were a few small shops that got away with it which we were lucky enough to discover. They happened to have some of the best momos and kebabs as well. Mmmmm.... momo's (dumplings)


Picture below: Streets of Kathmandu.