A Bandh in Kathmandu

Brian and I made it back to Kathmandu yesterday morning after wrangling a flight out of Lukla on a different airline than we had tickets on. We landed back in Kathmandu to find the city in upheaval. Apparently two younger guys were killed about a month ago and their bodies just turned up earlier this week. The Maoists are blamed for the killings and since the Maoists control the government, people are blaming the government. So in protest of the lack of investigation into the killings there is a city wide bandh or strike. Nearly all of the shops are closed today. The only place where much of anything is open is the tourist district where I am staying. Its not a dangerous situation just very different from what I'm used to seeing. It took us an hour to get to the guesthouse from the airport because protestors were blocking main roads with burning tires. The ride should have taken 10 or 15 minutes. Because everything is closed a lot of people are out walking the streets, just kind of checking things out. Foreigners and Nepalis are just out for a stroll to see whats going to happen. The atmosphere doesn't feel hostile at all, especially being a foreigner I feel pretty insulated from whats going on.

We were planning on being in Kathmandu for just a day or two but its looking like it may be a bit longer than that depending on how long the strike lasts. I doubt if it will last for more than a few days. I'll probably post again in the next day or two especially if we are stuck in Kathmandu for a few days.