Previous Entry | Next Entry

2003-09-18 / 09-20 - Pokhara (Day 156-158)

The Maoists have called a three day nationwide strike to "clog the wheels" as the saying goes. All of the shops are closed in fear of retaliation though some restaurants are open as long as one sits way in the back where people on the street cannot see you. For three days, almost nothing happens. The tourists that are in Pokhara are stuck here, as there are no busses and no private vehicles on the road, only some army trucks ferrying soldiers around. Everything seems reasonably peaceful where I am near the lake but I hear that the Maoists have burned government vehicles in the town.

I am very surprised talking to the owner of the restaurant in his reaction to this whole insurrection that is clearly making it difficult to make ends meet and has left many hotel owners unable to pay the mortgages on their property. While he laments that business is terrible and it is almost impossible to make enough to pay the rent and the staff, he still thinks that the Maoists are better then the King. While he does not like the Maoists nor agree with their philosophy, a strong king is worse in his opinion. However, under the Nepali King, the people were gaining freedoms and the country slowly moving toward a more democratic government but it is too slow and too corrupt. Unfortunately, the Maoists while they have some demands that are good like decreasing the power of the monarchy, they still will not give power to the people. In his opinion, what Nepal really needs is something like England's system where the monarchy is preserved for culture's sake but a democratically elected body holds power - but he has no idea how this will come about. As it is, the insurrection is keeping the tourists away in a country dependent on the tourist trade and for the past three years, it has been very difficult just to survive.

The wait staff of the restaurant having just me as a customer have drawn out a board on a piece of scrap paper and with four pieces of carrot and ten pieces of potato are playing the national "Crouching Tiger" game.

Previous Entry | Next Entry