12-06-09 Kathmandu Nepal: 1844 hrs. Had an interesting afternoon. Actually, things just got interesting here as all the lights have gone out. Not only the hotel but outside, things are extremely dark as well. I don’t know how long this will last. Hey! The lights just came back on again. Happened last night as well.
I got here from Bhopal, India about twenty six hours ago. I was in Bhopal for several days, to be there for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the methyl isocyanate gas leak at Union Carbide that killed thousands. I spent the entire day outside, watching people speak and form the march that goes from the gathering point to the plant, where Warren Anderson’s effigy is burned. He was the CEO of Union Carbide at the time of the leak and is still hated in India to this day as you can understand. It was an interesting day but what was as interesting was what I heard from an Indian journalist there who said that the gathering and march have no impact at all and that there are bills working their way through Indian parliament to give corporations total protection if anything like what happened at UC happens again. Disheartening but not surprising.
So I got here yesterday. It’s much different here. I have never seen a place like Kathmandu before. It’s hard to describe. Surrounded by mountains, it’s like one large base camp before the high altitude climb. There are some amazing looking people here. Different ethnicities coming together, making for some incredible faces. I went walking in the Thamel area, which is busy and intense and amazing. I noticed all the stores were closed. Then I noticed that there were cop/soldiers everywhere. I kept walking and eventually came a traffic circle where a couple hundred people were gathered. There were a few people waving red flags with the hammer and sickle insignia. Men yelling through bullhorns and people making half-hearted responses to the call outs. Lots of soldier/cops, riot shields, guns, the works were all over. The crowd ebbed and flowed as people lost interest and drifted away to be replaced by others. This went on for some time. I stayed until I could see the sun going down fast and I had a solid chunk of walking to do to get back to the hotel, so I split.
All this was part of a national strike happening all across Nepal. Store owners were told to close or face reprisal from the Maoist leadership. The strike and recent clashes are in response to the relocation of homeless people in the Kailali district, which left a few people dead, including a policeman. There didn’t seem to be too much heat at the thing I saw today but the flags looked great against the setting sun. When I got back to the hotel, I went into the lounge area and the streets I had just been walking down were on the news. The lounge attendant told me that since vehicles were banned today, he had to walk two hours to get to work today. He said things will be back to normal tomorrow.
I am going back to that part of town tomorrow and spend the whole day walking around to see what I can see. It’s an amazing place to explore. It is solid night here by 1700 hrs. so I have to get at it early. The weather is warm by day, cooler at night and so far, no sign of mosquitoes. I am done with seeing those bastards this late into the year.
Not much in the way of streetlights around here, so walking at night is challenging. Motorbikes with no headlight on appear out of nowhere, keeps the blood thin. Just want to keep my blood in my body and not get run over while I am here.
I was in India for about two weeks. It’s such a different place and in my opinion at least, you need at the very minimum, about two weeks to even start getting your heard around the place. I don’t know when I will be getting back there again but it’s one of those places where you could go every year and never be bored. It was simultaneously inspiring and infuriating, like life. I recommend it.
We posted some of the tour dates for next year. I have been answering many letters that ask why I am not coming to their town and I explain over and over that there’s another leg of the tour being booked and to stand by. I don’t know where to post this to make it more plain. I will think of something but I will say it again here. If you live in a city like, Denver, CO. Don’t write in and ask why I am blowing off your fine city, etc. I will be on the road, if all goes according to plan, for most of next year. You know me by now, if I can get to your town, I will and perhaps am. SO, if you didn’t see your city on the list that was posted, remember that it’s only the first chunk of tour dates. I will be all over all year, so give us a minute to get things confirmed and posted.
Ok, I am going to send this half way around the world so it can be posted before my allotted internet time runs out. From the misty mountains, thanks for reading this. Henry