Stymied by the Bandh

One of the holdover effects from the civil unrest a few years ago is the occasional national strike, or banda, which can shut down most businesses. 

Today is one of those days.

We had planned to take a bus to Nayapul and then hike to Gorepani and Ghandruk.  But when we arrived at the bus station, there were no buses.  Instead there was a strike.  No buses, no delivery trucks. Most businesses closed.

After investigating several options: taking a taxi at extortionist rates, hiring a car and leave in the middle of the night, wait it out...., we took option "g", head back to KTM. 

What finally decided the matter was news that a 10 day strike had been called by the Maoist party and that transportation could be affected for days.

Apparently the tourist bus to KTM can still run, so we booked our seats and will, with any luck, be back in KTM tomorrow.  We still have several days of things to see and do in KTM and it will be easier to arrange possible flight changes if needed.

It's pretty quiet in Pokhara today and almost no traffic.  The air seems clearer and the views of the mountains is better.  The sidewalks are nearly empty.  There are soldiers walking around with machine guns and truckloads of police, also with lots of guns, roaming the streets.  No pictures.  Pictures of police and soldiers are illegal.

I was able to get a bit of a deal on T-shirts because business was slow.

Some say that businesses will be back to normal tomorrow.  We'll see.  In any case we will be on our way back to KTM.  So long Pokhara, its been nice.