The official security line here is that things are a bit tense, we've got a whole load of political rallies coming up which are a bit livelier than the Lib Dem conference. They are mostly held at Ratna Park which is the centre of town so when they overflow or get a bit boisterous, it brings traffic to a halt for hours. No problem for us at the north end of town but it does disrupt Sheila's commute to Bhaktapur (east via the bus park which is next to aforesaid Ratna Park). She had to take an expensive (about a quid) taxi ride back the last bit today when her bus was turned back on the outskirts. The main problems is for the volunteers who live in Patan, south of the Ktm. Unfortunately I have a 9am meeting down there on Weds and might get stuck trying to get back and have to walk it.
Power not too bad. We had our regular 1900 - 2130hrs load shedding last night which we wile away cooking and eating by candle light. Nepal Electricity says no cuts during the Dashain and Tihar festivals coming up and the water level is high enough that we might escape without too much in winter/spring. This reverses what they said a couple of weeks ago and they claim this is due to recent heavy rain which seems pretty unlikely so I'm assuming this advice could well change again in a couple of months time.
Had our annual security conference last week with a briefing by our man from the Embassy (good to see someone in a suit once every six months or so). They think things could hot up in October (probably round about when the kids come over) but likely to be limited to peaceful street demos. They confirm there have been more burglaries since the ceasefire but no sign of foreigners being targetted. Maybe I should report the theft of my very old and tired bike from outside the house on Sat night. Shame, I kept meaning to take a photo to show you and now never will. Still, hope to get a slightly newer version from someone who's leaving next week and will take a photo immediately.
Cheers
Roshan
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