Today seems like normal in Kathmandu. There is traffic and movement. Most of the Embassies are closed because today is Nepali New Year's Eve, so I cannot do much. I only have one donor meeting.

Tonight we want to go out to celebrate but there is another curfew by 11:00 so it seems a bit anti-climatic. Party from 8 to 11. Wooohoo!

My dad and brother both emailed me and warned me about leaving Kathamndu. Apparently, the news has finally reached their part of the world and they are convinced that things will kick off and I need to get out. Who knows? At the moment, it seems quiet.

Tomorrow morning the King will make his announcement and based on what he says, there could be a reaction - possible protests. We will see. The announcement is at 6:00 am so I could wake up tomorrow with everything or nothing changed.

In the meantime, I will continue trying to locate a GPS tracker to get our coordinates, and investigate buying a SAT phone. It would be nice if all this effort went to waste.

We attended the Foreigners Solidarity protest this afternoon. It was small and sad. The BBC was there to cover it but there were hardly any people there and then it was over. (So much for foreigners supporting the movement.)

On Friday, the Nepali New Year’s Day, the king is supposed to address the nation. Based on what he says, there could be protests and/or riots.

At the moment, the Maoists have taken control of the northern roads leading out of Kathmandu towards Pokhara. A few days ago they warned they could blockade all the roads.

At the start of the general strikes, the political parties formed an alliance with the Maoists. The king announced today that he would meet and negotiate with the political parties. If the political parties break their agreement with the Maoists in order to broker a deal with the king, the situation will become very serious. The Maoists could invade Kathmandu.

Another thing to consider is that we are supposed to be evacuated to Sri Lanka but it might not happen now since 20 people have been killed in three days, in increased acts of violence.

At the moment, I feel okay and things are relatively calm. The curfews and bandhs have been lifted but everyone at the moment is sitting and waiting for what will be announced in two days time.

Last night, we did something extremely stupid.

My co-worker and I, also a woman, went out to eat at a local restarant. It was located about a 20 minute walk from her house down side streets. We were there and the curfew was called earlier than we anticipated. When we finally decided to walk home, it was ten minutes after the curfew had started. We decided to make the walk despite the restarant staff warning us not to go.

We foolishly thought it would be fine because earlier in the day we had arrived back at her house 15 minutes after curfew. What we didn't think about was that we were two small women walking down dark side streets, violating curfew at night. The soldiers were young and we were violating the law. It was so foolish.

There were no peoplr on the street, therefore, no witnesses and we could have in a serious situation. It was dark so we could have startled these potentially trigger happy young boys. But also, we were violating curfew - and we were alone with only other soldiers around. We could have physically attacked and no one culd have helped us.

It was stupid and I will never do that again.

There are some good photos on the BBc this morning about the protests in and around Kathmandu. Here is the link to the photos:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4896848.stm

It looks quite bad and in parts it is. It is okay for me. There is not much going on in the sections of the city where I am. Apparently there was some people burning tires in protest outside the offce but other than that, not much.

I rode my bike from my co-worker's today and it felt good to be on the bike again. It was madness out there. So many people running around making purchases and heading various places. It wasn't until I arrived at the office that I found out that another curfew had been issued for noon. I arrived at 11:15 so there were no problems but I had no idea that a call had been issued at all. (Blissfully unaware!)

We will all be stuck in the office until the curfew is lifted at 5:00 pm. Then there will be a few hours break before it takes over again. This pattern is exhausting and frustrating. You don't feel you can accomplish what you need to do during the day, and at night just the idea of being locked in your house, is mentally straining.

A couple of UN people that we know have emailed us to let us know that the political parties are calling for a major demonstration to take place tomorrow. The government will react by issuing strict curfews again. This feels like it will not end any time soon, but it also feels like it doesn't have enough momentum to create real change. It feels a bit like purgatory.

This Thursday evening is Nepali New Year's eve, Friday is New Year's day. It is not as big a party as the Western New Year but holds religious significance. Still, it is celebrated. With the curfews and protests continuing there won't be any celebrations. In addition, this weekend is the Easter Holiday and I had planned to leave Kathmandu and do some hiking. It appears that may be difficult if not impossible if this pattern continues.

Things are okay here but we are into our third day of house curfew. It is frustrating to be stuck inside all day long. We are allowed two hour breaks at the beginning of the day and at the end. We use that time to rush out to little corner shops and buy what they have for supplies. A couple of eggs, two bottles of water, some sad looking carrots and a couple of cans of coke. These supplement the pasta and tins of tuna fish we have back at the house.

Just getting out of the house is nice. You really appreciate the break. We wander around the streets and just see who is about and what they are doing. Almost everyone seems to be doing the same thing. Some men stand around in a corner chatting. A few women are seated on the ground with a small blanket in front of them. On the blanket is some fruit and vegetables, and a set of scales. They are trying to sell what they can from their gardens before it goes off. Some kids play football in the street. Without the usual amount of cars, it gives them a bigger playing area.

The woman that I am staying with is really nice but being stuck in a house for days is frustrating. Sometimes the phone lines don't work and they have had the mobile phone service down for four days. It feels isolating.

It also feels frustrating for work purposes. I came here to meet with donors - and today I had meetings with the Finnish and the Dutch - but they were cancelled. I really hope the curfew ends today and tomorrow can go back to normal. It would be nice to do what I need to do workwise.

This is a very crude basic overview of the conflict in Nepal. Please recognise that when reading this.

There is three-way struggle for power in Nepal between the King, the political parties and the Maoists. All three individually think that they represent the people.

The king
The king took seized power last year and since then regularly calls curfews, disconnects phone lines, arrests civil society leaders and politicians when he feels there is unrest, usually around planned protests. It is rumored that he receives advisement from corrupt and power hungry people. The king controls the army.

The political parties
They are seen as corrupt and often without focus. They do have clear policies on topics such as education. There are no strong leaders or groups. They blame their lack of action on a lack of power which is held by the king.

The maoists
They believe that they are the answer to the king and the political power. They do not have the support of many Nepalis, it is told to me, because of the tactics they employ, often violence and intimidation.

Nepal has been based on a fuedal system. It is mostly hindu and heavily incorporates the structures of the caste system. Although, the conflict - between the king and the maoists - reaches Kathmandu, it is in the villages where the conflict really affects the people.

In the village, people are extremely poor. The maoists use the villages for food, money, recruits, and protection. People are threatened through violence and intimidation. Similarly, some villages are controlled by the army, and some villages are faced with both. The army incorporate similar violence and intimidation on the villagers.

Tourism had always been a strong contibuting factor to the Nepal economy but with the maoists blocking entry to some regions or demanding large entry visa fines tourism has declined, furthering the poverty in the region.

The situation is in a critical stage now. The protests and bandhs are coming more and more frequently and recent clashes between the maoists and the army are increasing and becoming more extremely like the helicopter incident.

It will be interesting to see what happens next.

Okay, today's ramblings...food

The food in Nepal is very similar to Northern India. It is curries mostly. They have some meat but do a lot of vegetarian food because they are hindu and some buddhist so it works well for me. Things like aloo gobi (potato and cauliflower) and chana masala (chick peas) and others. Dahl (lentils) is extremely common and eaten most people and can be served for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And of course they have rice and Naan bread.

The one unique food that the Nepalis have that they don't have in India is mo-mo. It is Tibetan in origin but there are so many Tibetan refugees living in Nepal (from the Chinese occupation) that mo-mo is now an accepted Nepali dish. It is dumplings. They can either have meat: chicken or pork, or vegetables. The dumblings are a little bland but are served with a spicy tomato-based dipping sauce. The combination is delicious! I really like mo-mo.

Mmm...must stop talk about food. I will get hungry again. I am eating breakfast but we bike to work every day and the office and the apartment are on other sides of Kathmandu. Needless to say, my appetite has improved!

Well, I woke up this morning to find that the curfew had been lifted. In fact the curfew was for only four hours, 23:00 - 03:00. Instead this morning there is a bandh in place. It was called by the seven party alliance.

It means that private vehicles cannot work. So there were no trucks or cars on the road. All over Kathmandu there was a strange calm on the road. People are allowed to use bikes, rickshaws and motorcycles. I was able to cycle with ease, wandering back and forth in order to avoid pot holes. It was great!

Another aspect of the bandh is that shops are not supposed to operate and most are not. Large ones like the supermarkets are definitely shut. Some of the smaller business have their shutters half way up so they can still conduct business but claim that they are closed if questioned.

It is so interesting to see Kathmandu so quiet. It has also been suggested that since there is no traffic today, it might be a good day to see some of the mountains.

Later today, I have a big donor meeting so I wore jeans in order to bike in but put a skirt and sandals in a rucksack. Once I bike to the headquarters and store my bike, I will need to rush into the ladies room and change. It is funny how you need to carry on work as normal even in unusual situations.

We have been told that there will most likely be bandhs for the next few days and there could be curfews declared. If they declare a curfew, they only need to give a few hours notice. It looks likely there will be a curfew on Saturday since there are scheduled protests.

I am starting to feel hungry for lunch. I wonder if the cafe that we usually get food in will be open today?

In Kathamandu, thought I would write since there are rumors email would be down tomorrow. Things are good. Have been riding a bike to work and it is kind of like frogger avoiding all the traffic.

Tonight, I went out and there is to be a protest on Saturday and people have been blocked in travelling as a precaution. The other thing they did is that they shut down the mobile phone networks temporarily. It is always fine to have converations about the possibility of it until you find yourself in it. Then you feel hopeless - and honestly a bit scared. You are cut off and if you go out in the street you face possibly being shot.

Am trying to be rational but must admit am a bit scared. I always studied conflict but to be in the middle of it is not adrenaline inducing, it is just scary.

Oh, well. Sure it will be fine. I will just read books and watched the pirated dvds I bought.