Revolution

On the 28/05/08 the Federal Republic of Nepal was declared after 10 years of Maoist uprising and civil war. Former Maoist guerrilla leader, Pushpa Kamal Dahal became the first Prime Minister and the deposed Nepali King, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, moved out of the Royal Palace to a semi-detached (or equivalent of) in Nagarjun.

So not that long ago the streets were buzzing with revolution. And some of the signs can still be seen.

The obvious...



And the not so.

During the conflict infrastruture was neglected and all over Kathmandu there's still rubble, piles of bricks, half-built buildings, falling down buildings, dangerously dangling cables and pockets of street people living among it all:




Power-cuts are a daily feature. Otherwise known as "load shedding", they occur for up to 6 hours a time to save the grid from meltdown. In the few days Sophorn and I were there, we soon got used to lights suddenly going out, internet connection disappearing and the eeriness of dark dark streets in the evenings.

So it's definitely a place in flux. On the one hand, with the end of armed conflict and a government growing in confidence and experience, there's stability. And on the other, there's much to be done and tend to.