Kathmandu Day 3: My first communist effigy burning

Everyone remembers their first effigy burning in a 3rd world country currently hosting a communist uprising. I know I certainly won't forget mine.

After 2 days of lazily enjoying the sights, smells (and food) of Kathmandu LS, RM and I decided that if we were going trekking, biking, kayaking and all of the other outdoor things we had promised ourselves we would do here, we would need to do more than spend our days wandering around looking for the next meal (or drink). So yesterday we decided to go for a short run through the city of Kathmandu.

Jogging in Kathmandu is a lot like trying to do point to point wind sprints in Times Square. Few streets in Kathmandu have what we would consider sidewalks in the US which means that pedestrian traffic (there is a lot) has to compete with the cars, rickshaws, bicycles, and motorcycles which are all darting around each other, honking furiously and hoping that the person they're about to run over is more willing to turn away than they are.

The traffic situation made for an interesting, but not impossible, run; however things got even better right after we left Thamul and passed a soccer park about a half mile away. Among the crowd of a few thousand, the first things we noticed were Chinese flags and the handful of life-size rag-clothed scarecrow figures, which looked surprisingly like the crude effigies you seen on CNN every couple of weeks.

Against our better judgement, we crossed the street and approached a policeman (there were several and it was still a generally peaceful celebration). RM asked him what was happening and he responded that they were protesting the prime minister. He responded, in classic RM fashion, that he couldn't believe it wasn't our president. The policeman, who is the first Nepalese to ever get Rhett's dry humor, actually laughed, and we continued with our run.

We continued on our run, passing the protest once more before returning to the hotel. Nothing much had developed; however, a few personnel carriers and about 50 uniformed military men had shown up since our last visit. We didn't hear anything about the protest at the hotel today so I assume it was peaceful. However I did find this article online this morning: YCL (Young Communist Cadres) burn PM's Effigies.

Here is the US State Department Travel Advisory for Nepal (updated June 6):

"Violent clashes between Maoists and indigenous groups have taken place in recent months in the Terai region, along the southern border with India, in one case resulting in 27 deaths. Ethnic tensions in the Terai region have spawned violent clashes with police, strikes, demonstrations and closures of the border with India. The U.S. Embassy strongly recommends against non-essential travel to this region. Clashes between Maoists and groups who oppose them also recently have extended into Kathmandu."

Please keep in mind that things are actually no where as bad as they sound in this advisory. There is no shortage of white-haired trekkers or dread-lock and hemp wearing hippies wandering around the streets here. In fact as we were running yesterday, we passed the five-foot, middle-aged mother of a Dartmouth '05 (her Sophomore Summer Parent's Weekend T-shirt gave her away) running in the same area as us - alone.

Make sure to check out my flickr gallery (the photo above is not of the actual protest) for more shots from Nepal.