Getting out of Nepal...

To get from India to Thailand, we had to go back through Nepal. Unfortunately it was the exact day that the Maoist demonstrations were beginning. The government of Nepal is in transition after the last king was forced to step down (he only became king because he killed his brother and nephew who were the rightful heirs to the throne.) A constitution was supposed to be written by the end of April but since it was not, hundreds of thousands of Maoists were bused in from all over Nepal to protest. Buildings were shut down and no vehicles were allowed on the road. People were scared to open their shops since if they did, they risked having their building burned down. Cabs were afraid to drive through the streets since they risked having their windows smashed with bricks. We were not sure that we would be able to get the airport. We had a security guard stand out front of our hotel all night to ensure our safety. On the day of our flight, we were able to get a van marked TOURIST that was able to travel on the roads. The streets were dead until we neared the center of town. Then masses and masses of people walked by carrying knives and sticks. These were just ordinary people supporting the Maoist party but were trained for the past 2 weeks in knife and stick fighting. We had to stop the van and the people walked around us on both sides. Once they cleared up, we were able to pass through to the airport. When we got there, there was an ambulance that pulled up and lots of Nepali people got out. They were being smuggled to the airport by ambulance so they could catch their flights!
P.S. Audrey- notice the maoist with the Avril Lavigne shirt on!