Fuels rush in

Back to the old school (walking and biking)
Kathmandu

Thank all the 300,000 gods and demons of the Kathmandu Valley that the human "rights" activitists haven't been able to eliminate the pedal rickshaws here, yet. Pretty soon they're going to be the only way to get to the airport and get out of this country. (Seriously - during strikes people are known to take cycle rickshaws all the way to the airport.)

Why not go by land, you ask? Read the news items. The Tarai is constantly under strikes, road blockages and so on. The petrol tankers can't get through; the few that do manage to make it through must be escorted by Nepal Army personnel, and there just aren't enough of them. (You should see the rifles they hold - like something from a US Civil War museum.)

Taking a commuter bus through the Tarai across the border would probably be okay, really. Probably. If I weren't on the verge of vomiting all the time, I would consider it.

When (or if) I finally get well - the migraines are dwindling, but the hacking respiratory infection is still there and I feel like there's a ton of handmade Bhaktapur bricks on my chest - I will rent a bicycle. Getting around the city otherwise has just become unfeasible.


Nepal capital set to run out of fuel
AFP via Yahoo! News Fri, 15 Feb 2008 0:46 AM PST
Nepal's capital is set to run out of fuel this weekend as ethnic unrest in the south has stopped supply from neighbouring India to the landlocked country, oil officials said Friday.

Nepal strike hits petrol supplies
BBC News Fri, 15 Feb 2008 4:45 AM PST
Nepal is hit by a huge fuel shortage, largely caused by protesters blockading key roads in the south.