The day I arrived back from SE Asia was quite a surprise. I left Bangkok, the warm, sunny organized Bangkok to Kathmandu and in the cold rain, dark and no electricity. Most of us international travelers had to be processed in the dark. It was the fastest I have ever gotten through Customs. I asked for a 60 Day T Visa and got it in about 15 minutes; everybody knew what they wanted and got through pretty quickly. Then one of the representatives from the Hotel Blue Horizon helped me get a taxi and, boy, was I glad because they were asking too much in the rain. Then I got back to my flat in the dark so I went to the Blue Horizon. Binod was still there and I was glad to see him. We talked a bit about such big changes in Nepal from December to now and then I had some dinner and went home in the dark and cold. It is a good thing too because my flat had a nice layer of sooty dirt after being vacant for the 3 months that I could not see. It was pretty cold too; or, at least, for me.
Coming in from being away for the 3 months really gave me an insight into how difficult things are now in Nepal. Is this a pre-phase of somekind? I have had lots of good discussions with friends about this. The "loadshedding" with the utility is really a killer for business; nobody wants to spend a lot of money here in Thamel any more because the lights are turned off 48 hours in a 6 day span and you get the feeling that the Tourism is on the brink. The bulk of the loadshedding hours are during the work day. Something has really knocked the Nepalese off Center big time.
I have read back through the Thailand/Cambodian thoughts and am quite pleased with what I said.
I also stick with Hillary for President. The campaign is getting pretty acrimonious and I like the way Hillary tries to manouever herself through the political minefields. Chop chop here; chop chop there; chop chop everywhere.
These are my thoughts for today.
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