Day three of the strike

The strike goes on here. The government is not going to stand down and the Maoists are still enforcing the strike.  Although we were told to stock up for a week, we are now told the strike might last until the end of May! At the moment all the banks and ATMs are closed. The little shops are still open sometimes during the day, and more shops open between 6 pm and 8 pm.  The problem is that no supplies are coming into Kathmandu. So once the shops have sold their stock, then that's it.

The government is refusing to stand down, and the Maoists are continuing to occupy the roads. Marc biked to work this morning, and managed to get through although they made him walk his bike some of the way.  I can't get out to the Botanic Gardens so am working at home.

While it's generally peaceful at the moment, it is a bit intimidating. We went out to the main road last night and there were 100s of men walking down the middle of the road - going back to their camps for the night. Also army trucks and armed police around.

We had heavy rain yesterday and the paper today says that some of the villagers who have been conscripted by the Maoists to come to Kathmandu for the demonstrations are walking back home as it's time to harvest the wheat and plant the maize - they are promising to return after the harvest and sowing, but I wonder how many will.  I guess that's the problem with recruiting village farmers - feeding their families is more important than demonstrating against the government.