Up at 6:45, finished packing the rest of my stuff, then the hotel dude fetched me a taxi to take me to the bus parking lot. Found my bus, bought a chocolate baked good and waited for the bus to leave. Bus left at 7:22.
We were stopped at an army checkpoint on the highway, and were told everyone had to get off and their stuffed checked. I was the only tourist on the bus, everybody, including me, started piling off with their bags. When I neared the front of the bus, the bus driver motioned to me to go back to my seat and sit down...so I did. A handful of other locals didn't get off the bus as well, two young women, a "princess"-type, a couple of women with children, two older men, and some guy sulking in the back seat with sunglasses on. After everybody else emptied off, an army dude, smile (or grin, couldn't tell which) came on. He immediately laid eyes on the two young women, and started talking to them. It quickly became apparent he was telling them to get off and get their stuff checked, like everybody else. He was very pleasant about it, they argued with him, finally, in a huff, they got off the bus. He then turned his attention to the "princess"...a very attractive girl, all done up, make-up and clothes, with seemingly an arrogant, "better-than-thou" attitude to match. He started talking to her, smile/grin on his face, and he was obviously telling her to get off the bus as well, but she steadfastly refused. They argued, but she wasn't going to budge. Finally, the army dude gave in, and searched her bags on the bus (she had a big bag...looked like a shopping bag). After that, the army dude walked to the back of the bus, glancing around, then back to the front, and off. He didn't even give me a second look. I guess I just don't look like a Maoist. He didn't give the women with children, the two old men, or sunglasses dude a second look either. He got off the bus, and told the bus driver to go ahead. We moved ahead to the other side of the checkpoint, where everybody was waiting for us, they all piled on and we were on our way.
The same thing happened just outside of Kathmandu, at an army checkpoint, an serious, no nonsense looking army dude got on the bus and told everybody to get off for the checkpoint. The same ritual as last time, everybody got their things and piled off, even the two young women and the princess got off this time. I just sat on the bus, along with the two women with children, the two old men and the sunglasses guy. The serious looking army dude started checking all the bags that were left on the bus in the baggage rack above the seats (mine was up there, and he did give it a once-over). He didn't give any of us sitting on the bus a second look, just like last time.
We got back to Kathmandu about 2:00, I got a taxi to the Kathmandu Guest House, then didn't have any $8 or less rooms available, so he offered me a $17 room at $12. I took it. It's a very nice room, en-suite bath, queen-sized bed and a real mattress.
I showered, then had a sandwich, then used internet, then back to the guest house and wrote in journal. I grabbed a newspaper as I was at the restaurant eating the sandwich and perhaps found out why security has seemingly tightened. The State of Emergency the king imposed on Feb. 1 was lifted on Friday night. The army is probably being mroe cautious now, with more freedoms being re-instituted for the general public.
I didn't do much the rest of the evening, walked around Thamel, read, listened to music, etc. I was quite tired, after being up early for the past two days, and went to bed about 9:30.
No comments:
Post a Comment