Pictures of Thamel and tourist areas of Kathmandu from a week ago

[Escher]

Here are some pictures of what Thamel was like during the weekend before last. There were small impromptu demos taking place and many shops would stay shut or shut at very short notice to avoid the demonstrators. But still we were able to move around freely and safely. There were many places to eat, send emails and stay. There was a fair amount of police around but I saw NO violence whatsoever. The demonstrations in Thamel were very small, defiant and strong willed but still they were good natured.

All the pictures I have posted here:- http://www.flickr.com/photos/escher1/sets/72057594113588659/ were taken during Saturday, Sunday and Monday of last week. They are from Thamel, Chhetra Patri and Durbar Square. I cannot comment what the situation is exactly like now, but I believe it to be very much the same in these tourist areas. There is some scare mongering going on elsewhere by individuals with little knowledge of the real situation. These pictures represent what I saw with my own eyes over a 3 day period. I stayed away from the real trouble spots, but the tourist areas I went to were safe and as you see here. If you want an idea of what you are likely to encounter please take a look through them all.

There are some that might want to accuse me of promoting tourism to an unsafe place in an irresponsible manner. I must point out that all I am doing is showing the pictures I took when I walked around these areas. I felt safe at that time. Make your own mind up whether you want to visit.

I am posting these pictures below to portray how a situation can look if you only publish some of the details. Below is a picture of the police, a democratic slogan, a burning tyre and an impromptu demonstration in Thamel. If you look at these pictures alone you might believe that it is like that everywhere. If you look at all my pictures from Kathmandu you'll see, other than most shops being shut, that the situation looks and indeed was normal.

http://static.flickr.com/52/132847541_44c1cf727b_o.jpg

Solidarity

http://static.flickr.com/49/132847360_fd391a0ce3_o.jpg

Water tank for supplying the police with water

http://static.flickr.com/49/132846085_f6c82ffefa_o.jpg

Burning tyre in Thamel

http://static.flickr.com/50/132844859_03b55cd551_o.jpg

Impromptu demonstration

Escher

[Boulia]

The Australian Government has reissued its advice.

"We advise Australians against travel to Nepal because of the dangerous security situation created by widespread civil unrest."

[hoot72]

The Australian Government has reissued its advice.

"We advise Australians against travel to Nepal because of the dangerous security situation created by widespread civil unrest."


I dont want to sound like an arse, and I am going to probably sound like one but they give warnings all the time and people still ignore em...the same for their travel warnings about Borneo...dont know if it was ever lifted but I sometimes wonder if our governments actually have feet on the ground info or depend on CNN and the BBC before issuing any warnings per se..

[yakshaver]

I think you are touching on part of the truth hoot72. Partly they are influenced by the media. Then there is the risk aversion. Then there is the political rubbish that governments get themselves into.
Who knows. I look at it, laugh mostly. Ignore it.

[Boulia]

The advice has been updated again since my previous post. I won't go into details as 1) i couldn't see what the change was and 2) I don't take any notice of them anyway !!

[hoot72]

Me neither...I make an effort to get a heads up on what exactly the situation is out there and then make a decision..