The legendary British rock & roll band Deep Purple were due to play in Kathmandu on the 15th March 2013. However, allegedly due to "civil unrest, nationwide strikes and demonstrations," they cancelled. More a case of rock and roll over? One of the demonstrations is Occupy Baluwatar - a women's group campaigning against rape, sex crimes and all forms of discrimination against women. Now I wouldn't have expected the band to know that. However, if they had c...

I woke up this morning to the sound of a washing machine on the final stage of its spin cycle. It put such a smile on my face. I don't like staying in hotels. Whether it's a 40-rupee charpoy at a truck stop in southern Karnataka or a £4000 a night suite on Park Lane they both carry out the same function and that's to help you move on to another place. Photo: A beggar in Thamel, Kathmandu with a higher rate of interest. Just transient and temporary, but I be...

I do not need to go white water rafting today; rain is coming down the side of the hotel like water crashing down Grade 5 rapids. It is only 4.30 in the afternoon the sky is pitch-black, jagged forks of lightening are lighting up the sky-followed seconds later by ear shattering thunderclaps. How can I get a story if I can't leave my room and hear all the hotel's news? The photograph is of my bungalow when it is not raining. Last Thursday morning I was woken...

"You know you shouldn't really be doing that." I was sat down on a wooden bench flicking cigarette ash off my trousers irritated with myself for not getting Zea to get me a train ticket back to Dhaka. I was going to have to take the bus. A few years back I was riding back up to Nepal and buses took me off the road three times in as many miles and one time on the bus back to Kathmandu I was sat by a lady who had a kid goat in a sack. I fell asleep and when I wo...

Across the street from where I stay in Pokhara West Nepal is a row of temporary wooden shacks and breeze-block-built shops. At the top end is David's restaurant - the owner/chef for over 15 years has worked in some of Nepal's best restaurants. David has returned to Kathmandu and his sister and brother-in-law now run the restaurant. The wife does all the cooking and the husband waits on, he isn't exactly harassed, and bullied is such a strong word, but he nev...