After a few days in Pokhara it was time to head to the fabled city of Kathmandu. Where Rishikesh in India was a staging post on the 60's hippie trail, Kathmandu was a definitive end point, an almost Holy Grail. Here, those that made it so far, found something akin to nirvana. For reasons best kept to themselves, the ruling monarchy allowed its people to be recruited into the British, and later Indian, Armies, but did not allow any European into Nepal, officially anyway, until 1958. Those first travellers who made it exclaimed that it was like walking into an antique store after 200years and you were the first to see it all! In the heedy smoke filled days of the 60's, hippies tended to congregate together and where they could be found eventually garnered the nickname "Freak Street" and this was like a magnet for many more people to follow, in ever increasing numbers and desires and expectations and wants.Seeing the city now, it looks like innocence took flight and poverty and deprivation came walking right in, made themselves at home and started to spread.

In old Dunbar Square and the other squares nearby, this configuration of old, nay ancient palaces and monuments, shrines and temples and buildings is the heart of the old town and a reminder of what it must have looked once upon a not-so-distant past. It is almost as if those who controlled Nepal have been persuaded to, as the Irish say, touch the Devil. The only problem is that he does not let go.

Kathmundu looks like a refugee camp, it feels dirty and run down, an ancient town slowly decaying into a sea of poverty, despair and desperation. If you ever find yourself in Kathmandu ensure that you have a torch to see with when the power is cut. Up to 5 times in one day! Water purification tablets are not good enough here. The water from the taps is not be even be used to clean teeth! Whiskey is a far better option! Yes, Thamel has better streets and lighting and facilities and roads, but take a step off the beaten track and walk where the locals do. Dignity and pride do not cover the gravel tracks between building, traffic lights that don't work and traffic volume that ensures vehicles barely move from one end of town to the other without plenty of horn blaring, shouting and infinite patience.

It is little wonder that the peoples of Nepal have embraced the Maoists who have promised a re-distribution of wealth and a betterment of life for all. Bribery and corruption have been the order of the day under the despotic and totalitarian monarchies that have used the people to ensure their riches and luxurious way of life. When democratic elections eventually happened in Nepal not long ago, it was no surprise that the Maoists (who have very little in common with anything of China - who have disowned them completely - but follow a communist doctrine) were elected into power! How about that? Did you ever think that we would live to see something so monumental as that?

The irony in Nepal is that the reason the Maoists came into existence was that the people of Nepal deserved a better deal. The majority cannot be forced into abject poverty and all the frustrations that come with it, at the hands of a minority that keep getting richer, at their expense. So the social conditions have been perfect to ferment rebellion and carry it out. Some people call this attempt to change the status quo, terrorism. Others call it "change management". But what is evident is the need to urgently address the social conditions that allow terrorism/change management to ferment.

A hungry, desperate man is an angry man. Think about how much better you resolve conflict with a full stomach and a warm safe bed waiting for you.