The Dogs of Kathmandu

Kathmandu is not as nice as Pokhara; the barking dogs kept me awake half the night.

I finally met a Nepali who doesn't like the government. He is a young man who works in an Irish pub in Thamel, the tourists' sector. "Kathmandu used to be busy at 2 AM, 3 AM, 5 AM, even all night!" he says, "but with the new government, the police close down all the bars at 11 PM. They are closing down the dance bars, too."

Imagine that--the Maoist Morality Police!

A journalist wrote about it in the local paper. She says that women have very few economic opportunities in Nepal, which is obviously true. Now with the Morality Police, even the dancing girls are deprived of a chance to make a living. The police harass any woman who is out late, assuming she is a bar girl. She put it bluntly: Kathmandu is going to the dogs!