Background: In 1951, the Nepalese monarch ended the century-old system of rule by hereditary premiers and instituted a cabinet system of government. Reforms in 1990 established a multiparty democracy within the framework of a constitutional monarchy. A Maoist insurgency, launched in 1996, has gained traction and is threatening to bring down the regime, especially after a negotiated cease-fire between the Maoists and government forces broke down in August 2003. In 2001, the crown prince massacred ten members of the royal family, including the king and queen, and then took his own life. In October 2002, the new king dismissed the prime minister and his cabinet for "incompetence" after they dissolved the parliament and were subsequently unable to hold elections because of the ongoing insurgency. While stopping short of reestablishing parliament, the king in June 2004 reinstated the most recently elected prime minister who formed a four-party coalition government, which the king subsequently tasked with paving the way for elections to be held in spring of 2005. Citing dissatisfaction with the government's lack of progress in addressing the Maoist insurgency, the king in February 2005 dissolved the government and assumed power.
March 17th 2008Asia » Nepal » Annapurna » Manang Mustang Trekking the Annapurna Circuit
11 Mar 2008
Today was the big pre-trek preparations day, having arrived back in Kathmandu from Chitwan National Park last night. We’ve now been in Nepal for a ... 13 photos[full story]
February 28th 2008Asia » Nepal » Annapurna 18 days of walking 200 kms up to an apex of 5416m, passing through medieval-like villages, meeting friendly locals, capped off with elements of danger by walking along razor-sharp ridges with 100m dro ... 45 photos[full story]
February 29th 2008Asia » Nepal » Annapurna » Manang Mustang Following an indeterminable wait at Kathmandu airport (it wasn't clear that anyone knew when or if our flight was supposed to depart), we arrived in Pokhara and were met by our local guide to be taken ... 22 photos[full story]
April 30th 2008Asia » Nepal » Annapurna Nepal is like India on holiday. :) It has the same Indian flavours, cows on the streets, women in bright saris, men clustered around chai shops in the morning, but they are all watered down a bit, d ... 41 photos[full story]
April 20th 2008Asia » Nepal » Annapurna Sorry the pictures turned out super blurry. I wouldn't have posted them but it took so long to upload them, I figured what the heck. Hopefully my next attempt at pictures will turn out better. Anywho ... 12 photos[full story]
April 9th 2008Asia » Nepal » Annapurna Here are some pictures from the first part of the trek. If the quality isn't great it's because i stole them off a website. Yes, they are pictures from my trip but they are all ones that other people ... 29 photos[full story]
April 8th 2008Asia » Nepal » Annapurna Greetings from Nepal! I've been here quite awhile and haven't blogged but now you get a super long and oh so exciting blog to read because of it. So here we go . . .
Jules and I flew out from Austr ... [full story]
March 10th 2008Asia » Nepal » Annapurna We left Kathmandu and headed for Pokhara, the jumping off point for Annapurna treks, via tourist bus. Tourist buses in Nepal are not the fancy, comfortable, air-conditioned luxury liners that they ar ... 19 photos[full story]
March 27th 2008Asia » Nepal » Annapurna Nepal is a beautiful country: full of culture, great food, wonderful people, adorable children, and cute goats! I really wanted to take one of the cute baby goats along with me but I didn't think I co ... 21 photos[full story]
March 26th 2008Asia » Nepal » Annapurna
Waking in the morning was amazing as we got our first proper view of the massive mountains of Nepal in all their glory. We had a breakfast seat view of Annapurna South and a glimpse of Machapuchare ... [full story]
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