Today we met Mary, a lovely lady from Bournemouth, who's spending three months in Pokhara as a volunteer. Mary was previously in Pokhara three years ago for her first stint as a volunteer, training youngsters to become secretaries and, in addition, providing social and health care to the children, all of whom having suffered greatly at the hands of others. Back then, Nepal became something of a no-go area (with the government declaring itself bankrupt yesterday, India turning off the 'tap' supplying oil to Nepal because of unpaid bills and the Maoist threat bubbling away just beneath the surface, it seems testing times lie ahead too). Maoists, Nepal's Communist faction, were waging something of a mini-civil war leading to a curfew being imposed by the beleaguered government. Tourists were staying away. Those caught up in the
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