Moving past the first set of cabbies, I stopped one guy on the move who ignored my first offer and suggested he could do it for no less than 500 rupees. “Ha, out of the question,” we chortled and he sped off. To our chagrin, the next driver explained that even the 500 rupees was unlikely to be a serious offer. In fact, we probably wouldn’t back able to return to Boudha at all. Huge sections of the city had a bandha (a Maoist-enforced strike). For the cabbies, that meant men with guns, not only unchecked by government forces, but with perhaps more overall raw political and military power than the king, roaming the city perpetrating whatever violence necessary to prevent strike-breaking behavior. That meant no taxis, buses on the road, outside of Thamel, no service to the airport, a virtual shut-down of the city.
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