Blogs for 2016 - Nepal, Cambodia, Taiwan, Philippines and Thailand

I'm gradually moving away from this blog since it has become to big and cumbersome for readers to navigate around.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blogs for 2016 - Nepal, Cambodia, Taiwan,Thailand and the Philippines.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

so head on here for POKHARA, and here for KATHMANDU

and Click here for CHIANG MAI, Thailand.

Or Cut and Past these links

http://nepal-photos-upload.blogspot.com/

http://chiang-mai-thailand.blogspot.com/

http://nepal-quake-2015.blogspot.com/

Of course the fastest way to stay updated is to join me on facebook

paul.holmes.1654 or search for Paul Globe Trotter Holmes

Alternatively if you can figure out Google Plus, I'm there also!

Useful links:

http://www.whereilive.norfolk.gov.uk/

Nepal Earthquake April 2015, Rescue and Relief

The emphasis now turns towards getting supplies delivered to those rural settlements fast running out of food. Contributions to the relief effort are gathering pace across the Lakeside area as tourists and locals band together to organize and distribute aid to those quake effected zones. The Pokhara airport  is the main focus of attention as the Indian air force take up residence and the local medi setup camp beside the terminal.

Earthquake Diary, Post Quake life, April-May 2015

Life after the Quake....

I don't know how but I managed to sleep albeit a restless night trying to anticipate the signs of an impending Earthquake. It's impossible of course, there just is no warning whatsoever. A small ground shudder sent everyone running around 10pm last night - it's over before I can reach the staircase! 

Monday, again the TV is saturated with images of damage, death and despair, and news now of flattened villages in the rural districts. Not surprising since construction there is poor and often on shaky foundations anyway. Rescue and relief is paramount now with news stations listing those countries sending help - India and China are the big players with equipment while developed nations are send personnel to help dig out those trapped in rubble. Middle East and Europe are sending food aid as space at the Kathmandu airport is fast running out. 

Tuesday, a better nights sleep as the the ground motions seem less noticeable and at larger time intervals, although how much of it is imaginary, we'll I just don't know. Every subtle ground motion felt here in Pokhara translates to a significant aftershock emanating from the original rupture at Gorkha near Kathmandu. Buildings continue to fall, landslips are still occurring blocking access routes to those hill communities. 

Pokhara airport is now a base for the Indian Air force relief mission - a stomp down to the end of the runway today and the place is busy with a Queue of waiting ambulances amid the mountain of food and water piling up by the passenger terminal. Seven helicopters and a transport plane occupying pretty much all the tarmac space. Crowds of on-lookers are gathered along the perimeter road as the arriving choppers offload bodies, stretchered  away to the waiting ambulances, load up with supplies and off again, towards the Gorkha district just North-West of Pokhara. 

Wednesday, subtle ground motions continue, sometimes swaying otherwise a succession of vibrations lasting 1/2 second.  Residents camping on the grazing meadow are resigned to being there for sometime as government warns that further quakes may occur. Pokhara Lakeside is beginning to fill with tourists, namely those who we're trekking as the quake hit are slowly arriving in the the town. It's become something of a transient place, Trekkers and their guides with little to do but mill around making the best of things as they wait for information. As for me, we'll the best thing to do right now is stay put, at worst I can get a bus south to the Indian border - it's an option as south and west Nepal are unaffected - the only option right now as the international airport isn't taking civil flights. 

Earthquake Diary, Nepal Earthquake 26th April 2015, Sunday

Sunday afternoon and evening....

Everyone is rattled - a few more tents have appeared on the grazing meadow and the atmosphere is subdued. An aftershock, or was it another quake? Doesn't matter, the effect is just the same!  Given that Pokhara is a fairly new town, construction is able to absorb the seismic activity that Nepal is subject to right now. Tourists are continuing to reside in their hotels, a few bars remain open along the Main Street - actually it looks like business as normal for the seemingly unconcerned tourists. Personally, I admit to being somewhat anxious - will there be more, perhaps a big one, who knows? 

TV news is still in overdrive, every channel, even that 70's Bollywood movie Chanel, have given way to coverage of the devastating quake. The PM appeals for aid, help, anything anyone can give. The country is fast running out of resources as the Army are deployed to Kathmandu. He appeals for helicopters from anyone, anywhere as the country's poor infrastructure have left rural communities stranded. The Kathmandu death toll is fast rising, every hour a new figure arrives. 

6.30pm, the ground rumbles again and it's a fast exit outside onto the street. Just a small vibration lasting 1/2 a second but it's enough to have everyone scurrying away from any building. Anxiety and sleep don't go hand-in-hand, a restless night ahead despite reassurances that the hotel is strong. Is the ground moving again? Seems to be a subtle swaying motion, it could be my imagination!

Earthquake Diary, Nepal Earthquake Sunday 26th April 2015

Sunday Afternoon, Another Shock.

1pm Sunday afternoon and folk seem slightly less apprehensive. There hasn't been any seismic activity since yesterday -  April 25th 2015, The day of infamy, now being referred to by the media as the "Great Quake". An encampment of about 12 tents still pitched on the grazing meadow, temporary home to some of the more vulnerable families in those pebble and clay clad'd structures.

No reply yet from my email sent to the guesthouse I had been bunking down in just hours before the rupture - although I do know Kathmandu wasn't completely flattened and the tourist hotspot of Thamel on the whole escaped the worst according to postings on 'Thorn tree Forum' - a glimmer of hope then that Ram Singh and family have survived.

It's a warm sunny afternoon, kids playing games on the meadow, squealing, laughing and carefree. Just about everyone based  locally has gathered, sitting in family groups, sharing their spicy snacks and talking over the events unfolding in Kathmandu and across the rural districts of Nepal. It's becoming apparent that rural localities are feared worst off with supply routes cut - no access to the hills it seems.

Without warning, here it is! The ground moves left and slightly rises, then to the right with a succession of vibrations. Kids screaming running to their parents as the shopping centre nearby sways with people on the balconies running. The large glass windows rattling, pounding and ready to explode. It's the noise coming from the ground, that's the frightening aspect of this quake, that and of course the unknown quantity of this latest shock at 1.30pm - thankfully it's over in 2 seconds. An eerie feeling descends as folk contemplate what has just happened. News is spreading that it was an aftershock of 6.7 magnitude and originating from yesterday's main quake - further damage in Kathmandu and the rural districts. Thankfully, the shopping centre here has survived in one piece, no reports yet of any other damage in Pokhara.

Earthquake Diary, Nepal Earthquake, Sunday 26th April 2015

Fear of the unknown...

Sunday morning dawns and undoubtedly the horror story that is Nepal Earthquake 2015 will start to unfold as TV coverage go's into overdrive. Right now the world is focused on Kathmandu and local News Chanel's have no qualms showing dead bodies, dead children being pulled from rubble, the grief is immeasurable - I have to turn it off.

Pokhara has escaped unscathed with the exception of a few cracked structures. Thankfully the place, especially the tourist hot spot of Lakeside is relatively new with construction of better standard. It's certainly the safest place to be right now.

The fear of the unknown quantity - when, where and how big is the question on everyone's mind. A question even the experts don't have an answer to but they tell us to expect aftershocks and possibly more quakes in the days to come.

Life around here is adapting to the situation. Traders are still trading but with a degree of caution but others remain closed. Cafés are running a skeleton service - rice, vegetable curry and tea, eat it fast! In between meals families are congregating on the grazing meadow where a tented village has sprung up. People are frightened, they may not show it but there is a real sense fear among the community around here.

Before the Nepal Earthquake, Saturday April 25th 2015.

Here,s a look at rural Nepal on Saturday 25th April 2015.

These on the left were snapped around 3 hours before the great quake, about 1 hour outside Kathmandu on the road to Pokhara. Those on the right were snapped about 2 hours after the quake about 2 hours from Pokhara.

Earthquake Diary, Nepal Earthquake, April 25th 2015

Saturday April 25th 2015 3.45pm

Krishna's sister points and mutters "ground" on seeing how concerned I was to see the Pandeys place closed. A grazing meadow of sorts, shared with all manner of livestock, kids and teenagers and right now crowded with hundreds of locals. Slowly but surely news is emerging of deaths in Kathmandu due to an earthquake a few hours ago. 

Dharahara tower, a popular tourist attraction and Kathmandu view point has collapsed - that's the news from Kathmandu as locals here are frantically trying to connect with their relatives in the capital. Communication lines are grinding to a halt, power is out as the fear of aftershocks could bring down the lines.  There is a sense of real fear, an edginess that's hard to describe among a community that knows their country is in serious trouble - the fragile and developing infrastructure of this country has been seriously effected but to what extent, well, we'll just have to wait for the power to return. 

A quick recap - the vibrations felt on the bus earlier was the earthquake emanating from Kathmandu. The jolt at the cafe was an aftershock  but thankfully both events were well outside the sphere of damage with Pokhara itself on the edge of the shockwave effect. 

6.30pm and life begins to stir as dusk turns into night, still with an edginess, folk cautiously trading a path back to their homes. No further tremors have been felt since mid afternoon but everyone here is expecting another significant jolt - and that will come at anytime, without warning!

7pm electricity is back on but no internet to be found anywhere. Thankfully a line, a phone line to the outside world. Yes it's working, and a phone call to Mother England where my first indication of the scale of this earthquakes damage is becoming apparent - it's quite bad. Fair to say no one in Nepal will get agood nights sleep tonight!

Nepal Earthquake Diary, April 25th 2015

A Sudden Jolt...

Saturday April 25th Between Kathmandu and Pokhara 12.30-14.45: 

The usual pit stop for all the tourist buses on this route. A tourist cafe perched on the edge of a ravine - picturesque with white water gushing below disappearing into the Himalayan hills yonder. Suddenly, without any warning a violent shudder as windows swing open and crash against the building. The place is cleared in 2 seconds flat as as passengers instinctively seek a safer spot. That was definitely a tremor - a conclusion arrived at quite quickly and linking that with the vibrations felt on the bus 35 minutes earlier. Back to normal a few minutes later - at least I got to finish drinking my lovely Nepali tea!

On the road again. 13.00, about 40 KM from Pokhara now and somewhat concerned with today's  earth-moving events. I'm no expert in seismology but quite clearly something's going on down there!

14.45 and rolling into Pokhara. Unusually light traffic but with plenty of people sitting in groups outside houses. Business shutters are down, closed. Oh, it's Saturday, the Nepali day of rest which could explain the presence of all theses people - but to be grouped up like this is something I haven't seen before. 

15.30 Hotel room price negotiated without too much difficulty, 600 Nrp per night, about £4.20, includes a TV! A stomp down to Lumbini Kitchen next, they're expecting me so hopefully someone's milked the buffalo ready for my cup of tea! 

Oh, what's going on here- the place is all locked up, so is next door and a few other places that are normally open, even on Saturday. 

Nepal Earthquake, April 25th 2015

My Earthquake Diary, Nepal, April 2015

Saturday April 25th Kathmandu 6am-7am: Stupa Guesthouse to Kantipath, just a 10 minute hike part of which involves negotiating concrete slabs and rubble as this narrow road in Thamel is getting some serious maintenance - yes, time to close the nostrils as the subterranean sewerage system is revealed!

Abut 30 tourist buses are lined up along Kantipath as usual, ready for the 7am exodus to those parts of Nepal with tourist appeal - Lumbini, Chitwan and my destination, Pokhara. Time to grab some tea, chapatti and dal for breakfast.

7am- 9.35am: 7am on the dot, no waiting for late passengers as the bus heads away down Kantipath. A few pickups around town and soon we're on what's called the Prithivi Highway to Pokhara. A picturesque scene - picturesque enough to take ones mind off the fact that around here they overtake on corners and think nothing of trucks approaching head on, normal for Nepal! Picturesque enough until the first food, water and toilet stop at 9.35. 

10am - 12.30pm: On the road again, just about 1/3 of the journey completed without incident thankfully. Let's hope I get to lunch in one piece! If that happens then the rest of the journey should be straight forward. The bus stops suddenly, a few puzzled looks since there appears no obstruction. There's a vibration, a kind of fast oscillation for around a minute. A landslide close by probably, not uncommon around here, combined with fuel sloshing around in the tanks underneath is probably the reason. No one seems unduly concerned at 11.55am as the bus continues towards lunch and stop number 2. 

Lorong Buangkok, The Last Village, Singapore April 2015

Not exactly a secret, but not widely publicized either - Lorong Buangkok, situated off Gerald Drive and is Singapore's last village. As urban development creeps ever closer the pressure for these villagers to sell up and move on must be enormous, so this is possibly the last chance anyone will get to see a slice of rural Singapore as it was way back when. A rustic environment where houses of wooden construction had roofs of tin nestled between banana plants and mango trees.

The houses are real, the people are real even the plants are real - this is definitely not a tourist set up which may explain the lack of Chinese tour groups around here! So, in the shadows of hi-rise mass housing blocks here are a few, and possibly the last, view of Singapore's only remaining village.