After 50 days what is utterly extraordinary has come to seem normal, the unimaginable is commonplace The ancient brick walls of the Patan Darbar absorb the dull afternoon light like spilled claret. A black dog slinks behind a doorway and a woman in a pale sari gazes immobile from a…
Quiet heroism feeds the hungry during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nepal The web of wrinkles are etched deep into the soft bronzed face, a lifetime of gritty wind and harsh realities on the Tibetan plateau, smiling out of the phone screen. Brightly painted furniture frame her long plaited hair in…
The coronavirus fells the consummate consultant Oliver Bennett 1943-2020 Oliver Bennet is the first person I know to succumb to COVID-19. On 11 March he cheerfully informed his Facebook followers that he was testing for the virus, then silence until on 26 March his brother posted that he had passed…
The saga of getting back home down under after Nepal suspended all international flights The plane flew in an elegant arc silhouetted against the sunset far above some lazily circling raptors, a victory lap around the purple hills of the Kathmandu Valley before heading southeast. Who would have thought a…
Marking the WWI anniversary in Kathmandu through earthquakes and lockdowns Under a gunmetal grey sky, the four of us stood for the Last Post on an expansive empty lawn as the crows wheeled overhead. The Nepal Army general and British Gurkha colonel saluted smartly in their uniforms, whilst the Ambassador…