Finally after 3 days of unrelenting rain, to add to the post quake woes, the sun has come out and everyone is busy doing laundry. I had 3 lines going on the balcony today - and I'm supposed to be on holidays! At least I still have a balcony...
Kathmandu appears to have gotten off lightly although the old Hanuman Dhoka has some rather large cracks in it. A Nepali friend yesterday bemoaned the fact that immediately after the quake on Sunday, when all the nutty Nepalis had run into the streets while buildings were still shaking, the TV wasn't taking the opportunity to tell people what to do. All they did was show the 1934 earthquake aftermath. Which made even more old ladies scream. Nepalis really aren't very good in a crisis. Most houses here have potplants all over their rooftop edges, and if one of those came down and brained you I think you would need more than paracetamol. Also, the streets are really narrow and most buildings don't have straight edges, so running into the street just puts you into a shooting gallery really. This whole country is so poorly prepared it just isn't funny.
I now have 2 earthquake apps on my iphone and ipad just in case. One has very useful instructions on what to do, plus a flashing light, torch, whistle, megaphone that sends morse sos and a thing to make you keep awake if you are trapped. Not that you would ever get found in this place if more than a few hours had passed. But I guess it makes me feel better.
I am supposed to be packing for India but seem to have lost motivation after all the laundry I did. The weather down the road in Delhi is about 10 degrees warmer than here so I have to get out a few things I packed away. Maybe I can hit the pool there.
Oh speaking of pools and quakes. At the Shangri La on Sunday, many guests ran out into the garden dressed, as Uttam so quaintly put it "only in their panties" as it was just after 6pm and everyone was getting ready for dinner. So, the staff at the hotel grabbed all the pool towels to redignify the ladies. How sweet. Uttam is sorry he wasn't there to help. Instead he was at home with his son hoping that the 11 storey monstrosity under construction next door didn't collapse. And he was pleased his wife and daughters were out shopping!Uttam is one of the few Nepalis that you can trust in a crisis.
Anyway onto other news. Our hotel escaped without any cracks and the water got fixed quickly..
We watched what may be the worst movie ever the other night: Dinocroc versus Supergator.. I don't think any of them could act (no wonder David Carradine end up tangled in coat hangers in a Bangkok wardrobe!) and it was heartening to see so many of them get devoured. Do check it out.
Showing posts with label Nepal earthquake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nepal earthquake. Show all posts
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
That was my first earthquake
Which was obvious by my reaction.
We had been watching Pakistan Zimbabwe cricket on the telly and had to go out to meet a friend at the bar, so I jumped in the shower to get ready. I heard Robin shouting something from the bedroom, but since it sounded like "wicket!" I didn't do anything. Then I opened the door to go get dressed and he was looking at me like I was a weirdo and yelling "Jude, EARTHQUAKE!!!!! Get dressed NOW!". So of course being the sort of person who has 3 emergency responses (cup of tea, cocktail or new hairdo) I was poorly equipped to respond properly. By now I could feel the room swaying and people in the street were squealing, so instead of trying to find a matching outfit I went for a skirt and a Target dressing gown. Don't know why. Then ran down 4 floors but couldn't even make it onto the street cos there were so many people standing around, especially the police who looked particularly ill equipped to handle the situation. After a few minutes we all decided there was nothing else happening so went back upstairs to put on something more sensible. Except that we had managed to lock ourselves out. Luckily one of our balcony windows was open so Brave Sir Robin climbed in and fell over all the bags underneath. Must tidy up.
Then we heard on the news that the quake was the biggest since the one in 1934 which took out a lot of people and buildings. And we also heard that some people died when a wall at the British embassy collapsed on them. Which you would have to say is bloody bad luck.
Our ambassador Susan called me to make sure we were OK, which was very kind of her, and said that she was busy manning phones at the embassy as the consul is on leave, so I guess a few frantic parents in Oz heard the news and were concerned.
I think we were very lucky not to have more widespread damage and destruction. A friend in the Everest region said it was pretty scary up there last night, as you can imagine.
So this morning we had no water as the quake broke the pump and some of the tanks, so we have come down the to American Club which we only joined last week, for shower, breakfast and some internet work. Maybe even a swim.
And we all hope there is no more earthquake.
We had been watching Pakistan Zimbabwe cricket on the telly and had to go out to meet a friend at the bar, so I jumped in the shower to get ready. I heard Robin shouting something from the bedroom, but since it sounded like "wicket!" I didn't do anything. Then I opened the door to go get dressed and he was looking at me like I was a weirdo and yelling "Jude, EARTHQUAKE!!!!! Get dressed NOW!". So of course being the sort of person who has 3 emergency responses (cup of tea, cocktail or new hairdo) I was poorly equipped to respond properly. By now I could feel the room swaying and people in the street were squealing, so instead of trying to find a matching outfit I went for a skirt and a Target dressing gown. Don't know why. Then ran down 4 floors but couldn't even make it onto the street cos there were so many people standing around, especially the police who looked particularly ill equipped to handle the situation. After a few minutes we all decided there was nothing else happening so went back upstairs to put on something more sensible. Except that we had managed to lock ourselves out. Luckily one of our balcony windows was open so Brave Sir Robin climbed in and fell over all the bags underneath. Must tidy up.
Then we heard on the news that the quake was the biggest since the one in 1934 which took out a lot of people and buildings. And we also heard that some people died when a wall at the British embassy collapsed on them. Which you would have to say is bloody bad luck.
Our ambassador Susan called me to make sure we were OK, which was very kind of her, and said that she was busy manning phones at the embassy as the consul is on leave, so I guess a few frantic parents in Oz heard the news and were concerned.
I think we were very lucky not to have more widespread damage and destruction. A friend in the Everest region said it was pretty scary up there last night, as you can imagine.
So this morning we had no water as the quake broke the pump and some of the tanks, so we have come down the to American Club which we only joined last week, for shower, breakfast and some internet work. Maybe even a swim.
And we all hope there is no more earthquake.
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