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In the days following, I communicated with the British Embassy via the phone of a Russian-American, who is now a good friend. We all bundled into a kind local's jeep, trying to make our way back to Pokhara where our belongings were being stored. The driver got his money's worth out of the unprecedented situation but also had to stop periodically to move tires, tree branches, and bags of rice in the road acting as homemade barricades against the threat of COVID-carrying travellers. The Nepali news had apparently painted COVID as brought in by foreigners, and the local people wanted to keep themselves safe. The road blocks were therefore understandable, but slowing.
Across a couple of days as we stopped for food or sleep, we would have Wi-Fi, and I would talk with members of the British Army in Nepal. They initially offered to take me and to forget my belongings. Through hubris or wisdom, sometimes it's hard to tell, I refused and said we'd make our own way down, with a calm that is now quite amazing to me. 1 reply
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We were a group including a frenchman, a couple germans, a Russian-American, and myself, an english born but not very patriotic mixed-race British national. I didn't want to leave them alone, I knew the British Army were well positioned to help, and they were friends.
The British Army representative, a Major(?), called again and offered to take the Russian-American and me. I again refused. Finally, after some further on the phone negotiating, he offered to collect all of our belongings and send two jeeps to get everyone. Even at this point I asked him to put it all in writing; to which he replied "John, I'm in the British Army, if I say I'm going to do something. I do it." I was stunned, and they did follow through. 1 reply
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