Events in Landruk
Two weeks ago I, and a small party, went trekking in the Himalayas with the objective of ascending to two base camps in the Annapurna region. We did that, but we also ended up in the middle of a civil war. Just when I thought my luck couldnt get any worse. Anyway, my subjective account of what happened is set out below. Please see my previous journal entry if youd like to know more about the background to the conflict in Nepal.
Landruk one of a number of small Gurun towns that represent key staging posts on the trek to two of the most visited Himalayan base camps: Machhapuchhe and Annapurna. Located in Nepals central/west Annapurna region, the town emerges from the sub-tropical jungle at an elevation of 1600 metres. Subsistence agriculture and tourism provide the only income to village. Amongst the local dwellings there are a small number of teahouses where trekkers and climbers can camp for the evening and load-up on dinners of Dhal Bhatt and breakfasts of Gurun Bread.
It was the second day of overland travel, Thursday, 25 March, when my party (three trekkers; two porters; one sherpa; and one guide) arrived at Landruk. Our route was taking us westwards, towards the high-elevation town of Chommrong, and then on to the Annapurna base camp. Our plan had been to camp for one day at Landruk, following up with an early cooked breakfast the next morning, so that wed be back on the trail for Chommrong by 7.00am. However, those plans became slightly modified in response to the visitors who joined us that afternoon. Within 20 minutes of our arrival the first Maoist insurgents appeared, travelling west to east. Over the next two hours a total of around 100 arrived to make camp in the village.
The Maoists are young. Very young. Kids in late teens to early twenties, some girls but mostly boys, and few older men in positions of authority. They all wear green camouflage outfits with red bandanas. A few even have decent boots, a rarity in rural Nepal. The weapons they carry might lead you to assume that theyve been looting museums rather than police stations. Most common is the antique half-timbered Lee Enfield .303 bolt action rifle, standard British Army equipment of WWII, but enjoying a new renaissance now in South Asia. A few more individuals, assumedly more senior, have the SLR (self-loading rifle), another British Army model, this time of 1970s vintage. Others have single barrel pump-action shotguns, others still are armed with farmyard implements only.
Many of the villagers were clearly happy to see the Maoists and greet them enthusiastically. In a small close-knit community, many of the villagers have sons or daughters or brothers or sisters amongst the insurgents. Other villagers are much more circumspect, but when the Maoists arrive with their customary demands of food and accommodation, its difficult for any of the villagers to decline.
The insurgents pass the afternoon talking amongst themselves and with villagers, playing finger pool and in some cases carrying out maintenance drills on their weapons.
As late afternoon runs into early evening an older man appears, perhaps in his mid-forties, wearing a camouflage boiler suit and black rubber Wellington boots. He appears to be in charge, and marshals the Maoists into a camp area about 150 metres from the teahouse where well be sleeping. A few of the Maoists remain in locals homes.
After dark we eat dinner, play cards, and drink hot black coffee. A few of the Maoists circle around outside acting a guard for those sleeping. By around 9pm, we go to our sleeping bags too, weve an early start next morning.
The wake-up call comes sooner than planned: at 2.30 am, the Royal Neplalise Army and the Nepalise Armed Police catch up with the Maoists. Small arms fire in both directions single shot rifles only to begin with. At first, Im not sure whos shooting at who perhaps its just Maoists firing into the air? But then the sounds clearly resolve into a two-way exchange. The jungle makes it difficult to find a target, and the boulders and rocks mean that bullets are ricocheting everywhere. After a short while, the RNA bring in the automatic weapons, first the 9mm Sten sub-machine guns, then the unmistakable noise of the 7.62mm Bren machine guns another British WWII standard. This is the worrying bit, the muzzle velocity on those things mean that they can shoot a round through two brick walls. From speaking to others the following day camped in nearby villages I learn than the RNA then begin firing flares over the town to try to identify targets. Mortar shells then begin to land. Theres sustained gunfire and shouting and explosions and more shouting and sustained gunfire. Im concerned about the thin shale walls of the teahouse, and more concerned about the haphazard corrugated steel roof. Im especially bothered about that roof as the mortar shells start coming in.
Within an hour so the RNA and armed police have occupied Landruk, and begin house to house searches. Ad-hoc interrogations take place outside our window. One Moaist drunk and asleep in a locals home - is captured and gets the rigorous questioning youd expect. My roommates getting a little worried hes from Oxford, but hes concerned that his Sri Lankan background will prompt the RNA to mistake him for a Maoist. A frantic search through luggage to locate his British passport follows.
After the shooting has subsided to a sporadic level we emerge, just before first light. There are maybe 200 RNA and armed police occupying the town. The Maoist who was captured was on of two sheltering in a villagers home. The second one escaped. Its unclear whether the woman whose home it was had been willingly sheltering the Maoists or whether she had been coerced. Either way, shed been slow to answer the RNAs knock at the door. The RNA forced an entry, shots were fired, and the woman was killed. Her body was left lying the courtyard the outside the home, just opposite our teahouse. Throughout, the RNA had seemed well disciplined and professional I think a deliberate killing is unlikely, but under the pressure of night time house-to-house searchers for an armed enemy, these sorts of mistakes are easy to make. The likely accidental nature of the death made little difference though to the weeping relatives and two orphaned children.
After an hour or so, the RNA decide the area is secure enough for us to leave. As we trek out to Chommrong, a helicopter chartered by the Swiss Embassy arrives to airlift out a few of their people who had also being camping overnight at the town. Theres no such support for the British and Australian contingent, and Im grateful for that, the last thing I want now is the British Government hauling us back to Kathmandu before Ive had chance to ascend to the base camps. I guess the British Government did their bit by arming both sides.
Please check out my photos if you'd like to see some of this part of the Himalayas.
Two weeks ago I, and a small party, went trekking in the Himalayas with the objective of ascending to two base camps in the Annapurna region. We did that, but we also ended up in the middle of a civil war. Just when I thought my luck couldnt get any worse. Anyway, my subjective account of what happened is set out below. Please see my previous journal entry if youd like to know more about the background to the conflict in Nepal.
Landruk one of a number of small Gurun towns that represent key staging posts on the trek to two of the most visited Himalayan base camps: Machhapuchhe and Annapurna. Located in Nepals central/west Annapurna region, the town emerges from the sub-tropical jungle at an elevation of 1600 metres. Subsistence agriculture and tourism provide the only income to village. Amongst the local dwellings there are a small number of teahouses where trekkers and climbers can camp for the evening and load-up on dinners of Dhal Bhatt and breakfasts of Gurun Bread.
It was the second day of overland travel, Thursday, 25 March, when my party (three trekkers; two porters; one sherpa; and one guide) arrived at Landruk. Our route was taking us westwards, towards the high-elevation town of Chommrong, and then on to the Annapurna base camp. Our plan had been to camp for one day at Landruk, following up with an early cooked breakfast the next morning, so that wed be back on the trail for Chommrong by 7.00am. However, those plans became slightly modified in response to the visitors who joined us that afternoon. Within 20 minutes of our arrival the first Maoist insurgents appeared, travelling west to east. Over the next two hours a total of around 100 arrived to make camp in the village.
The Maoists are young. Very young. Kids in late teens to early twenties, some girls but mostly boys, and few older men in positions of authority. They all wear green camouflage outfits with red bandanas. A few even have decent boots, a rarity in rural Nepal. The weapons they carry might lead you to assume that theyve been looting museums rather than police stations. Most common is the antique half-timbered Lee Enfield .303 bolt action rifle, standard British Army equipment of WWII, but enjoying a new renaissance now in South Asia. A few more individuals, assumedly more senior, have the SLR (self-loading rifle), another British Army model, this time of 1970s vintage. Others have single barrel pump-action shotguns, others still are armed with farmyard implements only.
Many of the villagers were clearly happy to see the Maoists and greet them enthusiastically. In a small close-knit community, many of the villagers have sons or daughters or brothers or sisters amongst the insurgents. Other villagers are much more circumspect, but when the Maoists arrive with their customary demands of food and accommodation, its difficult for any of the villagers to decline.
The insurgents pass the afternoon talking amongst themselves and with villagers, playing finger pool and in some cases carrying out maintenance drills on their weapons.
As late afternoon runs into early evening an older man appears, perhaps in his mid-forties, wearing a camouflage boiler suit and black rubber Wellington boots. He appears to be in charge, and marshals the Maoists into a camp area about 150 metres from the teahouse where well be sleeping. A few of the Maoists remain in locals homes.
After dark we eat dinner, play cards, and drink hot black coffee. A few of the Maoists circle around outside acting a guard for those sleeping. By around 9pm, we go to our sleeping bags too, weve an early start next morning.
The wake-up call comes sooner than planned: at 2.30 am, the Royal Neplalise Army and the Nepalise Armed Police catch up with the Maoists. Small arms fire in both directions single shot rifles only to begin with. At first, Im not sure whos shooting at who perhaps its just Maoists firing into the air? But then the sounds clearly resolve into a two-way exchange. The jungle makes it difficult to find a target, and the boulders and rocks mean that bullets are ricocheting everywhere. After a short while, the RNA bring in the automatic weapons, first the 9mm Sten sub-machine guns, then the unmistakable noise of the 7.62mm Bren machine guns another British WWII standard. This is the worrying bit, the muzzle velocity on those things mean that they can shoot a round through two brick walls. From speaking to others the following day camped in nearby villages I learn than the RNA then begin firing flares over the town to try to identify targets. Mortar shells then begin to land. Theres sustained gunfire and shouting and explosions and more shouting and sustained gunfire. Im concerned about the thin shale walls of the teahouse, and more concerned about the haphazard corrugated steel roof. Im especially bothered about that roof as the mortar shells start coming in.
Within an hour so the RNA and armed police have occupied Landruk, and begin house to house searches. Ad-hoc interrogations take place outside our window. One Moaist drunk and asleep in a locals home - is captured and gets the rigorous questioning youd expect. My roommates getting a little worried hes from Oxford, but hes concerned that his Sri Lankan background will prompt the RNA to mistake him for a Maoist. A frantic search through luggage to locate his British passport follows.
After the shooting has subsided to a sporadic level we emerge, just before first light. There are maybe 200 RNA and armed police occupying the town. The Maoist who was captured was on of two sheltering in a villagers home. The second one escaped. Its unclear whether the woman whose home it was had been willingly sheltering the Maoists or whether she had been coerced. Either way, shed been slow to answer the RNAs knock at the door. The RNA forced an entry, shots were fired, and the woman was killed. Her body was left lying the courtyard the outside the home, just opposite our teahouse. Throughout, the RNA had seemed well disciplined and professional I think a deliberate killing is unlikely, but under the pressure of night time house-to-house searchers for an armed enemy, these sorts of mistakes are easy to make. The likely accidental nature of the death made little difference though to the weeping relatives and two orphaned children.
After an hour or so, the RNA decide the area is secure enough for us to leave. As we trek out to Chommrong, a helicopter chartered by the Swiss Embassy arrives to airlift out a few of their people who had also being camping overnight at the town. Theres no such support for the British and Australian contingent, and Im grateful for that, the last thing I want now is the British Government hauling us back to Kathmandu before Ive had chance to ascend to the base camps. I guess the British Government did their bit by arming both sides.
Please check out my photos if you'd like to see some of this part of the Himalayas.