We arrived 2 hours before election day in Kathmandu. To avoid protests and violent attacks the government had ordered a 4 day holiday and on election day a full stop of all motorized traffic.  We made it just before curfew to our hotel passing multiple military control points. Because of a road block we had to walk the last 500 meters to our hotel being greeted by the neighborhood watch sitting around camp fires in the street.

We woke up with a view over the Kathmandu valley  into the Himalaya mountain range and used the traffic free day for a walk across the fields into Bhaktapur. Bhaktapur is located 12 km East of Kathmandu and is known for its beautiful Durbar Square (central square). The atmosphere was peaceful and everybody was very friendly. Once in a while the jeeps of the Carter Foundation drove by monitoring the election process. Many locals and only a few tourists were sitting around Durbar Square waiting for the end of the election. We stopped by a local Momo restaurant and stuffed ourselves with 2 plates of the delicious fresh dumplings. Afterwards we managed to taste Kings Curd, a sweet yogurt, which is also a trademark of Bhaktapur.

The day ended with a beautiful sunset and a decisive victory of the Democratic Party over the Maoists.