Dalama Adventures Tale of two corporate types ditching their jobs and traveling the world for 14 months... check out all photos, blogs & interesting tid bits at http://www.dalama.net

Before leaving on our trip, we registered with several international security information sources to ensure we would have access to good information to make informed decisions on trip routing, and course corrections or changes needed along the way. Nepal is one of those countries that is always in the media, and not always painted so well. In fact, we find that the media has pretty much distorted the degree of concern for tourist travel here. Below is an update I received by email: Nepal:Country Risk Rating: High Maoists Conduct Rally in Kathmandu The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) (CPN-M) conducted a rally on 1 May, in Kathmandu to launch massive countrywide protests. The CPN-M rally called on the government to end the monarchy and declare Nepal a republic as the top election body hinted at a delay in elections to determine the future of the country. The CPN-M has given a two week deadline for the abolition of the monarchy and the declaration of a republic, after which it would launch protests in parliament and on the streets. In a separate incident on 30 April, 10 policemen were kidnapped and weapons stolen from a police post in Katkaiya village in western Nepal by suspected Maoist rebels. We found this really interesting. While we did see some people with communist flags marching down the street, peacefully chanting, we didn't see any major rallies or incidents that would cause us to consider Nepal a High Risk country for travel. It all goes to show you that the media can completely distort the real situation, and have significant negative impacts on a country's economy. Nepal has been in a downward slide and tourism has been at sharp lows over the past few years. Yes, there have been times where there has been danger, but for us to think that Nepal is not safe, and that we had actually considered not coming here because there are warnings against travel would have been a huge loss for us. We have found nothing but happy people, and people who are genuinely pleased that there are now Maoists who will formally participate within the government and be accountable for the results of their actions to the country. People we have met are positive and believe that the future now holds good changes and prosperity for their country with so much potential.