As we enjoyed a few lazy days inside The Bubble, political turmoil manifested itself outside.

[youtube_sc url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umjlmDdvNfM”]

This sort of street-closing, life-disrupting protest, known as a banda or bandh, is surprisingly common throughout Nepal. Political cartoons poke fun at the local fondness for protest.

Unfortunately, the impact on regular citizens is no joke. Workers can’t get to their jobs, and businesses are forced to close for days on end. People who are just scraping by in the first place need to get by on even less.

You’d think citizens would rise up and demand a more sustainable form of political expression. Then again, each citizen probably feels some sympathy with some of the protests: “Finally, a protest that speaks for me!”

And the banda plays on.