The idea of pro-democracy Maoists has also hard for me to get my head around. I've done a lot of reading about them because I had a trip to Nepal all booked, two years ago. Then the Maoist violence got so bad that I had to cancel it.

As you probably know, they are opposed to the king, and are willing to go to extreme lengths to overthrow him--strikes, kidnappings, forcing civilians to be soldiers, killing. (A recent issue of National Geographic Traveler covers the situation well, but I couldn't find the article online anywhere.)

They try not to hurt tourists, but sometimes they do. And they definitely disrupt free movement within the country. Don't know when I'll get to go to Nepal!