In Bunkot, a remote cluster of villages clinging to high ridges at 7,000ft in the Himalayan foothills, aid has finally begun to arrive. Fewer than 15 miles from the epicentre of Saturday's quake, lashed overnight by heavy rain and hit by a series of powerful aftershocks, the area is one of the worst affected in Nepal.

And yet, on Thursday night, at least a few hundred homeless villagers prepared to sleep in marginally better conditions, free from hunger for a few hours. As NGOs and the Nepali government struggle with the massive logistical difficulties of bringing in and distributing the huge quantities of material needed for the hundred thousand people thought to be homeless in the area around Bunkot, informal local initiatives are getting some help through.

Early on Thursday morning, pickup trucks carrying bedding, snacks and other vital materials arrived in Bunkot, sent by a restaurant in the Chitwan national park, about 50 miles away. The vehicles managed to get through before rain cut the mud track to the nearest metalled road leading to Gorkha Bazaar, the district centre.

"There is a very important need. These people just need to survive. We can't wait for the government. We decided to do it ourselves," said Naresh Giri, manager of the KC Restaurant and Bar.