Zdenka Karkyova has been living in Nepal with her Nepali husband, Chatur Dhoj Karky, for the past 30 years ever since they were married in their student days in Czechoslovakia.

But after the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1990, Chatur Dhoj Karky became the Slovak honorary consul. A few years later, Zdenka became the Czech consul. So what's it like for a husband and wife to work for a country that has split in two?

"We got married in Czechoslovakia when it was one country, so for us it is very nostalgic that we represent both countries here in Kathmandu," says Chatur Dhoj Karky who gets really busy during the mountaineering season when Slovak climbers are all over Nepal doing difficult routes.

"People think that because Czech Republic and Slovakia are separate countries there would be problems," adds Karky, "but the relationship between the two is quite amicable, which makes it easy to work together."

Karky says that the most challenging part of the work is when there are accidents with climbers and we have to get helicopter search and rescue. The Slovak consul is also interested in fostering cultural exchanges and he brought a group of Slovak folk song singers to Kathmandu for a concert in 2004.

In the next room is Chatur's wife, Zdenka has much more of a full-time job because she also has to screen visas for the Czech Republic. Zdenka runs a pre-school in Jawalakhel and is also called on to help Czechs who get into trouble.