Transport in Nepal

We've already mentioned the chaos of traffic in Nepal but nothing prepared us for the numerous bus trips we took to get around the country. For long distance journeys we resorted to “tourist” buses - called tourist buses since they are supposedly more expensive and a little bit more modern than the regular ones. Unfortunately they weren't always made for foreigners though, or at least not for foreigners who are taller than the average Nepali. We were sold air conditioning on our ticket but soon realized we would be using local air con – open the windows and hope that the bus keeps moving to move some air around!

The roads around the country are narrow, windy two lane highways for the most part in bumpy condition, in some places washed away by the monsoon floods or simply through the bed of a river. Needless to say the cars and buses don't always absorb the bumps that well, so more often than not your head might hit the roof. 

Between taxis, motorbikes, trucks, tractors, and buses the roads are pretty full and everyone is keen to get to their destinations as quickly as possible. This leads to some rather hairy moments as you turn a corner to see two trucks approaching you or your bus tries to overtake something on a corner and is aiming head-on into an oncoming taxi. Surprisingly we encountered very few accidents – Nepalis have ironclad stomachs and are adept at negotiating this traffic chaos. Those that we did encounter were pretty impressive though – trucks precariously perched on the edge of the road, at any moment ready to tumble into the river, or cars smashed by falling rocks from the hillside above.

 

Needless to say some of the accidents can cause horrendous traffic jams. On our first bus ride we hit a two hour traffic jam on the other side of the mountains that ring the Kathmandu valley. The hairpin bends, road conditions, and accidents made for some pretty slow going. We encountered a similar situation on the way back to Kathmandu as well. It seems this is a notorious stretch of the road.

Nepalis take a lot of pride in their cars, trucks etc. Practically every taxi in Kathmandu had stickers on the back windows of some sport brand or an English football team – as always, the big four in England are popular abroad. The Wolves should really think about buying a player from Asia to extend their reach and challenge Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool! The trucks and buses leave most room for customization though and the effort in some is amazing both inside and out. We often saw bumpers of trucks bearing “Speed King”, “King of the Road”, “Load King” or similar. The pictures are not the best but hopefully they give an impression of Nepali road art.