Getting around in Nepal

On the roads in Nepal, you will find cars, motorbikes, bicycles, buses, and people walking.  Most people drive scooters or motorbikes.

As far as cars go, most people drive Suzuki Maruti's.  They are a minicar, mostly used for cabs.  Most are at least two decades old.  It is normal to pack up to eight people in these minicars.  Three people up front and five in the back.  Seatbelts are only for the front two seats.  There is no A/C, heat, vents, or defrosters.  The Maruti's still have a choke button.   My family drives a Maruti and it looks like a clown car when we arive someplace and start to unload.

As far as motorbikes go, most people have Hondas.  250 cc maximum.  I haven't seen any Harleys here.  There are lots of scooters also.  There is no maximum number of people that may ride a motorbike.  Drivers are required to wear a helmet, passengers are not. I have seen a family of five on a motorbike.  It is interesting that even the youngest of children know they have to hold on when they are on a motorbike. There is no need for speed here because the condition of the roads is so poor.  Where there are paved roads, there are speed bumps installed.  These are not smooth, perfectly engineered speed bumps.  They are built by piling rocks across the road and pouring "pavement" over top of them.  Most are painted with stripes so you can see them.  Some are not.  They are so high and pointed that most cars bottom out as they go over the speed bumps.  For the roads that aren't paved, speed bumps are not necessary....the pot holes are sufficient speed control by themselves.  Sometimes the entire width of the road has washed out from the monsoon rains.  I cannot even begin to describe how large some of the potholes are.  My family replaces their shocks every year.  The side roads are not very wide, but then again, neither are the cars.  If the potholes and speed bumps aren't enough of a speed deterrent, there are cows and water buffalo wandering about everywhere.  Don't even think about hitting one; it is my understanding that it's an automatic ten year prison sentence if you hit and kill a cow.

The public transit buses are numerous.  I've ridden on them a few times now.  It is just like the pictures you see on television.  People are packed in like sardines while others are hanging off the side of the bus.  I've always been on the inside and one time I even got to sit down in a seat.  I can't complain for a 15 rupee fare, which is about 18 cents.

Finally, there is the situation with stop signs and stoplights.  There aren't any.  No kidding. There are no stoplights or stop signs here.  At the busiest intersections, there are roundabouts.  Some of the roundabouts have trees or a statue in the middle of them.   Most roundabouts are cinder blocks or barrels piled in the street.  You would think it would be total chaos, right?  Nope. Traffic is always moving.  In some crazy way, this system works for this country.