Busy Bus Butt Touch

We've ridden the bus numerous times to central Kathmandu and back, as well as once to Paten. It can be a 'standing room only' affair, and this morning's bus ride was exactly like that, a very busy, crammed ride. All of the local buses are privately owned, so there is no uniformity among them. There are about three sizes of buses painted different colours, and there may or may not be a small sign in Nepali script (that we can't read) on the front window, stating the destination. There are no route numbers because there is no municipal system. To catch a bus, one has to stand at the side of the road, in what looks like a random spot, because there are no bus stop signs anywhere in this country, and the bus stop is either anywhere, or by local knowledge. It depends where you are. Leaving Pepsi Cola we walk out to the main road and wait on the corner. Leaving downtown area we catch our bus at another corner, that itself is around the corner from a main bus area called Ratna Park.

To discover where the bus is going you have to ask the bus jockey if his bus is going to your destination. The bus jockey works in conjunction with the driver. The jockey is typically a younger man in flip flops who hangs out the side door of the bus yelling destinations, whistling, hitting the side of the bus and and taking fares. On a crowded bus the driver wouldn't be able to see his jockey, so they rely on a system of bangs. Buses drive on the inside 'lane' of traffic, while the jockey yells out the destination. It took a while for us to understand these calls, as the jockey will quickly string multiple sub- destinations before calling the end of the line one. He will bang on the outside of the bus when he wants the driver to stop to let a passenger on. He'll also bang to tell him to go on, and I have no idea how the driver tells the difference. The jockey is perched in the stairwell and will jump off frequently- walking beside the bus for a few metres while calling to the crowds to attract customers. The bus will start to pull away, and the jockey (in flip flops) will run beside before swinging himself up and neatly jumping back on board.

In peak hours, when is it standing room only, double the number of passengers as there are seats can be riding. The last bus we were on had seats for 24 passengers and another 24 (or more) were standing up. When it is that busy my bus joke is to ask Heath and Raven how many butts they are touching. The more butts we are touching (with our butts), the busier the bus! Hand rails have been welded to the ceiling and top of the inside walls for holding on, as the bus can lurch and stop without warning. Near the stairwell is typically an open space for standing room only, and most buses have seating up at the front next to the driver, who may be driving either a left or right hand drive. Heath is too tall for most of the buses, so if he doesn't get a seat, he has to stand with his head tilted to the side for whole the half an hour ride. 

 Heath's standing bus ride head tilt

 Raven crammed on the side of the seat, attempting to play on her Ipod..

There is usually music playing, varied from rocking Nepalese- Western fusion ,traditional Nepalese, Western or the radio. The dashboard typically hosts a mini altar- either a statue of a god, a rotating prayer wheel, dried marigold chains or pictures with various tikkas applied to or around them to ensure a safe journey.

The roadways in Nepal appear to have little order. When a small gap opens up then that is space enough for passing, and drivers, especially the motorcyclists will take the opportunity. It is not unusual for vehicles to be so close to the bus that if you wanted to reach your hand out the window and touch the riders, you could. I think the bicyclists are the boldest of the all. They ride at almost the same speed as the rest of the traffic, and think nothing of passing a larger vehicle, including a bus at very close range. Many of the bicyclists and cyclists are laden down with an assortment of bulky items. We have seen whole families on motorbikes; parents with small children perched on the front or in between the adults, as well bikes laden down with things like panes of glass, large boxes, or fresh vegetables hanging in plastic bags from the crash bars. Any thing you could imagine can be transported creatively this way.

None of this roadway chaos happens at great speed. Jay-walking is the norm in Kathmandu. There are so many bicycles, pedestrians, mopeds, small CC motorcycles, cars, trucks and buses on the road that the only way to cross a roadway is to wait for a small gap, then start boldly walking across, in front of oncoming traffic, which will honk to let you know that they see you. My strategy is to wait for a local to initiate the crossing, then make sure that I am beside and slightly behind them. If a vehicle is to slam into us, hopefully it would not hit me first.