We left at night on the - what turns out to be- long bus trip to Nepal/Kathmandu. The train was good - late as usual, but good, We got to Gorakhpur in the morning and caught the local bus to the border. The visa was $100 for a 3 month visit and everything went smooth except for Larry being sick. Stomach, intestines, everything seemed to be in an uproar for him. We found a good taxi deal- spending $20 each for 286 very long km, which took all of 7 hours, because we were going through the mountain,yes, the Himalayas!
Having had plenty of time to watch the traffic in the front seat, I am confident to report the following: UAE, India and Nepal have a certain way about their driving. All the participants seem to be on the same page- it's a team efford! I am simply blown away, that I haven't been wittness of any accidents so far. "Close calls" are a given and I know there are accidents, but the goal is to get everybody where they need to goand each member of the traffic is helping out - for themself AND each other (it takes a while to actually SEE that!). Nobody is trying to be right or make the other wrong. The constant honking is a form of communication, not an aggression. It can mean anything from: "Hello, I am here, passing you." "I love driving down this road" or simply: "driving through" People cut lanes and weave in and out and push one another out of the way, but it is all expected and everybody does it and nobody gets upset, pissed or aggressively angry.
