Nepali Highway Code

After collecting our rental kayaks we arranged transport to Pokhara with GRG adventures (a local rafting company). It’s a 6-7 hour drive through some pretty hectic traffic and it’s fair to say that it was shocking at times for me, as my first time in Nepal I was perhaps a little naive to the ‘rules of the road’. Here’s my attempt at a humorous ‘best guess’ based on my observations.

Rule 1: If in doubt, sound the horn.

The horn is to be sounded to warn others of your presence, to announce your intention to overtake, to express thanks for letting you overtake, to move a chicken out of the road, to move a monkey out of the road, to move a cow out of the… you get the picture. If you know someone on the side of the road, sound the horn, if you see a pretty girl, sound the horn, if you pass some pedestrians, sound the horn. In short, there are very few situations in which it is inappropriate to sound the horn. Though in Kathmandu I did see signs suggesting (I say suggesting, the locals certainly took these suggestions pretty lightly) ‘No Horn’.

Rule 2: Indicators show you which way to go

If you thought indicators signalled an intention to manoeuvre, you were wrong. A right indicator says ‘overtake me’, a left indicator means ‘undertake me’. Indicators in general are optional.

Rule 3: Overtaking

Overtaking is to be performed often and aggressively. Blind corners are no obstacle, merely sound the horn (refer to rule 1) and continue anyway. If faced with oncoming traffic, speed up in order to overtake faster and flash your lights repeatedly. Only if a collision is imminent should you consider applying the brakes.

Rule 4: Lanes

The number of lanes on any road is equal to the number of vehicles, cows, tuk-tuks and pedestrians that will fit into the width of the road … plus one.

Rule 5: Bob Marley

All buses must have a mural of the reggae legend displayed prominently.

Rule 6: Proximity Sensors

In the western world we’re familiar with parking sensors. In Nepal you will need a helpful stranger, a passenger or bus-boy who will helpfully slap your vehicle in some sort of code (I failed to decipher the different patterns) in order to tell you whether you’re about to collide with other vehicles, cliff edges, overhead cables (these were in particular danger from our roof-carried kayaks), etc. This service can be performed from several locations, either standing in the road, leaning out of the door or window of the moving bus, or even perched on the roof (between the kayaks!).