Top of a Bus

Buses in Nepal are always something of an adventure. With the exception of large cities like Kathmandu and Pokhara, most buses travel from town to town, instead of within the town. There are usually 1-2 official stops in each town/village. The buses are either large, and quite akin to a yellow schoolbus with individual seats, or microbuses, which are like large vans with 3-4 rows in back.
Some buses run on schedule - long distance buses are pretty much it though - and leave at a certain time. These double as local buses, picking up people who want to go just a few kilometers down the road as well as those travelling long distances. Keep in mind though that it takes at least 3 times as long to get anywhere here as at home, as the road are so windy and twisty. A long distance bus will go for 4-5 hours and have covered about 200km in that time.
I mentioned above that there are a few official stops in each village, but a bus can be hailed just like a cab, at any point along the road. It's the same with getting off; if you let the conductor know where you would like the bus to stop, it will! This results in constant stops and starts, but you get used to it.
While the long distance buses do leave at a specific time, there is no guarantee of how fast they will be. While traveling from Gorkha to Lumbini one day, it took 90 minutes to get past my school, a distance that is usually covered in about 15 minutes. We sat in Laxmi for about an hour, with a crowd of people around the bus. None of the 6 of our group on board could figure out what was going on, but eventually we got moving again. At this point itinerary changes like this are so commonplace that the only thing that frustrated me was that I could see my house, and could have slept for an extra hour!
Now that the weather is warm, the buses are extremely hot. Long distances require at least 2 bottles of water, and result in copious amounts of sweating. It doesn't help that the bus is always crammed as full as possible, so there's lots of body heat! The heat and distance combined break long trips into legs, with much needed rest stops along the way. Shade!! It's allright when the bus is moving and you can get the window open (note the combination of the two, one or the other doesn't make a difference). It's when the bus is sitting in the sun that it really becomes an oven.
Some buses don't have a set time to depart, they just fill with people going in the right direction and go. This is the case with local buses, those that go stretches of about 25km in each direction. (this takes just under an hour) It's amazing how many people can fit into a bus; often every seat is full, and there are large bags of fruit and veg, 12.5L canisters of gas and a goat or two in the center aisle. Plus people, they fill the aisle as well, cram into the doorway, and even hang outside it. These buses don't tend to depart until the driver and conductor feel they have enough people. It means that when I climb onto an almost empty bus I know it's going to be a while before I get to my destination, because the bus won't leave until it's full.
It's impressive though, how an empty seat is always immediately filled (with at least one person!), and people filter to the back of the bus to make space. There's never of problem of lots of space in back but a crush of people in front. No available space is left open. I've sat with next to mothers with 2 children on their lap, been sat on by random people in the aisle, and so crammed together with other standing people I didn't need to do much holding on. The roofs are really low too. I hit my head if I don't remember to duck!
All buses tend to play Nepali music, and music videos in some of the larger ones, very loudly. Really, super loud. You can't hear an ipod on max when the music is going. Having listened to so much music during dancing practice for the Jubilee, I recognize some of the songs, and have a few favourites. I have no idea what the songs are about though!
The best part of riding the bus is the roof. All large packages, such as our backpacks, are tied to the top. When there is no more room inside, it also takes passengers. I've only ever seen Nepali men up there, never women, but we climb up there anyways. When its not too cold (so as long as the sun is still fairly high overhead) the top affords the best view of the valley. When its really hot out, its the perfect way to catch a breeze. Plus, now I can say that I've ridden up a mountain on top of a van while sitting on a pile of bananas!
My most memorable experience on the roof was coming back to Laxmii after a week touring trip. Coming from Abu Khaireni (about 45 mins) on the roof, we passed a ton of the kids from my school. Having finished teaching a week before, it was nice to see some of them one last time.
Buses here can be frustrating, as there is no way to know when the next bus will come along. It could be 30 seconds or 30 minutes, and there's no way to know other than to wait. The worst is waiting a long time, because you know that when the bus does arrive it will be absolutely packed. A packed bus, particularly a microbus, won't stop, leaving no option but to wait for the next one, however long that may be.
In addition to local buses there are tourist buses. These are usually air conditioned, have more leg room, and are several times the price of a local bus. However, having been here for so long, none of us would consider taking anything other than a local bus!
The distances involved in my life here - down to school, up to Gorkha - have meant lots of time on the bus. Although we walk to school every morning, and home in the afternoon, if Caitlin and I are going to Gorkha after school we get the bus directly there (and save ourselves 1.5 hrs walking). I'm on the bus at least 2-3 times per week, which increased to 3-4 by March, when the days were longer and we went to Gorkha more often.
Having spent so much time on the bus, by March we could get on and find that the conductor already knew where we wanted to go. As 2 of the only 8 white people within 50 kilometers, and the two that took the bus the most,we stood out quite a bit. Often we would here snatches of conversation that involved some combination of the words volunteer, UK, teaching, Biren Chowk and Laxmi Bazaar. At that point I knew we were really part of the community.