Posts Tagged ‘biking’

Posted on May 2, 2009

Commuting to work and the drivers

Commuting to work is an always “exciting” experience. Paraphrasing the great Forest Gump, it is exciting because you “never know what you are going to get.”

Every morning like in most cities, I suit up with my cycling gear – helmet, sunglasses, backpack, and for the first time a breathing mask or cowboy-style bandanna. As soon as I leave the compounds and chat with poppy, the adventure begins.

My bicycle bell rings non-stop, I’m constantly looking out for new potholes, wandering lethargic street dogs (and street cows), holding my breath when crossing our polluted river, dodging the morning traffic of bustling Nepalese merchants – my senses are already heightened and I am only still in  my neighbourhood. When I finally hit the main roads to work, I seamlessly blend in with the morning choas.

Survival of the fittest – or the insane

At first, I was scared out of my mind to cycle to work – most of my Nepali colleagues would agree. However, after a few commutes of riding on the left side and a couple of near-death experiences later, I finally began to understand the unique ecosystem of the Nepali roads and thus evolved/adapted in order to survive.

It’s not that bad once you get used to things – the pollution and the constant honking is the worst part. One thing I must say is that the drivers of Nepal (bus drivers, taxi drivers, motorcyclists, etc.) are the best drivers I have ever seen. They have lightning-fast reflexes, keen perception and awareness, and the utmost patience (all zen and no road-rage). As well, being a fairly tall foreigner wearing a loud fake cycling helmet from China on a bike definitely does not go un-noticed on the roads.

Tip: if you look like (or fake the part) of a foreigner who is not biking well such as wobbling around and thrashing your front wheel left and right, drivers will definitely stay clear of you and give you more room on the road. 
 

The Drivers

I often think that drivers here even have their own unwritten road rules and special language using their horns and turn-signals.  Turn-signals especially because when in use they either mean the typical “oh, I am turning my vehicle in this direction now” or better yet, “you can overtake me on this side of the vehicle” or “oh hey you behind me, check out what is coming up on my left side”, or “I’m having a bad day, don’t even try to overtake me”.

Finally, I think the best drivers in the world are the 4×4 Tata drivers who do the trek everyday from the chaotic streets of Kathmandu to industrial Hetauda and back via the Tribhuvan Rajpath road. This road is probably Nepal’s most exciting–indeed, hair-raising–of the country’s mountain roads. These drivers have to be sharp and leave very little room for error as they, along with their sardine-packed passengers, endure very narrow, mountain-side-cliff dirt roads (usually made for one vehicle), and near head-on collisions on a daily basis. 

 

 

 

…always an adventure.

Posted on June 6, 2008

Preparing For Change: Day 1

(Aside: Renting bikes in Ottawa is a great way to get around and see the city. Ottawa has the best city bike paths I have ever seen (riding around the canel, Rideau River, popping in and out the city hot spots was awesome). For about $70 at RentABike, we had our own wheels for a week which was great to take to and from the VSO/CUSO office).

Finally, the day has actually arrived and we immediately got right down to it.

First up, we were introduced to our Preparing For Change (PFC) leaders, Richard and Joel. Both have had volunteer overseas experience and were very engaging and thoughtful mentors. We had an overview of the PFC course, discussed house-keeping/session rules, and of course outlined the overall goals, objectives, and expectations of the course.

Because of scheduling conflicts, we immediately had presentations about “Traveling Overseas” from Hi and “Staying Healthy Overseas” from Dr. Mark Wise. Dr. Mark is a well-known family doctor and director of the Travel Clinic in Toronto. He is the author of “The Travel Doctor™ – Your guide to staying healthy while you travel” and he is the official medical doctor of VSO Canada. Some of the most memorable parts of his talk were:

• 4 types of malaria (1 can actually kill you) and the myth of malaria where “once you get it, you have it for life” is not exactly true. Basically, once you are cured of malaria sometimes it can lie dormant in the liver and release itself anytime later in life.
• be wary of dogs (rabies). had a good-time doing the role playing for that one.
• be pro-active and know where the health clinics are
• poly-pharmacy (take these 7 different pills and call me in the morning)
• “Try not to worry about the bumps on the road and enjoy the journey” – however, most of the roads are really bad and you should really hang on for your life.

“Travel smarts” from Hi: make sure you have a back-up plan in case there is no one there to pick you up at the airport; getting a VISA can be tricky depending on the country; and don’t over pack – you can probably buy everything you need over there.

What have we got ourselves into?

(Dinner was pretty darn good, thanks Stan!)