Hey everyone,
Thank you for reading my blog and I appreciate your continuous support.
I have been to Kathmandu in February 2013 for 2 weeks. I am posting this write-up quite late because I have been caught up with many things till now. I saw, witnessed and learnt many things during my short stay there. I was always afraid to get into a taxi. Besides I have been told look at your meter when you get into taxi.
I took a lot of cab (taxi) while I was there. It was quite surprising to see how taxi drivers look at your get-up, your status and put up the taxi fare. You literally had to tell them that this is the maximum amount I am going to give you and if you agree I will get into the cab otherwise we can look for another one. When me and my sister came out of a beauty parlour to go for the wedding reception, the taxidrivers asked us double price. May be they got confused with our make up and all but hey they didn't know I was broke. :P haha
Every taxi I took to go to my destinations, I tried to have a good conversation with the driver. I am a driver myself (not taxi :D) and I know how it feels like driving when people treat you like a driver. I would normally start with saying, ' How long have you been driving a taxi?', then they all have different stories to recite. There was one driver we met in temple Pashupatinath; a very famous Hindu temple. He was middle-
aged man with family and children as grown up as me. He said he had been driving since 20 years and he had driven in many places. He drove truck, bus, mini bus, micro bus and all and now he is driving taxi, his own investment so far. He said his only dream is to educate his children so that they could lead better life than him in future. It was pleasant talking to him. He dropped us in Thamel, the happening (hippie) place of Kathmandu I suppose.
The other day we got into another taxi and again there was a middle-aged driver. It was almost evening and he was refusing to go far, our hometown was not that far from that place but he wanted extra money so that he can cover the cost of coming back empty. Well we had to negotiate the reasonable taxi fare. Again we started chatting, he started telling us his version of stories about how two women got him into trouble. He also said he hesitated little bit when he first saw me and my sister trying to persuade him to take us to our destination. On the other hand we were more worried of getting into a cab driven by unknown person. It's a wild world mate. He did gave us a good suggestion,' Do not get into a cab where there is a driver and another person on the front passenger's seat no matter what.' Well, things happen and we can't help it. But there is no harm in being careful beforehand.
Another evening, it was raining very heavily and my sister and sister-in-law decided to pick me up from my friend's place. The driver was a young man. He was already agitated by their (my family) demands of picking me up from dark (loadshedding time) and solitary place (bit furthur inside from main road). When we reached our home he demanded triple price and he threaten us that he would take us back to the place where he picked us up. I acted calmly (usually I am not), I was annoyed but it was not going to help. To be honest, it was my area, there was no need for us to worry, we can call for help and it would be right there. But I just thought he did bring us home safely so we gave him double money not triple and told him not to be so hot headed, calm down and drive back safely.
Our family know a driver dai (brother) who knows us. He owns his own taxi and drives around but whenever we need him, he is always there. I could somehow see how important his role is when we need any transportation. Someone whom we can trust without any reservations. He told me he drives when people phone him and ask him to come, that means he does not drive around like other taxi drivers. It is their safety as well, there is insecurity for everybody nowadays. We do not have a car in our household because no one drives. I drive but in London. This driver brother has plenty of stories to tell us. I did suggest him to invest on his own cab company and run it. (As I have seen in London). On our way to the airport there was a traffic jam (could not believe a traffic jam in Ekantakuna), he took a short cut. Oh my god, he was showing a stunt I guess. The road was so small that a pedestrian had to move aside to give us the way. He did managed to take us to airport on time. We knew he would not accept money from us (he gets it from mom and dad) so we just gave some money asking him to buy something for his children.
In 2013, the streets of Kathmandu is full of mud, dust and signs of excavation. Apparently, the current government planned to widen the roads. There is hardly any space for the pedestrians to walk. The large number of motorbikes on the road makes it even worse. When I left Kathmandu in 2002, there were limited cars and limited motorbikes and scooters. This time around I could see that we might need a separate motorbike lanes, separate traffic regulations only for motorbikes. At a junction near Goarko (Guna Cinema Hall)during rush hour, I could see there were so many motorbikes in the queue, joining in and trying to get ahead of each other from every remaining inch of the road. We could not walk outside without face mask and protective glasses. I am not saying that I went to visit from England and having difficult time but even people living there were doing the same thing as me. I did spend my entire teenage in Kathmandu, roaming around Jawalakhel, Lagankhel, Putalisadak, New Road, King's Way, Satdobato and all. I love Kathmandu valley. Hopefully one day it will be better, clean, organised and dust free.
All the best to those hardworking taxi drivers of Kathmandu who are honest and earn a honest living for themselves and their families. You are the ones who drives us safely to our destination assuring safety and comfort. Those dishonest and crooked taxi drivers will get what they deserve sooner or later cause they are the ones who makes the system bad.
Drive safe, be safe, be vigilant and be alert !!!
limshaku
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| Infront of the Pashupatinath Temple |
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| I am a food lover. |
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| A newly furnished Chinese Restaurant in Jhamel :) |
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| Local Bus ride :P |
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| wish i could get wisdom like Lord Buddha |
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| Where you can find peace |
