It was around 1:30 am on Tuesday. Arjun Karki woke up at his home in Pathari Shanishchare Municipality, Morang, as he had to attend office in Kathmandu. By 2:00 am, he reached the East-West Highway, which was completely empty and he rode west on his motorcycle.
Karki had reached Morang from Kathmandu to celebrate Tihar with his family and was bound to attend his office by 10 am on Tuesday.
“I decided to leave early in a bid to reach Kathmandu by office time. The road was empty and it allowed riding as fast as I wanted. It was risky but I was aware of when to slow down. Before dawn I was in Bardibas and by 7:30 am I arrived in Koteshwor via the BP Highway. It was the fastest I arrived in Kathmandu on a motorcycle; earlier it would take at least six hours,” said Karki, a 26-year-old who works for an IT company.
The distance between Pathari Shanishchare and Koteshwor via BP Highway (Bardibas-Banepa) is around 390 kilometres; Bardibas is at around 215 kilometres from Pathari Bazaar.
He covered the distance in less than six hours on his bike and easily made it to the office.
“I would have never arrived in so short a time if I had boarded a bus or a van. Having a motorcycle allowed me to go anywhere anytime I wanted,” said Karki.
While buses and vans have been the common mode of transportation for long routes, youths, like Karki, have started opting for motorcycles nowadays. According to Karki, he has travelled to tourist and religious destinations in Morang, Dhankuta, Ilam, Panchthar and Taplejung on his bikes multiple times.
“Public transports have their own schedule. The ride is comfortable but noisy and one cannot stop by when s/he wants or needs. Travelling by one’s own vehicle gives freedom and a sense of satisfaction,” said Bhupen Shrestha, a graduate student in Kathmandu.
Before Dashain, Shrestha travelled to his home in Jhapa with his seven friends on four motorcycles. They travelled via Mugling-Narayanghat road and stayed ovrenight in Chitwan after visiting the national park and headed towards Jhapa the next morning.
According to Shrestha, he and his friends travelled to Mustang on their motorcycles around two months ago. They plan to ride to Mahakali River, the western border of Nepal, two weeks later.
“People used to commute mostly on buses when I started driving. Slowly, a large number of people, youngsters in particular, shifted to two-wheelers. During Dashain and Tihar, there were thousands of two-wheelers travelling to their home towns along the East-West Highway,” said 42-year-old Shankar KC, who has been driving a passenger bus for the past 18 years from Kathmandu to Kakadvitta.
The data of Department of Transport Management shows that over 1.4 million two-wheelers were registered across the country in the last five years – 2016/17 and 2020/21.
Likewise, it isn’t only the boys who travel on two-wheelers. Females can be spotted in large numbers across the country riding both scooters as well as motorcycles (including off-road motorcycles).
“I have journeyed from Kathmandu to my home in Butwal and vice-versa for five times now on my scooter. I have also travelled to Ilam, Pokhara and Palpa. These travels have created a lot of memories as I could enjoy the beauty of our country,” said Sikha Lama, a banker in Kathmandu.
Madhav Gautam, who came to Kathmandu to mark Dashain from the USA, reached the Pathivara Temple in Taplejung with his brother on a bike braving the post-monsoon rains after Dashain.
“Although unexpected rains delayed our travel, it was fun, but we could not return to Kathmandu on the bike as my brother had to fly back to Kathmandu earlier as his son fell ill and was admitted to hospital,” he said. He also flew to Kathmandu as he had no experience of driving a bike on the long route in Nepal although he has done so in the USA.
Meanwhile, the individuals who The Rising Nepal talked to informed that many travel on two-wheelers unprepared. They suggested the riders to have their vehicle checked in a garage before leaving for a long ride and wear safety gears. Not to resort to reckless riding was another recommendation.
They also argued that if the authorities built quality roads across the country, travelling on two-wheelers would increase markedly and help promote domestic tourism.
Source : TRN,
