加满都的巴士服务
加满都没有一座像样的巴士站，不知道为什么，这里的巴士站都没有站的，只有巴士。譬如前两次前往Pokhara的巴士站就是露天的路旁，早上所有的巴士就停泊在哪儿，你买了车票就自己找巴士。
今早前赴Syabrubesi 的巴士站也是一样，就是在大路旁的一块红泥空地上，除了巴士，还停泊着其他交通工具，如大小型的卡车，汽车及单车。唯一有站的就是售票处，买了票就得自己去找相关的巴士，巴士前没有目的地的牌示，只能认清号码。
车票没有表明车位号码，所以可以随意坐，当然每个人都想抢前位，原因很简单，巴士开行之后你就会明白。巴士通常都不会准时开行，但也不会至于太延误，只是即使是长途巴士都会绕道去其他的车站载客，由于没有规定的候车区，乘客就在路旁等，巴士到了检票员都要大声喊叫巴士前往的目的地，预先买票的就会上来。所以兜来兜去，有时巴士开了将近一个小时，它竟然还没离开加满都！
巴士离开了加满都，你以为这种长途快速巴士是不会停下来随意载客的了，那你就大错特错。今天我们乘搭的巴士只要有人想前往一路上的乡村小镇，他们都会停下来，尤其是进入高山的马路，出其不意地会冒出人来，只要挥一挥手，它又再停下来。在尼泊尔，巴士是可以在路上的任何地点停下来载客或卸客的，所以常常导致交通阻碍。
巴士虽然表明有冷气设备，但通常都不会开，就算开了也不会冷，最主要的是在尼泊尔常常都要攀山越岭，所以上山的时候，巴士就如拉牛上树，非常吃力，对冷气机是一种严重耗费，很快的就坏了，十辆冷气巴士之中，通常只有一两辆的冷气还可以、其他的都只能开小风扇，坐在里边就像烤焗在火炉箱里一样。
至于为何人人要抢前座，那是因为尼泊尔境内的马路损坏程度很糟糕，而且从来很少会去修复，就这样的到处都是深浅不一的坑洞，巴士走得又慢又颠簸，坐在后面的话可能会遭受脑震荡呢！
There is still no decent bus station in Kathmandu, it’s incomprehensible for such a huge city, and the absence of a bus station complex is bewildering. Previously, when we took a bus to Pokhara, the second biggest city in Nepal, we got on the bus beside the road. A similar situation occurred this morning when we took the bus to Syabrubesi, it was on an empty compound beside the main road too. All the buses to various destinations were parked there, and passengers scrambled around to identify the bus plate numbers as shown on the tickets, and some buses didn’t even have any signboards displaying the name of the final destinations.
Most of the time, the buses are slightly late to set off, and they will detour to other bus stations, open air, of course, to pick up passengers, not only the ones with pre-purchased tickets but also on the spot. So after going around for about 45 minutes, you still find yourself right in Kathmandu. Then your bus eventually leaves the city and you are relieved that it will head straight to your final destination, then you are dead wrong. For this kind of express air-conditioned bus, some even display non-stop on its external body, never believe it, as it can always stop anywhere to pick up passengers from the roadside, the aircon hardly works because the bus usually has to toil itself uphills, so it’s the first part of the bus that goes kaput.
That’s why for a journey of about 120km, you have to spend around 7-8 hours on the road, the deploring condition of the road is the main contributing factor, and the nuisance of stopping incessantly to get passengers is a culprit too.
And lastly, most of the passengers would fight their lives out to grab the front seats, the reason is simple, the road with countless potholes ensures a really bumpy ride so severe that it will probably cause brain concussion if you dare to sit on the last row!
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