Driving to Chitwan: "People die on that road every day"/Let's do this!

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There's one road between Kathmandu and Chitwan-two major cities and it's all through the mountains with very little keeping you from just falling off. I was told numerous times before and after the ride that people die on this road, people don't know how to drive it or are too confident. Buses, cars, motorbikes, they just fall off. It's just wide enough for two opposing cars to fit if they pass each other slowly. Sometimes there's a bit of railing, other times there's nothing except a drop and a river at the bottom. On the way there I saw 2 or 3 cars that had gone too far on the inside toward the wall of the mountain and they fell in the groove there so they just sat halfway tipped into the big gap. I think, as long is there's no mudslide you are generally okay...?

There weren't enough seats so I was asked to sit in the front. The front is a big space with the driver, a long bench behind the driver and one on the other side. There's a huge thing in the middle which means there's nowhere to put your feet, but otherwise I quite prefer the front since you can see all around and ahead and air comes in from all sides. No a/c by the way. I made a friend as we were meant to share the same little gap to put our feet. Young Nepali guy. He pretended not to speak english at first but boredom won him over within the first hour. We chatted and I learned a lot...I had a lot of questions : )

Anyway look at this beauty! I come from a land of no hills. Pictures don't really do it justice....



It was on this drive I feel like I woke up. I finally felt I was in Nepal, present of mind and body, before then I just felt like my body was there but no feeling of it.

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