up and the bleeder was bundled into
the back, the ambulance continued.
Apparently, the truck crew were
from India and the long hours on
winding roads together with a drop
of local firewater had been too much.
Reflection from our group on karma,
fate and what would have happened
if we’d been 15 seconds earlier.
The truck crew were fortunate
that they didn’t go off the side as it
plummeted at least 30 meters into the
Trisuli River.
The average speed riding along
this part of the Prithvi Highway was
about 60 kilometres per hour. The
road very windy around the side of
mountains, much like Australia’s
Great Ocean Road. Riders often have
to contend with rockfalls that block
half the road.
At all times as a rider you are on
the look out for oncoming traffic,
overtaking in the most inappropriate
places. The main offenders are the
brightly painted trucks and buses
that use their horns as a sort of early
warning siren. They pass whenever
they feel like it and if you hear a horn
being used around a corner it may
TRAVERSE 76
mean that two trucks are side by side
and heading your way. It makes life
interesting and certainly develops
your horn antenna. The whole coun-
try uses this system of horns very
effectively and therefore the horn is a
very important feature of any vehicle.
It just takes a while to comprehend
the concept and frightens the day-
lights out of you until you realise how
the system works.
There is another issue that also
requires some thought. When ap-
proaching a slow-moving truck from
behind, apart from the horny riding