Cars are not too common here. The only cars are taxis. These are usually tiny Kias, Hyundais or Suzukis with roof racks on top. You see the odd SUV in the countryside but its use is purely functional as opposed to status. To get from town to town one uses the local bus. Tourist buses that travel direct are more comfortable but they are not exactly modern. There are no trains here. Thus, the best way to get around is on a motor-bike. They are everywhere and on every terrain carrying any amount of people and baggage. There are plenty of vans too. The most common of these is the Toyota Hosanna in the Hiace. These are typically people carriers and seem to be kings of the road, they have enough speed and size to dominate.
The highway code is such that the bigger vehicle has right of way. One also has to honk to overtake. This gives people the false sense of security that if they honk then it is safe to overtake. Such thinking inevitably means that you pull-out to overtake and then check what is coming as opposed to checking first. The manoeuvres I have seen are jaw-dropping but everybody seems to get along and enjoys the entertainment. I inhabit the inside of the road. Overtaking buses and trucks leave both me and them with no margin for error, in most cases I have the option to ride the dirt. The people with the best view of the road are the guys that happily climb onto the roofs of buses and sit with the luggage. They seem to have parties up there as it is not uncommon to see a guy strumming on a guitar. Unfortunately is not too unusual to see a truck that has run off the road. On the Prithvi Highway to Pokhara I saw three such cases. The first case below is a little bizarre as he totally lost it. Traffic travels on the left-hand-side like at home, so this guy managed to drive onto the other side of the road and then into the gully. This means that the driver took the biggest hit in this case as the driver-side is what toppled first. I can only imagine he was traveling in the dark and didn't realise where he was on the Highway. There is no such thing as a street-light here.
The local buses and trucks are Indian manufactured Tatas. They are colourful affairs decked out with streamers and tinsel. They always have a slogan on the back, 'Road King' or 'Horn Please' would be common but I have come across the following which was good for a mid-ride chuckle; 'Don't Love, Love is Painful'.