“Beautiful” (Carole King)

Based on what I have seen thus far, Nepal could easily make a claim to be the most beautiful country in the world. The only thing the country seems to have in common with its neighbour India is the drivers. They are still nuts. But in every other regard it seems to be a world apart. Scenery just across the Nepal border:

We crossed the border from India to Nepal at a very small border post near Mahendranagar. After being told that the border didn’t open until 6pm (we arrived at 3pm, and then sat for 3 hours watching as literally hundreds of people walked through the border – the truck seemed to be the problem), it turned out that the problem was actually something to do with the weight of the truck and the height of the river that we needed to cross on the bridge (although this problem seemed to be less of an issue after the handing over of a bit of money…) So just after 6 we headed across the first of two bridges that led us to the Indian border control. They weren’t the most truck-friendly bridges ever, and we did manage to give some unsuspecting local dawdlers the fright of their life as they realised what was behind them, but finally we arrived and then spent over an hour being processed out of the country by three of the most unhelpful (and underemployed) border guards yet. We are still all a little mystified as to why it takes so long for them to agree to let you out of a country!

Crossing the bridge to get to Indian immigration and on to Nepal:

When we had eventually cleared the formalities we drove the 2kms to the Nepalese side of the border only to discover that the immigration office was closed. Disaster! As we looked around the no-mans land that we found ourselves in assessing whether we could camp on the front lawn of the immigration office, Pete went to talk to the border guard who was fortunately still there (although not on duty). After a brief discussion, Pete came back to the truck and said simply, “I love Nepal”. The border guard had told him that as the office was closed (and we have a sneaking suspicion that beer o’clock had come quite early for him), we could drive through the border and come back in the morning to be processed. Customs was a similarly relaxed process, and so we headed off to find a hotel in the town. We eventually settled on Hotel Opera and headed straight into the hotel restaurant. Several of the group were very excited by the Pizza Hut and KFC logos on the menu, however were then a little disappointed to discover that just meant they offered pizza and fried chicken! But the most exciting thing on the menu was definitely the alcoholic drinks which we had not seen on a menu for weeks! It would have been rude not to order some…

More amazing scenery, and some nice straight roads:

The next day we set off (after clearing immigration) to head towards Pokhara. We had briefly considered stopping at Bardia National Park to see if we could find a tiger this time, however when we found out that they only had 5 tigers in the whole park, it seemed a bit of a waste of time, so we ended up pushing all the way through to Butwal. It was a very interesting drive for a couple of reasons. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous – huge hills, brilliant green rice paddies, attractive houses, and none of the litter that was such a prominent feature in India. Everything just seemed so much cleaner and neater than in India. The roads were very clear, courtesy of the chronic shortage of diesel in the country that has put so many of the cars, trucks and buses off the road, and we were able to fly along (literally at one stage as there was a bump in the road that Pete didn’t see until we were airborne!) As we were heading through a village at one stage we were amazed to see the EOE truck (the one we had seen in Goreme) going in the opposite direction! They are heading to Mumbai to then fly to Bangkok and continue their journey in the same way as us, again victims of the closed Chinese border. The two overland trucks parked up on the main road, and Pete chatting to the EOE crew drew quite a crowd! We are very used to being stared at, although they did take it to a new level in India.

The EOE truck and the crowd watching Pete and the other crew chat:

The other interesting thing that happened on our drive was coming across a huge queue of traffic waiting to cross a river in which was stuck a truck with a broken front axle. The locals were attempting to pull it out using a digger dumper, but they didn’t have an appropriate rope. So in return for the use of our tow rope, we were able to barge our way to the front of the queue. While the girls sat on the truck getting stared at, the boys went to “help”, well Pete helped while the others looked on and Rich took photos! Eventually the truck was hauled out of the river and it was our turn to cross, which was slightly more exciting than we had envisaged particularly when we stalled, but Archie pulled through and we were again on our way. It was a very long day on the truck, and we had our first experience of driving at night in a country where headlights appear to be optional (and an unpopular option at that), and people, cows and water buffalo (generally considered to be the most stupid animal we come across) wander along the road, or sit in the middle of it, seemingly unconcerned that there may be oncoming traffic. Absolutely insane.

Crofty & me:

From Butwal we headed up into the hills to Tansen (or Palpa) – it was a very nice town with several temples and a lovely restaurant with impeccable service. At night, when we returned there for dinner, we witnessed our first Nepalese demonstration, which Pete believes was put on for our benefit as it is fair to say that the locals noticed our arrival (they also noticed our departure, but more on that later). Seeing a queue of 50 people waiting patiently for fuel for cooking, seeing all the electricity go out at 9pm, and driving past entire parking lots of trucks and buses with no diesel, you start to get a picture of why protests are becoming increasingly common. But despite it all, people are still smiling. It is quite humbling.

From Tansen we headed to Pokhara, again an absolutely stunning drive. Our departure from Tansen was slightly delayed by Archie who decided to supplement his usual flat battery with a faulty diesel pump. Nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a bit of hosepipe and a couple of jerry cans, and the usual crowd of 50 locals. One of the locals who was particularly fascinated by the truck (his thorough investigation of the truck included wiping some of the dirt off the side of the truck and smelling it) decided that by watching Pete’s every move for an hour and a half that he had helped sufficiently to get a reward, and his chosen reward was Pete’s watch. Pete disagreed.

Rich, Jo, Edel and myself were lucky enough to get up onto the roof seats for most of the journey, and provided you watch out for the occasional low branch (or power line), it is the best way to travel! We all took countless photos of the fantastic scenery which I will be able to bore you all with when I get back...

More amazing scenery:

Edel and me on the roof: