A rickshaw driver took us the 3 km over the Nepalese border into Birganj (the joint border town with Indian Raxaul) and in time for an early morning feed. From there, along with 12 others, we passed through Immigration and Customs with a minimum of hassles. We encountered a magnificent sunrise at 6am as we walked across the border into Nepal. Our clocks were put forward by 10 minutes.
We were immediately hassled by another rickshaw driver in our efforts to get a truck all the way into Kathmandu. We were offered a 9am ride for 15Re (a buck and a half), which we stupidly knocked back, a move we were to later regret. We finally gave away the attempt at a free hitch (or even a 15Re one!) on any truck by 11am, and along with all the other backpackers ended up having to stay for the day in Birganj. We checked into the Hotel Kailas (10Re each) in order to clean up and rest. We finally managed to book a ticket on a bus for 7am tomorrow (for 25Re!) after many lies and arguments. I was hit by my first attack of diarrhea in the afternoon. I spent
the whole time either resting or wandering the streets of Birganj, looking (fruitlessly) for toilet paper. I finally located a doctor, who charged me 16 Roops for a consultation and medicine. Birganj will not leave me with any fond memories!
Fortunately, I had an excellent nights sleep, with no repetition of the trots, so the medicine appeared to do the trick. We had an early start next morning at 6am to ensure we made the bus stop in time. The Kathmandu bus left at 7.15am but took until 8.30am to get clear of Birganj due to a number of stops and holdups. This was the story of the trip, with us not reaching Kathmandu until 6.15pm after numerous ‘pee stops, plus another half dozen for railway crossings, bribes etc. The trip was decidedly with leg room almost an old man muttering to himself most of the way, and a young fellow sitting in front being really annoying singing a repetitive song.
Apart from angle, it was a beautiful 200km trip. The air was clear and some of the views of the mountains were just breathtaking. We got as high as about 8,000ft and could
look right down on the road winding up into the mountains. A lot of the mountains featured lush green terraces, often in fascinating designs, and were quite a scene with the backdrop of quaint clay and wood houses. The people looked the most fascinating to date – real hilltribe types. The last 10km into Kathmandu was a disgraceful road, but nevertheless quaint with its houses. On arrival, we booked into the Sagar Lodge for the night, which included a hot shower. We had our first meal that evening at the backpacker haunt ‘Eat at Joes, a superb Canadian dish.
The next morning produced a great breakfast, including two plates of porridge. Following that, we had a general wander round, getting oriented with the city, and made a trip to the Tourist Bureau for maps, tourist attractions etc. Kathmandu was a fascinating city, full of backpackers (predominantly freaked out!), and while it was very dirty, it lacked the hustle and bustle of the other large Asian cities. We took a trip down to the Blue Star Hotel and met up with Ted, our Sundowners driver, who would be taking us all the way through to London,
Lunch was a pumpkin pie, a lemon meringue pie and a chocolate pie, all from Joes. We took a stroll around the markets and the tailors shops, netting myself a pair of jeans and other small items for the bus trip. Late afternoon, we checked out a Russian book exhibition (crammed with propaganda) and a selection of Russian films. Nepal was getting economic assistance from the Ruskies and were very keen to give ‘big brother plenty of exposure in return. Other interesting features of the afternoon included some army exercises by the local troops, and Bob reported hed seen a Caucasian freak going absolutely wild.
