A long bus ride
Trip Start
Sep 17, 2007
1
85
272
Trip End
Oct 08, 2008
Sunauli,
India
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
The wonderful buses we were used to in Rajasthan were conspicuously absent east of Delhi. Also absent was any attempt at leg-room. It was going to be a long ride.
And it was. A downed bridge meant we had to go 50 km out of our way. A two-hour lunch stop seemed very unneccesary. In short, we didn't reach the border until 10 at night. Theoretically the Indian border closes at 10 while the Nepal border is open 24 hours. In practice that meant we got quickly through the Indian side and had to wake up the Nepali border officials. Strangely enough, Nepal won't accept its own currency for border visas. They require US dollars. In Kathmandu it's the opposite. I read a pretty funny travellogue entry where they had the wrong currency both times trying to get their visas.
We stayed at a really crappy hotel across the border and then got up for the 7 o'clock bus to Kathmandu that was actually the 6:30 bus to Kathmandu (close one...). We rebelled against the "luggage loading charge" and were confirmed by a local that said they don't pay. There is no luggage loading charge...just a scam. A very pervasive one.
This bus was even more cramped than the other. But at least we were heading to Kathmandu. We even arrived before the sun set. A hard two days of travelling, but we had escaped from India and arrived in Nepal.
~Travis
