Lumbini, Nepal - Gorakhpur, India
With our newly acquired stamps we walk across the border and into no mans land. A street of about 1 kilometer, struggling to find the Indian Immigration. After about 800 meters we find it and hand over our passports for an arrival stamp. The workers at the Indian immigration were very disinterested in us, merely glancing up when we walked in or bothering to tell us we could go.
Surprisingly we weren't able to find much reliable information on how to do the border crossing between Nepal & India. When the internet fails you, local knowledge is key.
Our hotel manager gave us some directions to stand out the front of the hotel & to wave down a local bus that will take us to the border town in Nepal called Belahiya. There are no tourist bus's that go this way.
Our hotel manager gave us some directions to stand out the front of the hotel & to wave down a local bus that will take us to the border town in Nepal called Belahiya. There are no tourist bus's that go this way.
We wait about 10 minutes, being amused by the local monkey population.
We then flag down a bus at 8.30am and hop on board, find 2 individual seats amongst the locals. It cost us 50 NPR each.
Overnight it stormed and rained, leaving the ground wet & the humidity stifling even at this hour of the morning.
Because it is a local bus service, there is a lot of stopping & starting as people get off & on.
Because it is a local bus service, there is a lot of stopping & starting as people get off & on.
The bus drops us off before Belahiya & we get on board another local bus bound for Sonauli on the other side of the border for 15 NPR each. We have no idea what to expect. Luckily as the bus's drive past they yell their destinations. After hearing "Sonauli Sonauli Sonauli " it's hard to not know where you are going. It helps that when we got on the first bus there was 2 friendly Nepalese blokes who got on with us & are also going to Sonauli. I think following them is a safe bet and a cheaper way than us getting lost & needing to pay for cabs. We arrived just before the border, not in Sonauli at 10.30am.
The border between Nepal & India is an absolute mess, theres not 1 official thing about it! We have no idea where to go & follow the crowd before we are stopped by officials who check our passports & tell us we need departure stamps..... from where exactly ?!
We receive several pointed directions and found a small red building where we fill out departure cards & get our departure stamps. We are the only people here, perhaps locals from either side dont need to do any procedural things & can walk across the border. There's no security screening or questioning about prohibited items.
With our newly acquired stamps we walk across the border and into no mans land. A street of about 1 kilometer, struggling to find the Indian Immigration. After about 800 meters we find it and hand over our passports for an arrival stamp. The workers at the Indian immigration were very disinterested in us, merely glancing up when we walked in or bothering to tell us we could go.
After we got our arrival stamp we hopped on a local bus destined for Ghorakhpur. A bargain at 100 INR each in comparison to the taxis 1500 NPR. It was again, sweltering hot & crammed full of people getting off & on the bus with various items of 'luggage' including bundles of firewood & baskets of fruit.
It already looks & feels like India with an abrupt change of language, mannerisms & clothing. As we drive through the country side we are seeing lots & lots of rubbish everywhere & people living in poverty.
We drive past complexes of shanty town buildings made from scraps. The houses that are standing are a similar design as the ones in Nepal, tall, slender with multiple levels & balconies.
We arrive at Ghorakhpur at 2pm & ask the driver if we can get off just as the street our hotel is on approaches. He says no & makes an excuse about our bags needing to be unloaded from the back of the bus taking too long, despite dropping locals off every 2 kilometers & retrieving their luggage off the bus roof. We got shoo'd off the bus about half an hour after we asked to get off. Tom went for a walk up the main street to barter for a taxi, only to return empty handed as none of them wanted to take us to our hotel. While standing on the on the street waiting for Tom, I noticed an overwhelming smell of urine, assuming it was from the sludge in the gutter only to turn and look 5 meters to my left at a guy urinating on a wall. Not really the best welcome to a country we've had.
We shoulder our packs & walk 10 minutes down the main road, dripping in sweat. We come to another queue of taxis & Tom starts negotiating with a driver, before long there is about 10 taxi drivers standing around us, staring, most at my concealed chest & bare ankles. It's very off putting. I can tell Tom is getting very frustrated, one of the Indian men is continually interrupting & talking over him. An agreement must have been made as we get in the taxi.
Tom later tells me they wanted 1000 INR for the taxi fare & he talked them down to 800 with difficulty, the reason they wanted so much money was cause it's hot, but the taxi had great air con .....
It's not soon enough before we get to our hotel! We booked this accommodation weeks ago while applying for our Indian Visa, thankfully we had the foresight to book a room with a/c. It is by far the nicest room we've stayed in while travelling. It's more like a unit in size & features gold detailing on the roof, diamond shaped door ways & windows. By the time we check in it's around 2.30pm & we are hungry! The hotel desk staff is not overly helpful with finding a restaurant, his young son is more helpful & despite not understanding us very well follows us down the road on his bicycle pointing at places. We go into one of these places that looks the least dodgy. Weirdly they don't sell any cold drinks or most of the things on the menu & are struggling to understand us. We point to multiple vegetarian dishes while saying "no meat" I think they eventually figured it out. Lunch was a big bowl of Palak Paneer curry with tofu & big chunks of veg & naan bread. I've been waiting my whole life to eat a palak paneer in India, I was not disappointed!
We arrive at Ghorakhpur at 2pm & ask the driver if we can get off just as the street our hotel is on approaches. He says no & makes an excuse about our bags needing to be unloaded from the back of the bus taking too long, despite dropping locals off every 2 kilometers & retrieving their luggage off the bus roof. We got shoo'd off the bus about half an hour after we asked to get off. Tom went for a walk up the main street to barter for a taxi, only to return empty handed as none of them wanted to take us to our hotel. While standing on the on the street waiting for Tom, I noticed an overwhelming smell of urine, assuming it was from the sludge in the gutter only to turn and look 5 meters to my left at a guy urinating on a wall. Not really the best welcome to a country we've had.
We shoulder our packs & walk 10 minutes down the main road, dripping in sweat. We come to another queue of taxis & Tom starts negotiating with a driver, before long there is about 10 taxi drivers standing around us, staring, most at my concealed chest & bare ankles. It's very off putting. I can tell Tom is getting very frustrated, one of the Indian men is continually interrupting & talking over him. An agreement must have been made as we get in the taxi.
Tom later tells me they wanted 1000 INR for the taxi fare & he talked them down to 800 with difficulty, the reason they wanted so much money was cause it's hot, but the taxi had great air con .....
It's not soon enough before we get to our hotel! We booked this accommodation weeks ago while applying for our Indian Visa, thankfully we had the foresight to book a room with a/c. It is by far the nicest room we've stayed in while travelling. It's more like a unit in size & features gold detailing on the roof, diamond shaped door ways & windows. By the time we check in it's around 2.30pm & we are hungry! The hotel desk staff is not overly helpful with finding a restaurant, his young son is more helpful & despite not understanding us very well follows us down the road on his bicycle pointing at places. We go into one of these places that looks the least dodgy. Weirdly they don't sell any cold drinks or most of the things on the menu & are struggling to understand us. We point to multiple vegetarian dishes while saying "no meat" I think they eventually figured it out. Lunch was a big bowl of Palak Paneer curry with tofu & big chunks of veg & naan bread. I've been waiting my whole life to eat a palak paneer in India, I was not disappointed!
After this we tried 3 different ATM's before having success. Having access to money in India could be difficult & expensive as the daily withdrawal limit is very small.
Oh well, we will have to do some research & see what other travellers do. I'm a bit nervous even thinking about walking around in India with lots of money.
By 4.30pm we were finally showered & enjoying our air con room. I'm not keen to leave the hotel again, the neighborhoods got a dicey feel, the people aren't friendly and the stares feel hostile and edgy. We dodge piles of rubbish that's on fire & feel sorry for the cows that can't help but eat rubbish mixed in with the sparse grass.
Tonight promises to be uneventful & quite. We have lots more planning & research for our time in India. I'm hoping once we get into a more touristy route, things will get better.
-Alli
By 4.30pm we were finally showered & enjoying our air con room. I'm not keen to leave the hotel again, the neighborhoods got a dicey feel, the people aren't friendly and the stares feel hostile and edgy. We dodge piles of rubbish that's on fire & feel sorry for the cows that can't help but eat rubbish mixed in with the sparse grass.
Tonight promises to be uneventful & quite. We have lots more planning & research for our time in India. I'm hoping once we get into a more touristy route, things will get better.
-Alli
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