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NEW AUTHOR IN TOWN - WELCOME MASTER IAN PARKER!!
Thursday 27/3/08 - Border Crossing into India and 10 Hour Bus Journey to Varanassi!
Today was an early start to get us out of our hotel by 7.15am. Baggage was piled into a couple of tuk-tuks, whilst we squeezed into some others for the short ride to the border post at Sunali. Glad we weren't crossing in a vehicle as there was a queue of lorries at least two miles long on the Nepalese side of the border, all bizarrely loaded with gravel - don't they have any gravel in India? - Most of them looked as if they had been there for quite some time, and we saw no movement whatsoever whilst we were crossing into India.
Most peculiar border, which the unwary could cross without being aware they had done so, as it just felt like a continuation of the same street with shops etc continuing to trade in the area between the two immigration offices, and no apparent control over who went from one side to the other - our Nepalese tour guide (Krish) came across with us to meet his Indian counterpart (Abhi) without bothering the immigration or customs officers, and presumably managed to return when we had said our farewells! Worryingly the baggage was sent on ahead in a couple of rickshaws whilst we filled out the necessary forms for officialdom, but the system worked and we were all reunited with our bags a couple of hundred yards the other side of the border, where a bus was waiting to take us on the 10 hour drive to Varanassi.
Very long day of travel with only a couple of brief toilet and food stops to break the monotony. Mostly rural countryside with small towns and villages that looked very much like those we had seen in Nepal.
Arrived at our hotel in Varanassi just before 7pm, checked in, then had a brief 'team meeting' to discuss the itinerary for India, and fill out the inevitable forms for Abhi. After that we had a very nice meal, along with a couple of beers, in the hotel restaurant before we retired to bed for the night.
Thursday 27/3/08 - Border Crossing into India and 10 Hour Bus Journey to Varanassi!
Today was an early start to get us out of our hotel by 7.15am. Baggage was piled into a couple of tuk-tuks, whilst we squeezed into some others for the short ride to the border post at Sunali. Glad we weren't crossing in a vehicle as there was a queue of lorries at least two miles long on the Nepalese side of the border, all bizarrely loaded with gravel - don't they have any gravel in India? - Most of them looked as if they had been there for quite some time, and we saw no movement whatsoever whilst we were crossing into India.
Most peculiar border, which the unwary could cross without being aware they had done so, as it just felt like a continuation of the same street with shops etc continuing to trade in the area between the two immigration offices, and no apparent control over who went from one side to the other - our Nepalese tour guide (Krish) came across with us to meet his Indian counterpart (Abhi) without bothering the immigration or customs officers, and presumably managed to return when we had said our farewells! Worryingly the baggage was sent on ahead in a couple of rickshaws whilst we filled out the necessary forms for officialdom, but the system worked and we were all reunited with our bags a couple of hundred yards the other side of the border, where a bus was waiting to take us on the 10 hour drive to Varanassi.
Very long day of travel with only a couple of brief toilet and food stops to break the monotony. Mostly rural countryside with small towns and villages that looked very much like those we had seen in Nepal.
Arrived at our hotel in Varanassi just before 7pm, checked in, then had a brief 'team meeting' to discuss the itinerary for India, and fill out the inevitable forms for Abhi. After that we had a very nice meal, along with a couple of beers, in the hotel restaurant before we retired to bed for the night.
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