Vibrant Varanasi!

Hi all,

We've moved on through a few different locations since the last post so it's about time we shared some of our experiences! The first place we headed to after Pokhara was Varanasi. From Pokhara we caught a bus south to the border crossing at Sunauli and once inside India we caught a local bus to Gorakhpur. We stayed the night in Gorakhpur and caught another bus in the morning. The whole process took about 36 hours!

Varanasi certainly provides an experience at the end of the trail, but it's not a relaxing one, at least not at first! The city is busy and noisy, seemingly without the tenuous constraints of other busy Indian locations. Nevertheless, it provides some beautiful scenes in between the chaos.

This is particularly true at the city's main attraction, the ghats.

There are about 100 ghats in Varanasi. The ghats are formed of steps that run from homes, palaces and temples from a variety of periods in history, down to the river Ganges.

The ghats are extremely revered in Indian culture. They are used for bathing, puja rituals (prayer rituals) and a select few are used to cremate the dead. Each ghat is usually associated with a particular deity and often specific tales of legend.

These huge water pumps are present all along the ghats. They extract water from the Ganges and mark the start of its distribution around the city.

There is a lot of different artwork present along the ghats, stemming from very different artists. Here are some of the more notable examples:

Locals can be seen building and tending to boats along the river. Do not expect to explore the area without being asked whether you'd like a ride every 5 minutes!

If you stop to look, there's some wildlife to be found!

The cities roads are fast, busy and bursting with varied activity.

A good way to escape the bustle is to wander into Varanasi's many alleyways. It's very easy to get lost in the maze of pathways but due to their aesthetically pleasing nature this doesn't present much of a problem.

You're never far from the monkeys!

Trees are found throughout the ghats area, adding a wonderful natural dynamic.

Every evening, at sunset, worshipers come to the ghats to perform pujas all along the riverfront. Some of the smaller ghats are filled with individual or family rituals but the larger, main ghats perform large, spectacular rituals.

The puja ritual is accompanied by musical performers. These guys are playing a hand-pump organ and tablas.

The night brings an entirely different atmosphere to the ghats and the many lights provide a beautiful scene.

After the puja crowds disperse the riverside becomes quite peaceful.

That's it for Varanasi, we hope you all enjoyed it!

Keep tuned for our next steps, we're all go go go at the moment so they'll be shared whenever possible.

Love to you all,

Giraffery, Eve and Jon x

Nepal - The Western Terai and Pokhara.

Hi everyone!

Looks like it's already time for another update! Over the last two weeks we have traveled through a small portion of Nepal. We were unsure whether we would enter the country, dis-encouraged by the limited amount of time we would be able to spend within. 

Whilst it has been hard to allocate such short periods of time and see it coming to an end so quickly, we are glad we came. We have had a wonderful insight into the country and will definitely have to return for longer in the future.

Our time here has been divided into two sections, the first in the west of the country, in Bardia National Park and Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve.

We stayed at 'Mr.B's Place', a small plot of land that has been beautifully tended. Each room is actually a private hut. From there you can buy walking tours, jeep safaris and rafting tours in Bardia National Park.

On the evening we arrived we were shown around the local village, Thakurdwara. The 'Tharu' people who live here originate from the Thar Desert in Rajasthan. Their homes were all beautiful and unique and they were incredibly friendly.

The land is farmed in small plots that are very well kept. The Tharu people are harvesting rice at the moment. As you walk around the area you witness many of the processing stages performed by hand. Other crops grown in the area are similar to that at the Farm Project; mustard leaves, dal, pumpkins, amongst others.

Economy of space - The locals grow pumpkins on the roofs of their buildings.

During small trips around the area it is possible to see wildlife. Two of the more notable sightings include:

Crocodiles! There are two types of crocodile in Bardia National Park. This one is called a Gharial crocodile.

We're also happy to spot the beautiful Langur monkeys as well.

Because we arrived at Mr B's unannounced we were unaware of a large party of people coming to stay a couple of days after we arrived. We were given an opportunity to go to Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve, with My.B himself, to escape the chaos. Ultimately we decided to cut our chances of seeing the big hitters (tigers, rhinos and elephants) in order to go to the almost untouched Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve. Bardia is famous for its high chances to see certain animals but has an almost zoo like atmosphere due to the sheer amount of people trotting about. That said, it certainly isn't anywhere near as bad as a zoo.

After arriving at Shuklaphanta and entering the reserve it was hard to be doubtful of our decision!

These huge spiders lined the entrance road to the reserve. Thankfully they stopped after a while. Our companion on the trip, Daniel, walked into a web and got one on his shoulder. He didn't seem to want it there.

The reserve is full of spotted and swamp deer.

Unfortunately, the closest we got to seeing a tiger was footprints! The tiger had walked along our path some point in the morning but it seems we were too late.

Driving around the grasslands was a lot of fun, the change from sal forest to riverain forest and then grasslands was like nothing we've ever seen before.

We spent a lot of time at this lake called 'Rainital'. We spotted a lot of amazing birds and grazing animals.

We even got a close encounter with an eagle!

Other animals we saw in the park include wild fowl, a monitor lizard, monkeys, wild boar and countless deer, swamp and spotted. We did capture some blurry pictures of them but we spent more time gawping than pointing the device.

Whilst there are rhinos and tigers in the area, the elephants are fully wild coming in and out of the reserve as they please. Because of this there sometimes isn't any in the area. We were slightly disappointed that we didn't see any of the epics but we knew we were taking the tougher chance by going to Shuklaphanta. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful place and we enjoyed it a lot.

Back at the tents at the end of the last day we had our most important sighting. Yes, that is a monkey with a banana! Worth.

From Shuklaphanta we drove back to Ambassa, near Mr.B's, and caught a bus over night to Pokhara in central Nepal.

Pokhara is situated alongside Phewa lake. This view is from a nearby ridge, on the way up to the World Peace Pagoda.

We hiked up through a beautiful forest to reach the pagoda. 

The view from our hotel provided some beautiful morning and evening skies.

Pokhara is a hub of activity. Travelers and tourists come here for the treks, paragliding, food, scenery and people. There is so much here to do that our measly amount of time seems hugely inadequate. After getting over ourselves and enjoying the place as we much as we could, we realised that we need to come back here as well! 

To be honest we've spent most of our time here eating chocolate, drinking coffee and beer. We've spoilt ourselves rotten after a couple of months devoid of luxuries. We had our first hot (warm) shower in 2 months! 

As well as walking around the area and admiring the place we did also go out on the lake:

It's really cheap to hire a boat so we escaped the bustle for a couple of hours.

Heading to the other side of the lake the shoreline is natural and good for exploring!

As we mentioned before a few weeks is not nearly enough for Nepal, especially if you plan to travel across the country as we did. You can fly into Kathmandu and get straight to Pokhara, but apart from that you're pushing it. Even that denies you the rich culture and history that other regions provide. Whilst amusing for weary travelers and great fun, the tourist hangouts do not truly describe Nepal.

Next we head back into to India towards Varanasi!

Speak to you all again soon,

Lots of love,

Jon, Eve and Giraffery!

Banbasa to Mahendranagar - India to Nepal - Western Border Crossing.

We recently crossed from India to Nepal. We had originally planned to head further east, entering Nepal at the infamous Sonauli border crossing but because of our close proximity to the western border we decided to research the Banbasa to Mahendranagar route. 

After a considerable amount of time searching the net and various guide books, we failed to find any advice or account of the process that possessed any real substance. To rectify this discrepancy we've decided to post our account of the crossing, in hope of helping out any travelers seeking to do the same. The crossing, whilst fundamentally linear, has some variables. All we can do is reflect on our experiences and hope they provide enough of a framework in order to be useful.

Haldwani to Banbasa

We personally originated about 30 minutes away from the nearby city of Haldwani. Getting from Haldwani to Banbasa is easy enough. Haldwani bus station is comprised of a medium sized enclave that houses the inquiries booth  and other bus related offices. The buses line up outside, along the road, each driver calling out their destination. In the main station enclave you can find the inquires booth right in the middle, at the front. The bus that stops at Banbasa is destined for Tanakpur, a small town further north of Banbasa. If you don't encounter the bus driver shouting out Tanakpur, just ask in the station and someone will direct you to the right bus. Once you've found the right bus be sure to double check with the driver and ask him to tell you when you reach Banbasa.

The bus heads south from Haldwani before heading east and finally north up towards Banbasa and, in turn, Tanakpur. The journey took a total of 3 hours.

The Border Crossing

Contrary to the impression some sources of information provide, the border crossing is a long-winded process that, whilst possible, would be tiring on foot. The main way in which people reach Mahendranagar is by horse and cart. You can also take a cycle rickshaw for about 100 IRS but the whole distance amounts to about 13km. While crossing ourselves the thought of putting someone through the route with both of us and our gear made us cringe. Single travelers should get away from the method with minimal psychological scarring.

The locals and Indian tourists, who don't need visas, pile into carts, filling them to the brim before leaving. The crossing takes a couple of hours (a bit more with immigration office stops) so the drivers try to make the most of each trip. Whilst we didn't explore the option too much, drivers didn't want to take us for any less than 400 IRS. This is for foreigners crossing, who need to stop both at the Indian immigration office and the Nepali office. Because of these stops we're not sure that you can get on board the shared carts the whole way, due to the inconvenience caused to other passengers. However, if so inclined, we're sure travelers could take a cart to the first office and wait for another. This is risky though, because of the previously mentioned willingness drivers have for completely filling their carts before crossing.

We did see some jeeps and cars traveling along the crossing road but we did not research or personally consider this option.

After taking everything into account we set off by cart, leaving the main road to the right and heading off towards Nepal. At one point in the first stretch we stopped just after a school on the left, at a small hut, also on the left, that served no obvious official purpose. We sat motionless for about 5 minutes before our driver, a boy aged about 15, pointed at the man in the hut and said "100 rupees". A curt "No" and a shake of the head continued our journey. Once you've agreed to a price and method of travel there are no expenses to pay (apart from the Nepali visa) until you reach Mahendranagar and pay the driver. Do not accept any other suggested fees!

Continuing from there, we traveled along a river on our right before turning 45 degrees onto a dam/bridge. Just before this corner, there is an Indian official posted in a small hut on the right. The driver made for him but he waved us on, uninterested. This may be different for you.

100m after this corner the dam road comes to a junction, right towards the other side of the river, mainly used by locals, and left towards Nepal. This next section only allows one cart/car at a time and so we had to wait for about 30 minutes before it was our turn to cross the main drag of the dam.

After reaching the end of the dam/bridge you return to land and the road bends around to the right. The Indian immigration office is right here. The driver stopped unprovoked and pointed the way. In the office, passports were checked, details documented and each of us were photographed in a small backroom where our passports were photocopied as well. After we got our stamps it was back on the cart and towards Nepal.

After about 5 minutes there is a Nepali army checkpoint, they take your passport and visa details as well.

We continued onward through pasture land for about 1km before taking a sharp left bend over a small waterway and 100m after that heading right, over a large bump and onto the road to Mahendranagar. The road is straight all the way there.

First of all though, the Nepali immigration office is just ahead, 150-200m on the left. The process is similar to the Indian office, minus the picture and plus the visa purchase. The visa cannot be bought with Nepali or Indian Rupees but, we believe, most major currencies are accepted e.g. US Dollars, AUS Dollars, Euros, Pounds etc. We personally used US Dollars. They were friendly at the office but were very fussy with the quality of our dollars, a small rip in a 20 didn't pass unnoticed. Thankfully they took it anyway.

We hopped back on the cart for about 10-20 minutes before we reached Mahendranagar. The driver pulled into the bus depot on the right and came to a halt. We paid and waved goodbye. And that's that, we were in Nepal!

Mahendranagar itself doesn't have much to offer, we stayed their out of necessity and caught a bus in the morning. The hotel we stayed in was directly opposite the bus depot, tucked down a small side alley. It's hard to recommend the area due to the filthy rooms and noise but it was only 300 NRS per night so no complaints there.

Anyway, we hope this is of some help to someone out there at some point, best of luck in your own travels!