DAY 2 - 19th January: Tanakpur to Chisapani
Compared to the hyper-early start the previous day, we were more relaxed today. Our plan was quite fluid from hereon - we had a lot of days in hand and we could stop wherever we wanted to, no bookings were made. The primary focus today was to reach the border as soon as we could, as we anticipated long queues and lots of checking. Reaching the border was straightforward, we were less than 20 kms from it.
As we were packing up and ready to move, I had a minor scare as I couldn't find my keys. A frantic 10 mins later, I found them in my jacket pocket, that I had actually packed away. We bid our farewell to the hotel staff and moved towards the border. The first checkpoint we encountered on the Indian side was that of SSB (Sashastra Seema Bal). We were probably the first set of RM riders they had come across, although over the next week, they'd come across many more heading towards the event. They were a little hesitant to let us through when they saw the Bulls on Parade flags on our bikes, until we reassured them that there were no political connections and it was a club flag. A few hundred meters later, we were at the Nepal border!
This was quite significant, we were riding our motorcycles on international soil for the first time! During my year in Scotland, I had tried a lot to go on a ride. Sadly, the costs were highly prohibitive and it was much cheaper to rent a car for a road-trip. I was making up for that now though, riding my own bike outside India. We all took a couple of pics here. Anupam and Vikas were turning back and heading to Delhi, so we said our goodbyes and wished them godspeed. Now reduced to 7, we rode ahead and reached the checkpoint on the Nepal side.
We were first greeted by a guard who informed us that we could exchange currency right there. While INR (locally referred to as 'IC' - Indian currency) is widely accepted in Nepal, some outlets refuse to deal in them. Furthermore, the acceptance of ₹500 notes varies, with some being completely against it and others hesitantly accepting it. Thus, as a backup option, we all got a couple of thousand rupees exchanged there and proceeded to get our permits. We found the entire place to be surprisingly vacant, there was no queue and the clerks in the office worked quickly and efficiently. I got a permit (called 'bhansar') for 9 days, while others got it for 15 days. Nishant and I had proactively gotten international calling packs activated on our phones. The others went to get their local SIM cards, which took a long time. In the meantime, Wanderers Motorcycle Club (Dehradun chapter) 'wandered' in and we spent time chatting with them. They had grand plans of reaching Nepalgunj that day, something we were doubtful of since it was midday already.
We hit the road again and stopped for lunch soon. Nishant's tradition was to have the local delicacy on the first day of an international trip and we duly stopped for momos and wai-wai noodles in the next village. My own tradition is to have locally manufactured beer wherever I go and peel off the label for my collection. Unfortunately, they only served Tuborg. We had many more days though! The momos were good but I liked the wai-wai more. After spending some time here, we made a move towards Chisapani, our night's halt.
Chisapani had one big hotel - Siddhartha Resort. It's a beautiful piece of property on the banks of River Karnali, but the rates were a bit steep online. We tried to find cheaper accommodation but didn't like them much, although one guy did put in a lot of efforts to get us to stay. Ankit was our in-house rate negotiating expert and was sent ahead to get us a deal in Siddhartha. He did indeed get us a sweet deal and we headed there. We procured 'supplies' for the night - Barasingha, Tiger and Gorkha beer, i.e. 3 new stickers for my collection! Right before our BBB started, the Wanderers MC we had met at the border earlier rode in. So much for Nepalgunj! After a memorable and fun-filled session and dinner, we went to sleep.
DAY 3 - 20th January: Chisapani to Butwal
Two days had passed and we rode around 490 kms total, which is less than the distances we cover in a single day and we also hadn't really seen anything. We decided to make amends and ride in a more disciplined manner to Butwal. The route was through Bardia National Park. Personally, I love forest rides. Compared to the riding in majestic mountains or facing the mighty sea, forest rides have an aura of tranquility and relaxation, especially in the mornings.
We left early and reached the checkpost at Bardia. There were patches of fog in between, but it was mostly a smooth ride. At Bardia, the rules are very strict - you cannot cross the speed of 40 kph and you have to reach the next checkpost at a certain time only. I had come across similar rules in Tirupati, where a time limit is imposed to ensure people don't ride/drive too fast. We stuck to the speed limit and it was a very soothing ride through the misty and quiet forest. We didn't stop at all, due to the danger of wild animals. Still, I kept an eye out for elephants, having witnessed a little scare many years ago while riding in Anamalai forest when a mischievous elephant mock-charged an Indica driver who was too impatient to wait.
Hereon, we had an incident-free ride. We all had a lot of trepidation about Nepal's roads, having heard that they were horrible. It was partly the reason we had such a flexible plan, as we had factored in bad roads throughout. However, the roads were super smooth throughout the ride. There were a few bad patches of course, but for the most part, the roads were excellent. Long distance motorcyclists would agree with me here - we either want roads resembling slabs of butter OR we want rocks/gravel/sand/mud/streams. Everything else in the middle is unacceptable. The good quality roads also had very less traffic and whatever traffic was there was quite disciplined. Even the pedestrians and cyclists stuck to the corner of the roads, it took me some time to get used to this sort of discipline inside the subcontinent!
We stopped for lunch at Hotel Pauwa where I was introduced to the 'thakali'. Thakali is closest to what we in India call a 'thaali' - a full meal consisting of a couple of dry and grave-based curries, dal, rice, roti and other accompaniments. Thakali is quite unique though. To start with, the spiciness is substantially lower, almost none of the items are fried and overall, it has a very simple, fresh and homemade feel to it. I'd have 4 more thakalis during the course of this ride and while they all had unique additions, they were all delicious and filling, yet also light on the stomach. Adding to the experience is the unbeatable Nepalese hospitality, where every request is met with a wide, ear-to-ear smile. We were just getting introduced to this though.
Onwards we rode, with our regular breaks. I was quite happy with the pace and progress of this ride and we soon reached Butwal. Butwal is a mid-sized town and we were suddenly seeing a lot more traffic than we had encountered since we left Delhi. Nishant had booked a hotel for us somewhere on the way earlier, but we stopped a couple of kilometers before to purchase important supplies for the night ahead. Right beside the alcohol shop was a little kirana store, where I bought 'touchings' (namkeen/chips to be had with alcohol). The wife and husband running the store spoke almost perfect Hindi as they spent many years in India. This turned out to be quite a regular occurrence actually, as curious onlookers on the road would initiate conversations with us and almost always would have spent a long time working in various parts of India.
After we reached the hotel, we decided to flesh out the plan ahead before starting the BBB. Nishant temporarily ditched his beloved gadgets and went old-school - he found a piece of paper and noted down various points of interest along with the distances. As the navigator of the group, he was subjected to multiple questions whenever he suggested something, so this was the best way to shut people up (peppered with a smattering of expletives of course).
At the end of this very fruitful discussion and note-taking session, things were getting clearer. I had to decide when and where to split off from the rest of the group and it had to be sooner than later. Everyone else was in the mood for doing some off-roading in Jomsom (Lower Mustang). While certainly attractive, it'd mean missing the more tourist-y places for me - Pokhara and Kathmandu, and there was quite a bit to do in both those places. The beginnings of a plan started formulating in my head, as I headed towards the BBB with a beer in hand...........
Compared to the hyper-early start the previous day, we were more relaxed today. Our plan was quite fluid from hereon - we had a lot of days in hand and we could stop wherever we wanted to, no bookings were made. The primary focus today was to reach the border as soon as we could, as we anticipated long queues and lots of checking. Reaching the border was straightforward, we were less than 20 kms from it.
As we were packing up and ready to move, I had a minor scare as I couldn't find my keys. A frantic 10 mins later, I found them in my jacket pocket, that I had actually packed away. We bid our farewell to the hotel staff and moved towards the border. The first checkpoint we encountered on the Indian side was that of SSB (Sashastra Seema Bal). We were probably the first set of RM riders they had come across, although over the next week, they'd come across many more heading towards the event. They were a little hesitant to let us through when they saw the Bulls on Parade flags on our bikes, until we reassured them that there were no political connections and it was a club flag. A few hundred meters later, we were at the Nepal border!
This was quite significant, we were riding our motorcycles on international soil for the first time! During my year in Scotland, I had tried a lot to go on a ride. Sadly, the costs were highly prohibitive and it was much cheaper to rent a car for a road-trip. I was making up for that now though, riding my own bike outside India. We all took a couple of pics here. Anupam and Vikas were turning back and heading to Delhi, so we said our goodbyes and wished them godspeed. Now reduced to 7, we rode ahead and reached the checkpoint on the Nepal side.
We were first greeted by a guard who informed us that we could exchange currency right there. While INR (locally referred to as 'IC' - Indian currency) is widely accepted in Nepal, some outlets refuse to deal in them. Furthermore, the acceptance of ₹500 notes varies, with some being completely against it and others hesitantly accepting it. Thus, as a backup option, we all got a couple of thousand rupees exchanged there and proceeded to get our permits. We found the entire place to be surprisingly vacant, there was no queue and the clerks in the office worked quickly and efficiently. I got a permit (called 'bhansar') for 9 days, while others got it for 15 days. Nishant and I had proactively gotten international calling packs activated on our phones. The others went to get their local SIM cards, which took a long time. In the meantime, Wanderers Motorcycle Club (Dehradun chapter) 'wandered' in and we spent time chatting with them. They had grand plans of reaching Nepalgunj that day, something we were doubtful of since it was midday already.
We hit the road again and stopped for lunch soon. Nishant's tradition was to have the local delicacy on the first day of an international trip and we duly stopped for momos and wai-wai noodles in the next village. My own tradition is to have locally manufactured beer wherever I go and peel off the label for my collection. Unfortunately, they only served Tuborg. We had many more days though! The momos were good but I liked the wai-wai more. After spending some time here, we made a move towards Chisapani, our night's halt.
DAY 3 - 20th January: Chisapani to Butwal
Two days had passed and we rode around 490 kms total, which is less than the distances we cover in a single day and we also hadn't really seen anything. We decided to make amends and ride in a more disciplined manner to Butwal. The route was through Bardia National Park. Personally, I love forest rides. Compared to the riding in majestic mountains or facing the mighty sea, forest rides have an aura of tranquility and relaxation, especially in the mornings.
We left early and reached the checkpost at Bardia. There were patches of fog in between, but it was mostly a smooth ride. At Bardia, the rules are very strict - you cannot cross the speed of 40 kph and you have to reach the next checkpost at a certain time only. I had come across similar rules in Tirupati, where a time limit is imposed to ensure people don't ride/drive too fast. We stuck to the speed limit and it was a very soothing ride through the misty and quiet forest. We didn't stop at all, due to the danger of wild animals. Still, I kept an eye out for elephants, having witnessed a little scare many years ago while riding in Anamalai forest when a mischievous elephant mock-charged an Indica driver who was too impatient to wait.
Hereon, we had an incident-free ride. We all had a lot of trepidation about Nepal's roads, having heard that they were horrible. It was partly the reason we had such a flexible plan, as we had factored in bad roads throughout. However, the roads were super smooth throughout the ride. There were a few bad patches of course, but for the most part, the roads were excellent. Long distance motorcyclists would agree with me here - we either want roads resembling slabs of butter OR we want rocks/gravel/sand/mud/streams. Everything else in the middle is unacceptable. The good quality roads also had very less traffic and whatever traffic was there was quite disciplined. Even the pedestrians and cyclists stuck to the corner of the roads, it took me some time to get used to this sort of discipline inside the subcontinent!
Onwards we rode, with our regular breaks. I was quite happy with the pace and progress of this ride and we soon reached Butwal. Butwal is a mid-sized town and we were suddenly seeing a lot more traffic than we had encountered since we left Delhi. Nishant had booked a hotel for us somewhere on the way earlier, but we stopped a couple of kilometers before to purchase important supplies for the night ahead. Right beside the alcohol shop was a little kirana store, where I bought 'touchings' (namkeen/chips to be had with alcohol). The wife and husband running the store spoke almost perfect Hindi as they spent many years in India. This turned out to be quite a regular occurrence actually, as curious onlookers on the road would initiate conversations with us and almost always would have spent a long time working in various parts of India.
After we reached the hotel, we decided to flesh out the plan ahead before starting the BBB. Nishant temporarily ditched his beloved gadgets and went old-school - he found a piece of paper and noted down various points of interest along with the distances. As the navigator of the group, he was subjected to multiple questions whenever he suggested something, so this was the best way to shut people up (peppered with a smattering of expletives of course).
At the end of this very fruitful discussion and note-taking session, things were getting clearer. I had to decide when and where to split off from the rest of the group and it had to be sooner than later. Everyone else was in the mood for doing some off-roading in Jomsom (Lower Mustang). While certainly attractive, it'd mean missing the more tourist-y places for me - Pokhara and Kathmandu, and there was quite a bit to do in both those places. The beginnings of a plan started formulating in my head, as I headed towards the BBB with a beer in hand...........
I loved that old-school process! bringing out my lucky pen and a paper to chalk out the plan...was a memorable experience for me too.
ReplyDeleteThose momos and noodles were amazing! remember about my LION HEART moment during the BBB session later that day at Chisapani?
Old school is best for these things. Remember, we used to take map print outs for our rides 5-6 years ago?
ReplyDeleteYaad nai aa raha, kuch aur clue do zara lion-heart moment ka