I am making my way further along the H01 East West Highway heading towards Kathmandu. I pull over at Khaireni to fill up on fuel at the Namo Buddha Petrol Station. About an hour east of Butwal I start to head up and over the first mountain ridge and the terrain starts to get more interesting. Half way to Kathmandu, I go through Bharatpur, a large city on the east side of the Narayani river, which is very wide and one of the largest rivers in Nepal.

The Narayani river.

The bridge over the river at Bharatpur.

Bharatpur is the largest city in this area, bar Kathmandu, and has its own airport to the south. I could have flown to Kathmandu in about 25 minutes, but where’s the fun in that! Most of the road, as I near Kathmandu is high up, with long drops to the side of the road. I am on the left side of the road, so the drop is pretty close and pretty scary.

Here is a wonderful video that kind of introduces the quality of road found in the mountains. Not sure I would move very quickly in my old camper.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq0HgYKq6F4&w=560&h=315]

Given the trouble it has taken to get to Kathmandu today, I will stay over and spend the day in the city.

Plotting my route this morning presented a bit of a problem for me. The rule is that I can only travel along the route that Google maps gives me. If it suggests more than one route, I can choose any one of them, but I must stick to the routes given. Entering Kohalpur and Butwal on my iPad, Google maps takes me back into India, west along the SH26 and then back into Nepal on the NH29, taking about six hours. This is despite the H01 taking me to the same place, but a much shorter route. I checked along the Google Earth view and the roads seem fine, but Google maps doesn’t have the data to get me there. So, sticking to the rules, I take the road south back into India.

Not the route I would have taken.

Surprisingly, few travellers use the border crossing at Nepalgunj, despite the fact that Lucknow is only four hours south. The main observation is that you get mobbed by traders and it is full of cheap hotels and contraband goods. The border crossing itself is trouble free and I am through in no time.

The SH26 takes me through well farmed land, with fields on either side of the road. It’s not uniform like you would find in Germany, just like the irregular farming in the UK, but the soil is more redder in colour.

Leaving India, again.

100 yards and into Nepal, again.

Is it me, or do the Nepalese do things with a little more style? I drive up and through Bhairahawa and pull over to top up the fuel tank at the Durga petrol station and buy more food at a stall across the road. I have never eaten so much fruit in my life, but it is readily available on every corner. Back on the Siddhartha highway, I head north towards Bulwal.

Oh, by the way, I found this great site for finding things in Nepal, including petrol stations. Alas, it seems a little Kathmandu-centric, if you are looking for a hotel, but otherwise useful. I ‘booked’ a room for the night in Hotel Sindoor, which had ample parking and the motto: To satisfy our honourable guest. Can’t go wrong, really.