[TwinBishop]

A beautiful and moving travelogue. Thanks for writing this.

Lots of beautiful pictures and useful information there. I have never visited Lucknow. Now seeing the pictures of Imambara, want to visit.

Your experience gives us courage to drive to far off places in our country.

[Swaminathan]

Reminds me of my drive from Bangalore to Kathmandu back in 2017 on my Nissan Terrano. Sharing few interesting parts of my blog https://pravinsroadtrips.blogspot.co...ndu-being.html

Birgunj (Nepal Border) to Kathmandu - Being the Invincibles


I had always imagined Nepal’s geography and Climate to be hilly and cold. However, this was not the fact, Nepal as a country is protected by Himalayas in the North and the whole country runs parallel to the Himalayas. That means the northern part of Nepal is covered with the Himalayan range hosting the great Mount Everest. Did I mention ever that we have planned the EBC (Everest Base Camp) Trek? Yes, we were going to land at Lukla, which is the most dangerous airport in the world. From Kathmandu to Lukla, we were going to take a short flight and from Lukla we had planned to trek to Namache Bazaar and then to Everest Base Camp. All our trekking bags were ready at the back of the vehicle.

Now coming back to present, the marshy bad roads filled with trucks moving towards Hetauda be the Tribhuvan Highway named after one of the modern times King of Nepal. After missing a left turn, we took a U-turn in a junction and finally reached a street filled with Water because of the heavy rains the same morning. I had always heard of Nepal as the most friendly nation to India but the bad roads and the water stagnated streets, got me a feeling that was closer to the realities of India except for India had better National Highway infrastructure.

We parked the vehicle outside the Yathayat office and walked inside the gate. There were few officials sitting inside a room filled few government with files. The whole campus was closer to my thought of any small town RTO office in India. Nowadays, most of the RTO offices in India are reconstructed and computerized, but this office in Birgunj was yet to get the Digital blessing. My friend approached an official who mentioned that it is not possible to get the permits the same evening since it was close to the end of office timings. The time was around 5:15 pm. As I had understood from the mannerism of the official, that with some handling, we will be able to get the permit, Amit was already on the job negotiating and finally we got the permit papers for 10 days including permits for Kathmandu, Pokhra, Hetauda etc etc. This permit was more than enough for us to complete our journey in and out of Nepal.


Adventure on the way to Kathmandu – I


As we woke to a cold morning, it was decided by the forces that govern that we will be taking the less than 90 kms road to Kathmandu through Pharping. As Amit had explained earlier, my thoughts had made me think of this road as a tough road with some hair pin bends (as the ones in Nilgris) and some steep curves. Curves and Hair pin bends are not new to me, my experience of driving different continents had brought in the confidence to take any drive without much difficulty theoretically. But there was for sure a grey area which was clearly indicated by the puzzled looks of my Nepali friend because he was always saying Road 2 through Palung / Daman was the one which we were taking for all these months of planning and all of a sudden he was convinced that we will take this Road 3 through Pharping.
Just to keep you guys get back to your calculators, Road 2 to Kathmandu is around 30 kms longer than Road 3. That’s ok and the time duration is around 2 hours more. What does Google say ? Does this mean Road 3 is an easier route ? What is the hidden secret ? Remember guys, Google does not take road condition as a parameter in its Transfer Function. OOPS…

Now back on the road, we were crossing the last stretch of straight and smooth roads for the next 7 days to come. Nice tar road with 2 way traffic, good weather was relaxing start for the day. The AC switched OFF, we were enjoying the fresh breeze. We were crossing Hetauda’s outskirts and I could notice that there were kids walking to schools all along the side of the road. Then as I was questioning Amit about the education in Nepal and was surprised to hear that Nepal parents give important to the Primary education and although there is not a good transport that is available for the kids going to school, parents encourage the kids to walk to the nearby schools even though it is several kilometers of distance.

As we reached the banks of the Trishuli River, I could see that the water force was revealing that we are right at the bottom of the first hill where we need to start the climb. I was always under the misunderstanding that Kathmandu is on the hill and we need to climb the hill. I also believe that some of you readers would also assume the same. Just to clarify, Kathmandu is a valley and we will have climb up and down some of the hills, which we standing in front of us.

Adventure on the way to Kathmandu – II


As we were about to reach the diversion point where we need to start the road to Pharping, there were many TATA SUMO vehicles jumping all (at more than the recommended speeds) around the small curves and it was obvious that these vehicles were loaded with passengers (the front wheels were anytime going to miss the gravity hold, what we could say a “wheeling”). I could certainly understand the power of the TATA SUMOs, thanks to the taxi drivers in the Bangalore traffic who can chop off your rear view mirrors if you don’t watch for them. But these drivers in Nepal, were testing the toughness of the SUMO to a different extreme and Amit mentioned that these vehicles carry passengers from and to Kathmandu on a daily basis with atleast 10 passengers.


As I was chasing one of the SUMOs and pushing the capabilities of the front wheel drive Terrano, we crossed many small villages and some narrow roads with curves. As we reached the check point to enter the registry with the vehicle permit and the vehicle registration number, I could see that there was this young man just climb on to the top of one of the SUMOs. First, I was wondering if this energetic young man is going to lift some luggage to the top of the vehicle but then he was going to travel sitting on the vehicle. Wow.. It is possible to ride over the vehicle in a plain terrain wherein the vehicle has no chance of bouncing left to right, when taking those corners. But I had to contradict my thoughts and rewrite the memory that this is also possible. Don’t know how many of my prejudices would get erased and rewritten before I reach Kathmandu.

As the vehicle was swaying in the curves, the man on the top was solid stuck to the roof. Was able to grasp a photo of the same (above). I was quite well able to hold to the speeding SUMOs and was lucky to have the power in my vehicle. Especially the quicker response from the vehicle maneuvering helped in progressing the curves and the steeps much faster but then we reached a point where our vehicle was challenged.
The roads were tarred and was able to provide the necessary hold for the tires. Better with no moist on the roads, which could have made the vehicle slip without the necessary grip and given the lesser power of the 2-wheel drive, we would have struggled, worst case could have ended with a mishap if the situations were not favorable. Certainly, I was not expecting these steeper roads. Only that I was enjoying the chase, the adrenaline has kept me going without noticing the hilly steeps that we were conquering. Worst case, if there had been a slower traffic, I would have struggled to keep up with the pace and would have got stuck on the road. Thanks to the rushing SUMO ahead.

Coming back to the road, as we were climbing the second hill, the SUMO got slower and slower, in some places he had to get to the first gear to get the torque required to pull the weight. His lowering of speeds, made us to lower our speeds and subsequently there was a point where the momentum was not enough to pull us up. Our 2 wheel drive started giving up. It was at this point that the engine suddenly stopped. I pulled the hand brakes and released the clutch, the vehicle had come to stand still now. There was a queue of atleast 3 vehicles behind us, since we were between the SUMOs and as they were all bumper to bumper and standing in a slope, there was no chance for the SUMOs behind to get ahead. As I put my hands outside and asked them to pass us, I could witness the torture in the eyes of the driver behind me. With my T-shirt sticking to the seat, I could realize that moment that I was sweating even when the weather was soothingly chilly. I turned to Amit and asked, “Do you want to drive?” (I have been sticking to the driver seat from Bangalore for almost 2300+ kms and this hill had to take me down), and Amit gave me an unusual reply “This is only a warm up, we have to cover still”, then he delivered with a navigator’s support of some step by step instruction to push the accelerator and then release the hand brakes slowly. Finally, after couple of trials, the vehicle climbed with a stutter. By then one of the vehicle from behind had managed to pass by and I had enough space in case if the vehicle had slipped a few inches behind.

Now that we crossed the second hill, we started climbing down the second hill and I desperately needed a stop. We stopped at this beautiful greenery place after a village. Click from the location below. Few more miles to reach Kathmandu, I was already feeling the adventure in the drive.

Adventure on the way to Kathmandu – III


It was 11 AM and we started the journey again. I had more confidence in this road than before, evident as we started enjoying the nature and the view. We climbed the next hill and down with much ease. With no vehicle in front, I had to only keep up the pace with the climb and to keep a watch on the incoming vehicles in the blind curves. Quite a success, I would say as we were conquering the Himalayas. But unlike my 20s, I was more composed with the confidence. I was conscious about the ill effects of being overconfident which can end you in disastrous situations leaving irreparable dent in life although there are huge learnings from such events, it is usually be preventive than corrective.

Now, that we were moving towards the next hill, the quality of the roads got deteriorating and patched with stone fillings wherever there was a huge crater (I cannot say pothole considering the size of the road breaks). It is quite usual that there is no possibility to get the perfect grip in such roads and when it is level road, it is not a concern since the gravity does not play against you. However, in Himalayan steeps, such roads can be definitely challenging for the most experienced of the drivers. The length of the steep roads were also more in some of the stretches and it was evident that there were earlier landslides, which were cleared for the vehicles. The SUMOs now have started slowing down and the black smoke was seen more often when the pushed the vehicle in the lower gears.


After winning the first hills, we were ready for any challenge that could be posed. Now that victory has been a routine, the confidence can get you to scale more heights but the challenge could also be levelled up. I was going to feel the Level up in any video game now, which barely I could understand. To start with, it started drizzling and Amit started murmuring that rain could toughen our climb. We reached the next hill and moving slowly. The SUMO ahead is no more visible and the ones behind were quite away given the higher speed which we had maintained to quickly move up the steeps. We reached a spot where there was a steep run required and in normal circumstances, it could have been easy to scale with no vehicles upfront and we can move with speed and reach the top of the steep. However, in this case we cannot move fast since there was a vehicle (Maruti Suzuki Alto) that had stopped at the top (in the picture below) in the middle of the road. I was aware that if we stop in this steep, with the stones, there is a possibility that the vehicle could start sliding without the possible grip but fortunately, it did not slide since I could get a small patch of mud between the stones. Amit was quick enough to jump out the vehicle and put some stones behind the wheels to arrest any future haphazard movement of the vehicle sliding down. I had not left any space for the vehicles to pass and we need to quickly move forward.

As I was thinking, my friend ran to the Alto and helped the Alto to move forward. There were 4 more adults who got the Alto moving forward and escape the steep. The Alto had reached the top most point of the steep and was comfortably to the side. As I could see some space on the side of the Alto, I started accelerating the Terrano and fly down the paths between the stones. Quick to move and struggle intermittently, I reached the top, with the speed took the right curve and parked to the side to allow him to get in. Now there was no drizzling and there was sun again. Nature was just challenging us for the moment. I had realized that there are always people around these hills ready to help. It is clear that when Nature gets more and more challenging, people live in harmony.

After the struggle, Nature was welcoming with the beautiful sceneries and the chill weather. I remembered from my school that Himalayan range in layered and the lower range in Hilly and the grow as we move north of the Range. Never believed that I would experience this as close as now. When we started from Hetauda, he mentioned that as we climb the first hill, the second looks bigger and keeps climbing in height. This was evident quite clear, as we climbed the first hill, the second was more steep and higher and so on. Now, that we were climbing down another hill, it was comfortable to climb down. At this height, we could experience the chill weather. To enjoy the weather and the nature, we made another stop.

[boniver]

Beautiful trip, but expected many more photos of your car!

[Raghu M]

Sir, this has to be one of the best travelogue I have read in the recent time. Such a simple description and the way you write takes the person reading to these places. I envy you for the contacts you have all around these places. I was actually surprised as to the no. of people (whom you know) you have met during this trip. I also own the 3OO and I would love to do such a trip with my better half. I think I have to wait for a few years to do that. I wish you all the good luck and a very happy retired life filled with memorable road trips!

[Duckdoc]

Originally Posted by Goandiaries

What a beautiful travelogue, Duckdoc!

Originally Posted by TwinBishop

A beautiful and moving travelogue. Thanks for writing this.

Originally Posted by HIGHWAY_PATROL

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this travelogue.

Originally Posted by dgoyle

It was very nice to read this travelogue.

Originally Posted by MDED

Stunning travelogue.

Originally Posted by argho

What a drive - awesome !!!
Many thanks for a beautifully written travelogue.

Thank you all for your kind words.

Originally Posted by ashokabs

It was in 1975 and we had to go Kathmandu via a mountain pass at Daman at 9000+ feet. At Daman from a small tower we were able to see the grandeur of the entire Himalayas as there were no clouds and the sun was setting behind us. I have never seen anything like that again anywhere in the world!
Look forward to more travelogues from you.

I can only try to imagine how beautiful it must have looked and thank you.

Originally Posted by Raghu M

Sir, this has to be one of the best travelogue I have read in the recent time. I also own the 3OO and I would love to do such a trip with my better half.

Thank you. The 300 is built to travel and looking forward to your travelogues with your better half in the future.