Overland between Nepal and India: The 20 hour adventure

After a few days in Pokhara (Nepal) canoeing and swimming in the lake, visiting an island temple, and being covered with leeches, we were ready to make our way back to India. I was traveling India and Nepal with my Brazilian friend and travel partner, Claudio.
We had flown into Kathmandu so getting into the country was relatively hassle-free but we had opted to return to India by the way of land. We had done basic research and knew vaguely how to get from Pokhara to Varanasi (India), and we figured we would take a bus to the border, spend a night in a border town, and then catch another bus to Varanasi. However, it didn’t exactly turn out that way! Things happened so quickly we ended up making it to Varanasi all in one go. (Well, not so simply though!)

We had purchased tickets from a travel agent in Pokhara to get to a Nepalese border town, departing early morning. That bus ride wasn’t exactly the most pleasant because of the fear factor. We were going through mountains so the roads were incredibly winding, and the bus driver was going way too fast for comfort. I thought at any moment we could tip over and end up in the valley down below. About 7-8 hours went by, and we came to a complete stop, but we were not at our destination. There appeared to be a standstill in traffic, and there were vehicles lined up in front of us as far as the eye could see. We were 10 kilometers from the border, and there apparently was a strike at the border. I didn’t really know what this meant. Does this mean we are just stuck? When was this strike going to be over? Well, the bus was not moving, and I decided to take advantage of this and get comfortable so I could take a little nap because we obviously were not going anywhere.

About an hour or so later, Claudio came to wake me up to tell me we’re taking another bus. Apparently he had been talking with the other foreigners on the bus (there were 5 others) and they found a vehicle that would get us to the border, albeit a roundabout detoured way. This was a mini-bus of sorts, full of locals… and literally full. There was hardly any room, but of course we had no other option so we squeezed on. Claudio sat on the top of the bus with three Spanish travelers who were on our original bus. (What brave kids.) I ended up sitting on a suitcase in the aisle, and a Spanish girl and Korean girl also sat in the aisle with me. Because we were going the back route, it was an opportunity to see rural areas, passing by huts and all. We even went through some sort of checkpoint, although I really have no idea what they were checking. We were on this bus for about an hour or so, and when it stopped, we weren’t even dropped at the border.

After we were dropped off, we were offered rides by numerous cycle rickshaws, but kept walking. We really didn’t know what we were doing at that point; we were just walking in the direction of India. And quite frankly, we had trust issues with locals offering services. At that point Claudio said to me he wished I could speak Spanish so we could communicate without them knowing what we’re saying. Eventually we decided it was best to get a rickshaw, which was a good call, as it was another half an hour ride to the border.

We got our exit stamp to leave Nepal from officials sitting at a table on the side of the road, then finally we went onwards to walk across to India! It was such a simple walk that it didn’t even feel like we were switching countries. We then walked into an office to get our entry stamp for India, which again did not feel very official.

Okay, so we are in India. Now what? The three Spanish guys had already booked a train ticket from a nearby town to Varanasi so they had specific logistics to figure out, and I’m not sure what happened to the Korean girl. (We did see her again though, as we ended up staying in the same hotel in Varanasi!) So at this point, it is me, Claudio, and the Spanish girl. A local guy came up to us and told us he could drive us to Varanasi in a jeep. We declined, telling him we were looking for bus options and kept walking. This guy proceeded to tell us that at the very least we should have a look at his jeep. We continued to decline, and then he offered to tell us which direction to go to take the bus. As we were walking in the direction he pointed us, we were thinking what an odd path it seemed to be. It was a semi-circle path, seemingly taking us away from all of the action, before we got near the main street again. We eventually found the bus, and the hopped onto an already crowded local bus. And within five minutes, the bus was moving for its 7PM departure. That is when we realized… the jeep guy purposely instructed us to go the long way because he wanted us to miss the bus! That is also why he wanted us to take the extra time to look at his jeep. Yes, he wanted us to miss the bus, so that we would consider taking his services.

I had taken a seat in the back of the bus near the window and was able to get relatively comfortable to sleep. But. It was not meant to be. It is not always quite possible to sleep on a bus route which is pothole ridden. This was seriously the bumpiest ride of my life. There was one duration, maybe around 2AM, where it was so ridiculously bumpy that it would not have been possible for anyone to sleep through it. These potholes were absolutely ridiculous! It actually became entertaining. I was literally flying in and out of my seat, and of course being at the back of the bus did not ease the bumpiness. One time in particular, I flew up, and then, bam, I was slammed down so hard my butt hurt. After that I learned my lesson and adjusted myself so as to avoid that pain again. What amazed me about this ride was the people who were standing for the entire duration of the 10-hour overnight ride, and I really don’t know how they did it.

Shortly before 5AM we arrived in Varanasi. Yay! We completely did not expect to reach so soon, but it was nice to be able to find rides in succession with little layover time… minus the part about how we were on a bus for like 20 hours, nearly straight! When we were not on a bus, we were on our way to another!

Regrettably I did not take any pictures of this venture; I particularly wish I would have taken some pictures at the border, but I guess I was too wrapped up in the chaos to be thinking about whipping out a camera!

Would I do this again? Totally! It wouldn’t be as exciting otherwise, right? ;)

Written by Samantha Kelley, a travel enthusiast from the US. She has made over a dozen trips to Japan and has also lived in South Korea. In addition to East and South Asia, she has explored parts of Southeast Asia and the Middle East. She has spent time cycle touring through parts of Western Europe as well. You can follow her on twitter @samkelley03. Also, check out her nonprofit organization Atlantic Impact and follow on Twitter @atlantic_impact.