The Himalayas are not far from Delhi. Just drive for 250 kilometres up in the North and you reach the Shivaliks, the lower Himalayas. However, this time, I wanted to explore something new, far from the crowd of popular hill stations like Shimla or Mussoorie. So, I decided to visit Nepal on my recently purchased bike – Royal Enfield Thunderbird. Here comes my log of a bike trip from Delhi to Nepal, which I did in August 2013.
From Delhi the nearest border town of Nepal is Mahendranagar. Drive straight towards the east for 340 kilometres and reach Banbasa border. For me, it took around 8 hours by following this route.
Tip : Do visit Gurudwara Nanakmatta sahib (indicated as location ‘B’) on the way and have Langar.
Gurudwara Nanakmatta Sahib
My bike performed well. All my luggage was taken care of ‘Cramster’ saddle bags which were purchased many years back for a Bajaj Pulsar bike, but they easily got fit with Thunderbird also. Although there is almost no space to hook bungee chords on the bike.
Road condition was not good at that time. The highway from Delhi to Rampur was decent with 3 lanes on each side and a divider between them. After Rampur, the main highway goes towards Bareilly and Lucknow. I took a left for Rudrapur. Hereafter, the road becomes narrow crisscrossing several villages and small town. Be careful while driving on these roads. Potholes and a sudden appearance of buffaloes can be very dangerous for a rider.
Just before the border
At Banbasa – take right for Nepal
After reaching Banbasa town, take a right to the border (as shown in the picture, towards Mahendranagar). Here I saw some bikes with a different registration plate on them. The plates had their registration numbers written in Devanagari script (used for writing Hindi and Nepali) on a red background. These bikes were registered in Nepal. Nepalese residing nearby the border come to shop here for their daily needs. Indians and Nepalese can freely move in each other’s country. Though, like other nationalities, they are also subject to Customs checks.
Crossed the border
I kept on riding ahead watching anxiously for a ‘Welcome to Nepal’ board or something similar which could give me a photo opportunity. But after some time I realised that I had already entered in Nepal. This border point is known as Gadda Chowki in Nepal. Nepalese policemen dressed in blue uniform stopped me at a checkpoint. Thereafter, I completed all the formalities which I was asked to enter Nepal on a foreign bike.
How to enter Nepal border on foot
Reach Banbasa by bus or train. Catch a Tonga/Rickshaw for the Gadda chowki border check-post. Cross the border on foot and catch rickshaw/local bus/transport to reach Mahendra Nagar, the next nearest town from the border.
Read : Documents and other formalities required entering Nepal on a personal vehicle
Ask your queries in the comment section below this article.
