Break for the border…..

I intended to set off early this morning, so I set my alarm clock for 05:00 – as happens every time I set my alarm, I woke up half an hour before it was due to go off. I had a shower and packed and by the time I loaded the bike it was 05:50. I’m really glad that I did the reccy last night as it made a difficult part of the journey so much easier. Sarnath is a small town about ten kilometres from Varanasi; once I got there the road should have been easier to follow. I managed to make it most of the way there under my own steam, but I did stop and ask for directions twice along the way.

After I got past Sarnath I had a Brucie Bonus – the road signs were in English as well as Hind and I found Highway 29 easily enough. Ghazipur was an easy 69 kilometres away and the road was good, the scenery was changing from burnt out arid land to lush green. The ride really reminded me of my time spent in Goa and especially Kerala; it was nice to leave the city behind.

The towns were really whizzing by and I was enjoying the ride, the next big challenge was Gorakhpur. This was the town where I had to make a decision – do I continue to head North and cross the border at Siddhartha Nagar or head East and cross the border at Birganj. Siddhartha Nagar is a ride across minor roads and leaves me a much longer ride to Kathmandu, whereas Birganj is a much longer ride on the Indian side, but leaves me a straight ride to Kathmandu.

Gorakhpur was a nightmare. It is a real busy ‘crossroads’ town and none of the signs are in English. I stopped to get some petrol and got talking to some guy at the pumps, he told me the way to the border at Birganj and I followed his directions. I got hopelessly lost. I hadn’t a clue where I was or where I was going. I stopped and asked a couple of people for directions, but no one spoke English. I found a road that crossed a bridge so I took it, but it came to a roundabout after about 2kms and was stumped again. I stopped and asked someone the way to Birganj, but I couldn’t find anyone who spoke English. I was very stressed out by this stage and took the right hand turn.

I got a couple of km’s down the road and it turned into a dirt track, I did a U-turn and went back to the round-about and took the left turn. I hadn’t a clue where I was and I was trying to find someone who spoke English to hopefully get some directions. I was looking out for a doctors surgery as the odds were higher on finding an English speaker, I rode for a couple of more km’s and I was just about to turn around when I spotted an address on a roadside shop. I managed somehow to find my way onto one of the roads I was looking for. God only knows how I managed to find it, but somehow I did. A total accident.

I had originally intended to stop for the night in Gorakhpur as it was 200kms from Varanasi and a further 150 kms from the Nepal border, but by the time I reached there it was 11:00. I decided to continue on and try and make a run for the border and get through immigration and customs. Gorakhpur was a pain in the arse and it took me an hour to get back on the right road. Actually it wasn’t the right road as I had decided I was going to go through the Birganj border, but it was a road on the map so I decided to go for it. After Gorakhpur the road took a turn for the worse, the surface was ok, not too many potholes, but there were so many bumps in the road. I couldn’t ride over 60kph for most of the ride as anytime I rode over that speed, I spent more time in the air clinging to the handlebars, than I did in my seat.

I so nearly lost control of the bike at one stage when I hit a row of three dips (each about a foot dip) and the front of the bike went real light, the brakes didn’t do much good as they weren’t air brakes! I had to put up with the usual appalling driving from the Indian drivers and I lost count of the amount of times I had to swerve to avoid oncoming bikes, cars, 4wd’s, trucks and buses.

The border closes to traffic at 16:00 so I tried to put a sprint in, as I wanted to get out of India and have a clear run to Kathmandu in the morning. I passed a town called Mahrajganj, which is about 80kms from the border, and I noticed that when I pulled in the clutch the lever was hitting the handlebar – this shouldn’t happen. I pulled in at the next village (not on map) to buy some water and as I did so the engine cut out. I pulled in the clutch and tried to wheel the bike forward (as it was still in gear), but it was a real struggle; the clutch was definitely playing up. The bike was fine once it was in top gear and was really motoring, but it was a struggle to drop down the gears. I learned how to change up gears without using the clutch years ago and I used this technique to get me to the border.

I was looking out for the Himalayan Mountains and I took great joy in watching them unfold before me as I was riding along. I can’t believe that I’m so close to Mt. Everest and I can’t wait to see it in the flesh.

I was expecting a bit of hassle at the border as I read that the $30 USD visa is only accepted in $’s. I only have $13 dollars remaining from my time in Cambodia, but I decided to go for it anyway. I have never been through such an easier border crossing, it was an absolute doddle. The Indian side took no more than three minutes which, to be honest, I wasn’t expecting. I crossed into Nepal and went to Nepal Immigration and they couldn’t have been nicer. They asked me to show me my country on the world map and they couldn’t believe how small it is and we had a good laugh as they processed my paper work. The $30 USD visa lasts for 30 days; they gave me 60 days for the same price. They had no hesitation in taking 1500 Indian Rupees instead of the dollar, despite all the crap mentioned in the guidebooks.

I had to present my bike to customs on the Nepal side and that took about 40 minutes to get through, it also cost me nearly £30 GBP for my bike for one month – which I hadn’t been expecting. I then went to find a mechanic to have a look at my clutch and I came across one a couple of km’s up the road, he had a look at my bike, oiled my chain, cleaned my bike and more importantly adjusted the clutch and I’m pleased to say that the bike is working fine (touch wood). I’m really proud of my ‘iron horse’ today; I can live with a minor clutch adjustment after all the abuse I put the bike through.