Journey by bike to Nepal (starting 17 September,1998)

Travelling with adventure is my weakness. In June 1998 I purchased a new “Hero Honda Splendour” and then I decided that I will make an adventure tour by road, from Chhindwara (M.P.) to Kathmandu (Nepal) by this Bike and above all, alone. I told this program to Mr. Sanjive Jain, owner of Hero Honda Agency, Chhindwara. He encouraged me a lot and said that Satkar Agency (Hero Honda Agency) will sponsor this tour. My D.F.O. Mr. S.R.Tiwari also encouraged me and he even wrote letters to various divisions on way for reservations in Forest Rest Houses.

I decided to go via Jabalpur – Katni – Rewa – Banaras – Gorakhpur – Sonoli – Kathmandu and my return route was via Kathmandu – Pokhra – Sonoli – Basti – Ayodhya – Lucknow – Banda – Maihar – Jabalpur – Chhindwara. In second week of September I made all necessary actions like service of my bike, studying the route map for the final time, medical kit, spares, etc.

On September 17, 1998 I started from Chhindwara at 1:30 PM for Jabalpur via Seoni, this was 216 km journey through National Highway No. 7. Road was fair. I reached Jabalpur at 6 PM and stayed in residence of R.B. Lal, Director of TFRI a Research Institute for Tropical Forest, the only one of its kind in India. Next morning at 7:00 I left for Banaras. It was the journey of 473 km. The route was via Katni – Rewa – Mirzapur – Banaras. Upto Chunar that was 350 km road was very rough and bumpy, though it was N.H. 7, the longest N.H. of India (Banaras to Kannyakumari), but there was no maintenance of road. On the other hand, the route had few places worth seeing. Like Bedaghat, the marble rocks (14 km from Jabalpur) where the white marble is spread all over the bank of the river Narmada, then the Vindhywasini Devi Temple at Mirzapur, then the Chunar Fort at Chunar of course the famous one, Devki Nandan Khatri describes the fort and palace in his novel Chandrakanta.

I reached Sarnath by 7 PM. It was 10 km from Banaras and stayed in Forest Rest House Sarnath with warm hospitality by Range Officer Mr. Aggarwal. Sarnath is famous for Buddhist culture, temples and museums. The next morning I left for Gorakhpur. The road was excellent. When Gorakhpur was 30 km, I came to know that there was no way to Gorakhpur because it was cut off due to floods. Someone told me a side road, and if I followed that road I may reach Gorakhpur in time. I followed the road. Floodwater was on both the sides, and it seemed that I was riding over a big lake or something like that. And at last I my thanks to God, as the road ahead was clear. I reached Gorakhpur safely by 2 pm. The Hero Honda dealer in Gorakhpur checked my bike and gave me “OK” report.

My schedule was to stay at FRH in Gorakhpur but I decided to stay in FRH Farenda, a 100 years old FRH about 40 km from Gorakhpur towards “Indian Border”. Gorakhpur is famous for Gorakhnath Temple and of course I visited it. By 5 pm I left for Farenda road - it was super. Beautiful teak and sal plantations were on both sides of the road. There were regular teaks and sal plantations since 1880 and they were about 15000 hectares in area, worth seeing plantations for every forester. After covering 326 km of journey, by 6 pm I reached Farenda FRH and received a warm welcome by Forest Range Officers Mr. Manmohan Mishra and Mr. M.P. Gautam.

Next morning at 6 am I left for Kathmandu. It was a 305 km long journey. The road was excellent. I reached Nautanwa – Sonoli border town of India and Bhairhawa border town of Nepal by 8 am.

There I changed my Indian currency in Nepali Rs.; Exchange rate was one Indian Rs. equal to 1.60 Nepali Rs. There I got a temporary registration number for my bike from the Nepal RTO Authorities. It was a lengthy process and I wasted two hours. Anyhow by 11 am I left for Kathmandu, via Butwal – Narainghat. Road was excellent and route was so picturesque I can't find words for it! Both sides of the road there were paddy fields in the shade of small hills. The road was lonely. There was not much traffic. After covering 125 km from Nepal border a small town came which is known as Bharatpur, famous for Chitwan National Park. You can easily watch a rich fauna like one-horned rhino, tiger, and various species of deer and many more wildlife. You can stay in Gainda wild life Camp, and Tiger Top lodge. I spent a beautiful two hours there.

By 7 pm I reached Kathmandu and stayed in Hotel Ambassador, a good 3 star hotel. The rent for AC room for one person of one day was just 500 Indian Rs. Next day I started my Kathmandu visit. Kathmandu means “A Wooden Mandap“ or  Temple“. Previously it was known by the name of Kantipur. This wooden Mandap is situated in the heart of city near Darbar Square. Kathmandu is infested with Temples, there are more than 2000 temples, big and small both. Some famous temples of Kathmandu are Pashupatinath temple built in Pagoda style, situated on the bank of Bhagmati River. The Temple’s domes are gold plated. This temple is worshipped for God “Shiva“ and famous for its Shivratri festival.

Hanuman Dhoka is the historical palace and temple complex. Boddnath temple is between Pashupatinath temples and Gokaru forest, famous for its idol Akash Bhairave temple, is in Indra Chowk Bazaar. Machendranath temple is in Pagoda style and its roof is made of pure bronze.

About 5 km southwest from Kathmandu another city Patan or Lilitpur is situated. It is famous for its bronze and Brass work, stone and wood carving. This 2000 years old capital of Nepal is also famous for Buddhist Monastery, which is Hiranya Vana Mahabihar. It has gold plated roof courtyard with many prayer wheels and is worth seeing. 

Another city Bhaktapur or Bhadgaon is about 15Km East from Kathmandu. Founded about 900AD, is a great city of wood carving, medieval architecture and fine sculpture. Here one can see the largest Pagoda in Nepal called Nyatpola built in 1708, by King Bhupandramalla. It is 5 tiers Pagoda standing on a pyramid base of 5 levels.

There is a complex of temples in Darbar Square of Bhadgaon. Some of these  are Bhairavnath Nyatpola,Atatreya, Surya, Vinayale temples, all worth seeing for their carving, sculpture and history.

Kathmandu is also famous for its casinos. There are 4 casinos in the city. I visited one of them, that is Annapurna, and lost Rs.50, but gained a lot on the pool table. Nepalese are not allowed in casinos. Kathmandu is also famous for its departmental stores. They are plenty in every locality. I decided to purchase a Walkman for my daughter, I purchased a Sony Walkman in 1100 Indian Rs.,but when I came to my home town the same model was available for 1000 Rs. So beware of shopping of electronic goods there. After staying for 2 nights in Kathmandu on September 21, 1998 morning I proceeded for Pokhra. It is a 210 km journey. Road was very bad but if you forget about the road and enjoy the picturesque beauty of Nepal then you will never even think about the road.

I reached Pokhra by 4 pm. It is a small town with a population of about 4 Lacs. Pokhra is a very rich in scenic beauty, trekking and river rafting. For trekking some of the routes are Jomoson and the foothills of the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges. About 8-15 days trekking covers the scenic beauty of Dhaulagiri. A small trekking route is Sarangkot that is about 10 km trekking. Sarangkot is famous for sunrise. White water rafting is available in river Seti and Gandaki. Some other places worth seeing are Bindiybasini Temple, Fewa lake (boating available), Buddhist Monastery Begnas lake, Mahendra Gufa, Museum, etc. All spots are within Pokhra. Hotels are cheap here. You can stay in a good hotel for just Rs.200-400 a day. 

After staying 2 nights in Pokhra on 24 in the morning 6 o'clock I left for Lucknow via Sonoli-Sidharthnager-Basti-Ayodhya-Lucknow. It was 620 km long journey. From Pokhra to Sonoli 180 km long road was in very bad condition, almost without surfacing. But surroundings and landscape are so eautiful that all the fatigue of driving had gone. I reached Lucknow by 8 pm and stayed in my sister’s house. She was so worried about my journey that I can’t explain it.

Next day I woke up early in the morning and by 6 am I left for Chhindwara via Kanpur - Banda - Kalinzer - Nagod - Maihar - Jabalpur - Chhindwara. It was a 805 km long journey. Upto Banda, the road was good but thorugh Kalinzer - Nagod, the 150  km long road was so bad that it took 7 hours to cover the distance. I have driven about 5,00,000 km on two wheels and about 2,00,000 km on 4 wheels in 25 years, but I have never seen such a bad road.

By 11 pm I reached Chhindwara, I had covered 3610 km in 8 days. In the journey I didn’t had any trouble except driving on those bad roads. My next tour program is going to U.K. via Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, Hungary, France, etc. crossing about 22 countries. This tour may be on 2 wheel or 4 wheel. No sooner I will get sponsor I will start. If any body interested can contact me on swarit98@yahoo.com or call me at 07162-45130. 

Rakesh K Saxena
Lal Bagh, College Road
CHHINDWARA (M.P.)
INDIA
 

Post A Travelogue