We were off to Gorakhpur after spending early afternoon at Varanasi Ghats. Around 70 km away from Gorakhpur is the India-Nepal border at Sunauli. Since the Sunauli border crossing closes at 9pm, we choose to stay at Gorakhpur for the night.

Driving in Uttar Pradesh was always scenic and so was the Varanasi to Gorakhpur route as we passed these lovely wild grass with white blossoms.

We had few hotel options, both in the same area, so it was less stressful to find a room this time. We reached President Hotel in the evening, booked the cheapest room for Rs 1000, since it was only for a night and after Hotel Samadhreeya in Jabalpur, this was far better.

The dinner was tasty, I had a Spicy Butter Chicken for the first time in my life, and Dal Makhani with Rice for Bhavika. The next morning we had to hunt for the last LPG station, since its economical than petrol, prior to entering Nepal! Wasn’t tough to find one with a little help from the rickshaw drivers, the best people to ask for LPG gas station on our trip!

We were making good time on our way to Sunauli and then poof, a traffic jam? What? Yeah a line as far as the eyes can see, jeeps adorning posters of Congress politician Rahul Gandhi and their party flags were heading for a rally. It was narrow, two way road, so there was no chance we could get out of the line. We were stuck in a market area, with nothing moving for a long time on a sultry afternoon, it was annoying!

The jeeps were moving slowly, stopping to offload and pick up people who were having tea! Finally after a good 30 minutes, we broke free into the heart of India, instead of taking the road to the highway, we took a road going through the villages of Gorakhpur and instantly we were surrounded by lush green fields and smiling faces.

Thatched houses with creepers crawling over the roofs, round huts set besides huge trees, women and kids with a herd of pigs and piglets drew a picture of serenity. Soon the countdown began…

Crossing the India-Nepal border at Sunauli

A massive line of trucks greeted us but it didn’t bother us much, ahead in the distance we could see the board – Indian Border Ends – and it was a relieving sight, my first time out of the country, and how, driving out of it!!!

Sunauli, the most popular entry point from India to Nepal, open 24 hours, is a dusty, congested small town with few shops lined up on the border post (Indian side) selling refreshments, groceries etc.

As we reached the end of the border we were asked to park on the side and a cop came up to us and asked if we had a camera or laptop and fill up a customs declaration form.

After that was the usual bribe story where we were asked to pay Rs 200, so I said why, “Its compulsory if you want to pass, otherwise I will tear the form and remove your car number from the registration,” the cop said sternly. I asked him to wait a minute, went to the car got the phone out (with a dead battery in it), asked the main cop his name, and pretended to call up some number. The cop immediately jumped off his chair and said, “Sirr agar aap reference nahi bataonge to humko kaise maloom padega, aap jao (Sir if you don’t tell us your reference, then how will we know, please go ahead).”

Formalities to Enter Nepal

We parked just in between to complete the cross border formalities, I was aware of the requirements thanks to this article by the guys at Kunzum. I had the Registration Certificate(RC) book and the License photo copies ready, but was hounded by one guy who said he will get it done for me in 20 minutes etc, I started off on my own but soon required a bit of help as I had no clue where to go, so for all of you who plan on driving to Nepal in your own car from India -

First you need to get a gate pass from the Nepali Immigration office. Then you need to go in the main office and collect a license form. There are two options, one is “Suvidha” the other is “Bhanzar” thanks to this thread on Team BHPthat shed some light on these options.

Suvidha: It is a free pass for you to keep an Indian registered vehicle in Nepal for the time the border opens to the time it closes. Normally it is from 8 am to 9 pm. Although Suvidha is valid till 9 pm, you won’t be issued a Suvidha pass 5 pm and with this license you are not allowed to take your car passed the nearest town “Bhairahawa”.

The Suvidha is an extremely limited option for us we needed a Bhanzar that cost us around Rs 285 per day, with this you have no limitations and can travel anywhere in Nepal. Although while going to Pokhara I was asked to pay Rs 200 Nepali for a permit, which I think a lazy cop was trying to make a quick buck from me.

Take it to the next room and get it filled up. They sometimes check the car number plate and ask you how many people are you traveling with etc. Then you have to get the filled form signed by another officer, pay the amount that is due for your stay, go to the booth to collect a temporary green number plate with a Nepali number to display on your car while you are in Nepal.

The guy who helped me go through this process, that takes around 30-40 minutes, asked for Rs 200 Nepali and that’s it, we were in a new country. I was expecting an immediate change in everything as soon as we crossed the border but the shops were similar, there were a couple of hotels and restaurants – which looked okay – and a long queue of vehicles waiting to enter India.

An open road greeted us and just as I picked up speed we were stopped by the Nepali Army Police in blue camouflage, asking us general questions, if we have come to sell anything, if we are on a holiday, where do we plan on going etc. Once he was convinced, he actually started suggesting places to visit and duration to reach the place.

We decided to go to Pokhara first and then to Kathmandu in a couple of days. It was already dusk and the road to Pokhara was through a hilly and rough terrain, so we decided to head towards Kathmandu, which was 285 km from the Sunauli border. One local at a book shop told us we would find many guest houses on the way, so we weren’t worried.

But an hour passed then another, no sign of a single guest house or a lodge on the highway. Finally around 8.30 pm Bhavika spotted a board saying, ‘Island Jungle Resort’, Chitwan National Park, it was 8 km off the road and it made sense to stay at Chitwan instead of driving further.

It was a mud road so we went crawling through a village, which was dimly lit, few people sitting in their verandah chatting and singing. We asked for directions and were following the road when all of a sudden we see two logs of wood blocking the road and an electrical fencing to prevent animals from entering the village. Some kids around six or seven of them sitting under a tree giggling and joking told us that its the forest area and there are tigers and rhinos around.

The kids were talking in their local language so with difficulty we asked them about the resort. One boy who knew few words in Hindi said the hotel was in the forest two kilometers away. He took us to his house to talk to his mother, fluent in Hindi, and she said the hotel manager has to fetch us from here since Jungle Island Resort was situated across the river.

Bhavika asked her is she could call the hotel, since our phone battery was dead, and she was kind enough to call up somebody from there and he agreed to come to the river, 2 km away, and he would take us on the boat.

The kids happily opened the fencing, they all ran to open it and told us about the small water hole we would’ve to cross to get to the river, and convinced us that the car would make it through and every vehicle does. It took them some time to open the fencing as it was electrified.

We thanked and gave them a tip, they were all so happy, in a minute Bhavika was frantically asking me to put the windows up. We were driving through Elephant Grass, it was way taller than us and the car. The only path was the two tyre tracks made by previous vehicles and it abruptly ended into a water body. It was foggy as well, so our vision was a bit limited, and the kids’ stories of the wild animals was enough to have Bhavika’s senses elevated. I on the other hand was contemplating how deep the water was, without getting out of the car.

I could see the water was not too deep in the start, as it was crystal clear. I thought of driving through really slowly so we don’t have an issue, that plan quickly changed as I felt the car slowing on its own as the water level climbed. After few seconds we made it to the other side and both of us heaved a sigh of relief.

An abrupt end to the road leaves us in a small opening surrounded by trees and short grass at the bottom, and in the corner was a board stating, welcome to the Jungle Island Resort! Engulfed in fog we could see nothing around, no lights, no sounds except of the nocturnal insects in the thick of a jungle, were we in the right place in Chitwan?

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Keep Reading, Keep Learning:

1. Into the Wild at Chitwan National Park
2. Savouring Nepalese Food and Culture in Kathmandu
3. Drifting in the Serene Waters of Begnas Tal
4. The World Peace Pagoda Shines Over Pokhara