Fastest way to cross border from India-Nepal

seventies'hippy

Yes try and avoid flying if you possibly can, In 1972 I flew from Patna to Kathmandu, It was my most scariest flight ever and it took me many years before I flew again. It's only about a 20min flight, a quick hop over the mountains which of course rise up to 28,oooft in places, Thick cloud all the way, aaaagh, after about 25minutes you know you should be coming down soon, you also know that those mountains which you can't see in the cloud are all around you, suddenly the plane plummetted and started spiralling down, the stewardesses looked scared ( thats a bad sign) people were screaming and praying out loud,I kid ye not,,,,,,,
Anyway after what seemed like the proverbial ages, the pilot pulled the plane up, levelled out and there we was about 300ft above the runway. Phew,,,,,,
Landing at Kathmandu is like landing in a teacup, As we exited the plane the nepalese pilot with his curly moustache was standing at the door with a big smirk on his face, He knew that he had put the sh*t's up all of us,,,,,,,,,,,,,

chathuri

I've been to Katmandu Dec 2004. Wish to keep you up to date with latest situation in Nepal.
There are plenty of buses from India border Sonauli to Katmandu. Nepal side of the border is clean and friendly compared to India side. You getter a better exchage rate and better food in Nepal.
There are several security checkpoints on the way to Katmandu. If you travel in a local bus it will stop at every check point. You can show your pass port with out getting down but the bus will wait untill all the locals and their baggade is checked.
You can avoid that by catching the tourist bus which leaves the border at 9.00 am. It's not very comfortable as a so called tourist bus, but it'll save time.
If you miss the tourist bus then you can hire a small car. But there is a strech of 18 km, whre road is in avery bad shape and traveling that part in a small car can be very un comfprtable. Else you can go in a SUMO or a shared jeep, but try to get into a jeep where there are no locals, so that it won't have to stop at checkpoints for check ups.

What ever the mode of transportation you would have to stop at the last checkpoint at the entrace to Katmandu. In the evening there will be a large queue of Lorries busses and jeeps. They allow private vehicles with tourists to pass with out much trouble, but since the road is narrow you'll have wait untill your turn..it might take hours.

Another alternative route would be to go to Pokhara first istead of Katmandu. It's a narrow road winding trough steep mountains. Pokhara is a famous tourist location, where most of the tourist go to get a closer look at the Himalayas. From Pokhara, there will be plenty of TOURIST ONLY tourist buses and jeeps. Those drivers know how to get through checkpoints with out much delay.That way you can avoid the worst part of the Katmandu road as well as delays in checkpoints.
If tourist bus owners ask you to put your bags on the hood rack insist on covering it with a sheet, else your baggage will be covered with dust.

In case you are planing to catch a train from Gorakpur on your return journey, have a safety buffer of time and money as almost all the trains via Gorakpur gets late from 1 hour to 23 hours. You might have to spend the night at the station or a nearby hotel. It's a dirty town, with very little english. If you happend to be lost, there is a travel agent office in front of the station, just across the road. He will give your free information and arrange some mode of transportation or accomodation if you ask him for a small fee.

Only good point about Gorakpur is, it is a 24 hours city. No matter what time you arrive in Gorakpur there will be food and accomodation and jeep drivers ready to take you to almost any where. If you arrive late my advice is to stay close to the station untill morning. If you travel at night stick to public trasportation rather than cars and jeeps. I did not come across any mis haps, but i heard some rumours from fellow travellers. Thay may not be true, but i could not help feeling like trapped and wanting to get away as soon as posible!

Jeroen

I flew from Delhi to Kathmandu, an easy hop with Jet Airways. I remember it wasn;t even that expensive, and the views were magnificent; you see Nanda Devi in India, Annapurna and the Everest range too.
If you're on such a short trip it may just be worth it to splash out on a flight, saving you a day and a half of your holiday and having you arrive fresh instead of dead tired.

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michellemm

[quote=angelika]I've done the trip from Varanasi to Gorakhpur by train and then by jeep to Sonauli this year. The train takes about 5 hrs and the jeep about 2 - 3 hrs.[quote]

Do you remember how much did it cost for you the train + the jeep?

Yetijuice

In mid-December 1983 I was shivering in Kathmandu thinking about a warm beach for Christmas. On the front door of the Old Vienna Restaurant in Thamel was a poster advertising Jimmy’s Land of Adventure Tours trip to Goa on a Swiss bus. I had visions of lederhosen, raclette, chocolate, alpenhorns, and yodeling. Why not? I showed up at the meeting point for the bus departure on the morning of December 17th.

There were 14 passengers on the bus. Twelve were Indian laborers who had signed up with an overseas job recruiting office for jobs in the Middle East. An Australian and I were the only western passengers on board. The two of us were the only up-front paying passengers on the bus. We paid 800 rupees NPR each for the announced 4 day Kathmandu to Goa trip.

We proceeded westwards on the Rajpath towards Mugling. Two hours later smoke billowed in the glassed-in front drivers compartment and we pulled over and stopped. At least we were outside Kathmandu valley. The oil hose was draped over the engine block and had melted through. It took two hours to jury-rig a repair before getting back on our way.

Jimmy was short and spunky with the gift of gab. We reached Sonauli at 8:30 at night. Jimmy claimed that the border crossing was closed for the night. Not true. Jimmy said we would be on the road at 9:00 the next morning. Not quite. We were all on the bus at that time except for Jimmy. Jimmy was busy humping his girlfriend and did not show up until 2 p.m.

The bus traveled a few hundred meters to the Indian border post. As we came to a stop, Jimmy asked me to claim that a sleeping bag in the rack above my seat was mine. This was less than a minute before the customs inspector boarded the bus. I told Jimmy, no way, Jose! I had no idea what was inside that sleeping bag. The customs inspector never asked about the sleeping bag, so Jimmy got it into India alright.

We were on the road again. As long as we were moving everything was fine. We arrived in Delhi at 8:00 p.m. Jimmy announced that the oil line was going to get a proper repair. We were all to meet in front of the Royal Nepal embassy at noontime the next day. We found a cheap hotel to stay in. The following day (December 20th) we were at the meeting point at the appointed time but there was no Jimmy and no bus. Finally, one hour late, Jimmy showed up in a car. Jimmy stated that the bus was not ready yet. The bus would be ready the NEXT day at noontime.

I wanted to get to Goa for Christmas. I asked Jimmy for a refund. Jimmy claimed he had no money on him. I slugged Jimmy hard in the shoulder once. Out popped his wallet and I had my refund, minus the publicized 30% cancellation charge. Now I agree that generally you are not supposed to punch somebody. Jimmy was an exception to that rule. Jimmy would have tried anybody’s patience.

I took a taxi to get to the train station. I arrived just in time to board the Delhi-Bombay train WITHOUT a ticket. I walked up and down the train in search of a conductor. It was slow moving through the train wearing a backpack. A conductor in the first class sleeper compartment told me to find a seat in third class unreserved near the back of the train, I went there and waited. Three hours after departing Delhi the conductor came to the third class bogey and sold me a ticket. I had to pay a penalty of 100% for the distance covered before I purchased the ticket. The ticket cost 100 rupees (10.4 rupees equaled US $1). The penalty added 12 rupees to that.

It was a 24-hour train trip to Bombay. In Bombay I boarded a bus to Panjim. Late the next afternoon (December 22nd) the bus arrived in Panjim. I then took a bus towards Calangute. I got off at Candolim and stayed in Bob’s Inn and Bar next to a Catholic church.

Several days later I ran across the Australian who had been on Jimmy’s Land of Adventure Tours bus. He had remained on the bus for the entire duration and had arrived in Goa on Christmas Eve. The advertised 4 days Kathmandu to Goa bus trip had actually taken one week.

On a later trip to Nepal I mentioned my misadventure on Jimmy’s Land of Nectar Adventure Tour to the owner of the Old Vienna restaurant. She shuddered and said others had complained to her about Jimmy’s bus and that his advertising was no longer accepted.

My advice to others traveling overland from Nepal to India and vice versa is to arrange travel only to the border. Cross the border on your own and find new transportation to continue on your way.

The 100% penalty for the distance already covered for ticket-less train travelers is an encouragement to buy the ticket as soon as you can. As this happened 21 years ago the policy may well be different now. The penalty may well have been increased.

vistet

You`re way ahead of me ......

chathuri

hi michellemm,
for train it should be 100-150 IRs in sleeper class.(Trains to Gorakpur are always late and TTIs and other railway officers are not very friendly..so collect all the information before you leave! ) Better get a night train so that you can arrive early.First bus to Saunali leave around 4.00 from Gorakpur.
Jeep will vary from 80 - 200 IRs depending on the demand and you barganing capability. Local bus fare is only 48 IRs. Those Jeeps are crowded, you'll have rough time packed with 10-15 fellow travellers. Bus is less crowded and you are sure to get a seet. Bus take 3 hours, while a jeep will take 2 hours. Early morning and late night busses are faster.

NeoAsimov

Hello,


Cathuri, you are telling me that it would cost around 10$CAN (300 rupees) from Delhi to Katmandu?!?



Salutations,

Mai

Hi

I'm new here so, hello, I'm planning on flying out to Delhi next week and am hoping not to spend long at all in delhi and get straight out to Nepal, my flight gets in at 7.30am and I was wondering if any one has any advice about where to stay (ie hotel names?) Ideally I would like a hotel with airport pick up and close to train stations that can take me towards Nepal. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Mai

Lovemax

Thanks all for sharing your experiences but I wanted to ask all my experienced IMers - Has anyone thought of entering Nepal via Mahendranagar that is about 250kms from Delhi ?
I have so many thoughts about going to nepal on my motorcycle but each time something else comes up and my mind always keep thinking if this can ever happen? Can anyone suggest me - is it possible to enter nepal via mahendranagar and how safe it is - If I am goin all alone ?

Thanks you all in advance as I seek to hear from Ex Nepal Travellers...
please advice
-birdie-

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"The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality.. - Samuel Johnson
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Annemarie30

Hi, my train will be arriving at 19.00 in Gorakhpur.
Can I go on to the Nepali border then, or am I stuck in Gorakpur?
I would like to proceed then, so I can spend the night on Nepalese side, does anyone know if that is possible?

Dilliwala

I don't know about this specific border-crossing but I've heard about others that they close at 8 pm. Best is to check locally when u get there, unless someone else who's done this recently can provide the info.