Rishikesh Border to Nepal

Hi friends,
I plan to travel from India to Nepal. I will start from Rishikesh and heard that there is a bus from Rishikesh to Tanakpur. There I plan to cross the border and then move to a small village next to Nepalganj. Has anyone done the trip before and how long does it take? Any problems crossing the border to Nepal?
Cheers,

Nepalganj is very far from Tanakpur (12 hours bus ride at least)

You have to go to Banbassa, just 11 km from Tanakpur. Cross over the border (permitted on foot ONLY) to Mahendranagar in Nepal. This particular Bridge used to remain open between sunrise and sunset ONLY. [if its changed please find out and post here]

Many a time the guard is drunk in the evening. I have no information whether foreigners CAN cross??? [You need a visa stamp showing entry, else you cannot get out]

Indians can cross over freely, but foreigners?? Google on "Banbassa" to find out if foreigners have indeed used the crossing officially.

Nepalganj in Nepal is North of Lucknow and Bahraich. The corresponding border town in India is Rupaidiha. I have crossed here myself and know that "immigration stamps" are indeed affixed on both sides of the Border.

If you do cross over at Banbassa, please do let us [at Indiamike] know...

Avid is right, the border crossing at Banbasa/Mahendranagar is closed at night ( something like 7/8 pm to 5/6 am).

Vehicles can cross over too, but the transport buses of either country do not. Foreigners can cross over if they have the necessary visa (I checked this sometime back with some Nepalis in Mussoorie who regularly use that crossing).

I'm not sure if there's a bus from Rishikesh itself to Tanakpur/Banbasa; there definitely are a few from Dehradun that go via Haridwar/Najibabad.

PS: Germany used to have a no-visa regime with Nepal a while back (pre-Schengen); not sure if that's still the case. Better to check with Nepal Embassy in Berlin.

I am a little confused - can vehicles cross the bridge or is it open to only pedestrians?

Yes, they can. More info in this thread (specially 2nd page):

Delhi to Border Crossing at Banbasa
I may mention that the opening times seem to keep changing as per the whim of the week/month.

The bridge is also clearly visible on wikimapia alongwith other landmarks.