As Amit was
speaking Nepalese to the authorities at the border, the person at the other side
of the table was checking the form and authorizing with the seal. This piece of
paper with the vehicle registration and our names will allow us and the vehicle
to get into Nepal. Apart from this permit, we will have to still get the papers
from the Birgunj Yathayat (Transport department) office. We were into the
marshy roads of Birgunj and started searching the Yathayat. We will have to pay
the road tax for the given period of Travel and need to get the vehicle permit.
We enquired some persons in Blue uniform to get to the Yathayat office and
later I understood from Amit that those were the Nepal Police. I will have to
remember this
I had always imagined Nepal’s geography
and Climate to be hilly and cold. However, this was not the fact, Nepal as a
country is protected by Himalayas in the North and the whole country runs
parallel to the Himalayas. That means the northern part of Nepal is covered
with the Himalayan range hosting the great Mount Everest. Did I mention ever
that we have planned the EBC (Everest Base Camp) Trek? Yes, we were going to
land at Lukla, which is the most dangerous airport in the world. From Kathmandu
to Lukla, we were going to take a short flight and from Lukla we had planned to
trek to Namache Bazaar and then to Everest Base Camp. All our trekking bags
were ready at the back of the vehicle.
Now coming back to present, the
marshy bad roads filled with trucks moving towards Hetauda be the Tribhuvan
Highway named after one of the modern times King of Nepal. After missing a left
turn, we took a U-turn in a junction and finally reached a street filled with
Water because of the heavy rains the same morning. I had always heard of Nepal
as the most friendly nation to India but the bad roads and the water stagnated
streets, got me a feeling that was closer to the realities of India except for
India had better National Highway infrastructure. Thanks to the government
headed by Mr. Vajpayee. I had missed the most important point here which is
more realistic to compare than the ones which I mentioned, how did I miss this
? It’s the people !!! When I say Nepalese people, most of you will picturize
the Hindi speaking Mongolian Nepalese people (very honest and meticulous) whom
you would have hired as security and domestic help back in your urban
dwellings. However, I could only see a handful of the Mongolian Nepalese after
I had entered Nepal. The majority ones were Indians, sorry Nepalese resembling
Indians. Welcome to the Terai region of Nepal (southern part of the Nepal).
Most of the Terai people are Indians migrated years back.
We parked the vehicle outside the
Yathayat office and walked inside the gate. There were few officials sitting
inside a room filled few government with files. The whole campus was closer to
my thought of any small town RTO office in India. Nowadays, most of the RTO
offices in India are reconstructed and computerized, but this office in Birgunj
was yet to get the Digital blessing. Amit approached an official who mentioned
that it is not possible to get the permits the same evening since it was close
to the end of office timings. The time was around 5:15 pm. As I had understood
from the mannerism of the official, that with some handling, we will be able to
get the permit, Amit was already on the job negotiating and finally we got the
permit papers for 10 days including permits for Kathmandu, Pokhra, Hetauda etc
etc. This permit was more than enough for us to complete our journey in and out
of Nepal.
We started driving through the
Tribhuvan Highway towards Hetauda and it was getting dark. After the experience
of the permit papers, I was getting ready for a more like Indian scenario in
all my experiences but Amit sharing some pointers, which could become surprises
for me and completely away from the Indian way. During the sunset, we crossed
the Terai region of the Highway. After the day long drive and the hectic
traffic in Raxaul had made us tired. We had to refuel with some good food and
from now and for the next 10 days in Nepal, I will have to land into any restaurant
that Amit will opt. I would not doubt his choices given the couple of years, we
worked together and we knew each other.
We stopped at the side of the
Highway with a row of restaurants for Dinner It was still 6:30 pm and the stove
was still getting hot in all these restaurants. Highway restaurants are owned
by families, their residences built on the first and second floor of the restaurants.
After having good rotis, parathas in the last 2 days driving across North of
India, I was expecting Amit to get me some rotis and Dal (already missing Rice
but used to the Chappatis, Rotis). I was hearing the first surprise when Amit
told me that we would only have Rice in Nepal (hearing of the great Tamil King
Rajendra Chozhan, who travelled all across the Sub-continent to hoist the Tiger
Chozhan dynasty flag on Himalayas). This was the first surprise, which
challenged my prejudices. Rice with curry is the dinner for Today. Hungry and
still waiting to taste the food, Amit was again talking Nepalese but the context
was understood as I watched the owner cooking Chicken curry. Amit will not miss
the Chicken in the order. J
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