Buddha Calling.....A Ride to Nepal

I have been on the roads for the past 3 years clocking 40,000+  kms on my Classic 500 bullet, riding around many places in India. But I didn't have any thoughts about sharing my riding experience. Thanks to Purush, Kamal & Prabha for initiating me to write this blog.

The Nepal Ride Plan was started because of the BOBMC RM '13 was happening in Cherrapunjee, Meghalaya. This year event was Hosted by RERAM Stormbringers, a bullet community in Shillong, Meghalaya.

Here is the route plan what myself and Shiva decide to ride after RM ‘13.

Cherrapunji > Guwahati > Siliguri > Kakkarbitta > Hetauda > Kathmandhu > Pokhara > Butwal > Lumbini > Lucknow.

It was initially planned for 2 people but ended up with 11 of us riding to Nepal.

We started our RM ‘13 ride from Shillong to Cherrapunjee on 19th Jan 2013 with our Madras Bulls Group. Few photo sessions on the view point and entered the venue. Done our registrations and checked into our Doms. Mark, Julian, Shan and other friends from shillong pitched their tents on the Beautiful view backside of the venue. Myself & Shiva moved there and pitched our tents. The day went on with Party...Party..Party...till midnight.

Friends from Shillong

Madras Bulls Motorcycling Club @ Cherrapunji

Next Day (20 Jan 2013) went out for Local sightseeing, back to the venue in the afternoon and participated in Bike events. On evening, Rock show and again Party...Party...Party...Slept earlier for next day ride.

Day 01 (21 Jan 2013, Monday) - Cherrapunji to Goalpara.

After RM hangover, me and shiva planned to start early and to cover around 300 - 350 kms towards Siliguri. Saying bye to all my Biker friends we started our ride at 9:30AM. Arul & Gokul ripped in the ghats and overtook us. After 40 Kms of ride and couple of photo sessions, we stopped for a Brunch Break before Shillong. Had some Rice & dal, met few Assam riders who paid our bills (bad memory, forgot their names). B-Ro, Paul & Chairman crossed us, informing that Bra & Dodo are behind. We exited Shillong and reached Beautiful Umium Lake view spot where Arul & Gokul were waiting for us.

Umium Lake, outskirts of Shillong

After small chat & snaps we start riding again. As usual Gokul & Arul Patranged and went in front.  Roads were bad till Guwahati due to road extension work. Me & Shiva were cruising in 70’s and reached jorabat, outskirts of Guwahati, where B-Ro, Chairman & Paul & Subu (from Bangalore) were waiting. We planned to Quit NH31 due to bad stretches which B-Ro, Chairman & Paul experienced while coming from siliguri to cherrapunji 3 days back. As per maggi (our base contact) & Gokul, we decided to ride through state highways to Goalpara and stay there for the night. Good road conditions. Started riding on heavy traffic & dusty roads, we stopped for Lunch near Guwahati airport.

Chairman & Others waiting @ Jorabat for us to reach.

Had a Good Fish curry & rice @ the Dhabba. Dodo & Bra crossed us and waited few kms ahead. After lunch, we joined with them & start riding. Temperature starts dropping. Gokul & Arul reached goalpara & had taken accommodation for all of us @ Hollywood Lodging. Rooms are pretty good & food is awesome. We reached Goalpara around 8PM, had our dinner and went to bed.
Total Distance Covered: 285 Kms.

Day 02 (22 Jan 2013, Tuesday) – Goalpara to Siliguri.

As usual it was MBMC timing when we started @ 10AM. People outside the hotel crowded to see us like aliens because of our full riding gears.

Saddle up from Hollywood Lodge in Goalpara.

Taking the muddy roads in goalpara, riding for 5 kms we parked our vehicles on the banks of Bhramaputra River. It was an awesome view. Taken few pictures and continued riding towards the Iron bridge and crossed the river (Approx. 2.5 Kms).

Brahmaputra River @ Goalpara

Iron bridge over Brahmaputra River.

Me on the Iron bridge over Brahmaputra River.

Stopped at Jogighopa for fuel. Start riding towards Gauripur bypassing Bongaigoan. Roads are good with few potholes. Stopped for Lunch around 12PM at a Dhabba near Bogrobari. Gokul was 40 kms ahead and and nearing gauripur. after gauripur railway station for 20 kms, roads were there in between a lot of potholes towards west bengal border. From west bengal Border (chagolia interstate check gate) there were no roads and full of lorry traffic till cooch behar. Bra’s Givi Box Stray was broken due to bad stretches. Shifted few luggages from his bike to others. Me & Shiva start riding towards Falakatta. Chairman, Paul stayed with Bra to fix the Stray. After seeing some good roads crossing cooch behar we started to pickup the speed.

Gokul had a flat tyre at sonapur, 18 kms before falakatta. We stopped there and met Dogtar & Venkatachalam on that place and had some local snacks and chai. start riding with dodo, sailesh, gokul & chairman towards falakatta. Stopped for a Chai break around 6PM at Sangam Hotel, Etelbhari near Birpara. Had some good chai, cashew & Biscuts. Gokul Converted his Head Lamp into Fog lamp by covering it with a Yellow Glass Paper.

Sangam Hotel, Etelbhari

Me, Gokul & Shiva started from there and start riding towards Sevoke. Others waited there for Bra & arul to join. Temperature was dropping down, Gokul leads and we both followed him. Finally we reached siliguri at 9PM and waited for others to come. meanwhile we had some great Egg Chowmin & Veg Momos. The shop guy offered free soup to us. Around 9.30 PM Dodo & Paul reached siliguri and searched for the hotel. One by one all joined and reached Hotel Shaarada @ 10PM. Finished the Dinner @ Singing Bar in the hotel premises, went to sleep.
Total Distance Covered: 376 Kms.

Chowmin & Vg Momos @ siliguri

Day 03 (23 Jan 2013, Wednesday) – Siliguri to Lahan (Nepal)

Ashish from RTMC Bangalore joined us. After converting all our 500,1000 currencies to 100’s we started around 10 AM towards Nepal Entry Prithvi tol at Kakkirbitta. Riding around 40+kms of bad stretches via Uttar bagdogra & Naxalbari. Roads become smaller and smaller and we ended up in a crowded market place in raniganj. Here the indian border ends. We crossed a small Bridge, fully crowded with cycle rickshaws, bicycles and people walking. Now we see the Board “KAKARBHITTA” and all are in full throttle (not bike, its heart). YES, WE ARE IN NEPAL. Beautiful wide road “East-West Highways welcomes us into Nepal. We ripped for an kilometer and stopped for regrouping.

Kakarbhitta, Entry Point to Nepal

Me, Sailu & Dodo @ Checkpost

Shiva posing near the Checkpost @ Kakarbhitta

We were not stopped by any military people on the Border. As owner said earlier, we need to get Permit on the Border, but no one stops, little confusion happened there. So Bra went back to the Border again and checked with the officials. They said we need to show our vehicles original RC Book & Insurance and inform about the number of days stay in nepal & pay the entry fees.  So all went back to the checkpost and done the formalities. We paid the fee by giving  indian currency and got Nepal Currency Back. All our Mobile Signals Went off. Now we are on International roaming. Dodo & paul already activated their international roaming. Started from the checkpost at 12.30PM and start riding. Beautiful 2 lane roads laid by Indian Govt. 16 years Back. No Patches or potholes. crossed small villages, beautiful sceneries and travelled 100 Kms and Stopped for Lunch @ 2PM. had some Noodle & Buscuits, started @ 3PM. Around 4Pm temperature begins to drop and Fog started to make visibility lesser. Around 6PM it was freezing cold around 10 degrees, we planned not to ride more. So we stopped at Lahan and got the Accomodation @ Hotel Godhuli. Rooms were good. The Good thing in Nepal, even in a small village, the hotel provides free Wi-Fi connections. Had a nice dinner with white rice & curd, watching TV till 11PM and went to sleep.
Total Distance Covered: 260 Kms.

H01 - Beautiful East-West Highway

Day 04 (24 Jan 2013, Thursday) – Lahan (Nepal) to kathmandu

Saddle up at 10AM, Fueled and start riding towards Hetauda. 11AM still fog on the roads, no sunlight, but had better visibility.  Me, sailesh, Paul, Gokul, arul & Shiva ride together till 100+KM’s and stopped for a chai. Met a Paratrooper Commondo who was on a Marraige function near the chai shop. Another guy from Katmandu on that place was talking to us about the New route to Katmandhu from Hetauda. We noted his route plan. Had some Chai, Jelabi and Pakodas we started from there. Bra, Chairman & Dodo are behind us and no clue for their slow down.

Our Bikes parked @ hotel Godhuli, Lahan.

We were nearing Hetauda, suddenly sun rays came out from the clouds. We feel warm and stopped at Hetauda in a small refreshment. Had some chowmins & Redbull, Ashish & Subu reached. Waited for Bra, dodo & Chairman. Tried Dodo Number. Not reachable. So spoken to Maggi. He said that Harish Wallet was looted at the Lahan hotel. He realized after 40 Kms from Lahan. So they went back and enquired, a small boy stolen the wallet, after few conversation, he got back the wallet.

So Dodo asked us to start from Hetauda. We started and start riding towards Kathmandu at 3PM. Bra had already mentioned a short trekking route to Katmandhu other than the Regular Tribhuvan Highway. As we chatted with the local guy in Hetauda, he directed us on the right route. The Regular Route from Hetauda to Katmandhu is Tribhuvan Highway 120KM ghats and Heavy traffic. Bike ride will take minimum 5 to 6 hrs. The other alternate route is the Khulekani  - Sisneri - Pharping road Route. Its 56Kms Ghats till Dakshinkali and 20 Kms Plain. No Lorry Traffic on this road. Can reach kathmandu in 3 Hrs. After 30 Kms from Hetauda on Tribhuvan Higway, there is a T Junction. If you take left its Tribhuvan Highway. Take right and start riding on Khulekani  - Sisneri - Pharping road. We did the same. Its a Trekking Route, now its open for 2 Wheelers and cars. It’s One of the most dangerous roads in Nepal, so far seen. 56Kms full ghats and road is steep to climb. all bends are Z bends with 45 degree steep. Road is too small and infact no roads. If you miss the bend then you are into the valley. No fencing. But the views in the entire route is amazing..It’s heaven. It’s Cold on the ghats. We climbed 3 hills and crossed the 56kms in 3 Hours. On the last leg, Bra, Dodo & harish over taken us and waited on the checkpost in naagdhaga on Kathmandu Outskirts at 7PM. Our Entry papers were checked and we reached kathmandhu at 8.30 PM. Local Brokers taken us to show some good hotels in tamel area. Tamel is the Happening place in Kathmandu with Pubs & Nightclubs. We found a Good Hotel in tamel called Tibetean Guest House. After refreshing few went out for shopping, Me, Shiva and few stayed at hotel.
Total Distance Covered: 330 Kms.

New Route we explored - 80Kms from Hetauda.

Watch the T-Juction and take Right for Khulekani  route to katmandhu.

Dangerous roads on Khulekeni - Katmandhu route.

Beautiful view on Khulekeni - Katmandhu route.

Beautiful view on Khulekeni - Katmandhu route.

Day 05 (25 Jan 2013, Friday) – Kathmandu Sightseeing

Done some shopping, visited pasupathinath Temple, Darbar Square and came back to rooms around 3. Had Lunch and Booked the Buddha Air Mountain flight for next day Morning. Done Some shopping in the night and Slept early (around 1 Am) for next day morning 7Am Mountain flight tour.

Paupathinath Temple, Katmandhu

Darbar Square, Katmandhu

Day 06(26 Jan 2013, Saturday) – Kathmandu to Pokhara

The day started at 5.30 AM. Got up from the Bed and woke up everybody to get ready for the Mountain Flight. Cab was waiting at the hotel. Started @ 6:30 AM to catch 7.50 AM mountain Flight. Reached the Tribhuvan Domestic Terminal @ 7.00 AM, paid airport tax & Checked In. But the flight was delayed by 1hr 30 min. Got frustrated in the Lounge. The Buddha Air guy offered us a cup of tea. Finally we Boarded the Flight @ 9 AM. Buddha Air is a 19 seater Flight. All Window seats. The Cockpit is open. The Flight climbed,we see the beautiful Snow Mountains on the full stretch. The Peak view Starts with Shisha Pangma & ends in Mount Everest. We can see Mt. Everst in 10KM distance. It’s an amazing experience. The Beauty in the Mountain flights are, they won’t take the Ticket Money first. After landing you need to pay. Due to weather conditions, cancellations happen very frequently. So it’s easy to go without the hassles of a cancellation process.

Inside Buddha Air Mountain Flight

A view of Mt. Everest  10Kms away from the flight

Certificate give to everyone who flied on Mountain Air

After some shopping, we reached the Hotel around 1PM. We packed our luggages & after settling the hotel bills, we started @ 2PM.  After fueling we entered the Prithivi Highways. 30Kms outskirts of Katmandhu, full traffic jam on Ghat road. After 40Kms all regrouped at a Chai Shop. Me, Shiva & Gokul were travelling to Pokhara. The others Skipped pokhara and rode straight to butwal and Lucknow due to flight schedule on Monday. We said Bye to our fellow riders who were on roads with us for past 6 days.

So we 3 spent some more time on chai shop. Seeing our bullets parked, suddenly a lorry came and stopped at the chai shop. The guy who rode the lorry enquired about us. We explained about our trip to nepal. He was so excited, because he was a Bullet Mechanic in nepal. And i was so amazed because his lorry was fully decorated with Bob Marley Stickers and “One Love”. I was so impressed and start chatting with that guy and me being a die hard fan of Bob Marley. I gifted my Bob Marley badge to him. He treated us with a cup of tea & Biscuts. After 1 hr we started towards Pokhara. Just few kms we crossed, Shiva’s bullet stops suddenly. No current supply in the bike. Fuse got burnt. Gokul found the issue and fixed in few minutes. Freezing cold & dangerous bends on the road till pokhara. but we had a good experience and loved the roads.

Bob marley Fan Truck

Bob Marley Fan

Stopped at Damauli, 50Kms before Pokhara. Had some good Momo’s, Omlet & Chai. Reached Pokhara around 10PM and start searching for a Hotel to Stay. Finally Found the New Winds Hotel in lake side. We checked in and went to find some food. Few Meters away we found a Pub & Restaurant called Amsterdam. had some good food & chicken, came back to room @12.30 AM.

Total Distance Covered: 210 Kms.

Day 07 (27 Jan 2013, Sunday) –  Pokhara to Butwal

Got up @ 8 in the Morning and started to Sarankot, 20KM from Pokhara. Sarankot is 5500 ft Hill top view, where you can view the Beautiful Annapurna Range snowy Mountains. After spending an hour in the view point, ride back to Pokhara town and fixed shiva’s bike in RE Workshop.

At the View Point, Sarankot

back to Hotel @3PM and start riding towards Butwal 160KM from Pokhara, on Siddhartha Rajmarg highway. Stopped for fuel 40Kms before Tansen. It was 7.30 PM and cold. We enquired about the road condition with a  local Guy. He scared us. Says not to ride at Night time, the Ghat road have many blind curves. But due to time constrains we planned to ride. 3Kms before Butwal we stopped for chat break at 9PM. Chandrakanta the chai shop owner offered hot tea. We enquired him about the accomodation in Butwal. He immediately spoke to his friend who opened a new hotel in Butal called Singapore Guest House. Then he took us to the Hotel and we checked in. had a great hot rice, dal & subji at 11 PM.

Total Distance Covered: 160 Kms.

Day 08 (28 Jan 2013, Monday) –  Butwal-Lumbini-Lucknow

Plan to go to Lumbini first. But Shiva wants to go to Kapilavastu, 40Kms from Butwal and then Lumbini. Not knowing what is there except something related to Buddha, we reached Kapilavastu. Had conversation with a few local people about the place. But we didn’t find anything intresting in Kapilavastu. All said to go to Lumbini. So we detoured 40Kms and reached Lumbini. Visited Birth Place of Buddha and done some shopping and started around 3PM.

Lumbini, Birth Place of Buddha

Lumbini, Birth Place of Buddha

Lumbini, Birth Place of Buddha

20Kms from Lumbini is Bhairahawa, Nepal - India Border. We crossed Nepal Border, took few snaps and said Good Bye to Nepal. On the way to anandnagar 56Kms from the Border my tank went dry. Shiva & Gokul went ahead. Tried to call them, but they didn’t pickup the phone. After 12 Kms Gokul called me up and came back to me. Taken some petrol from his bike, we reached anandnagar. Took some cash from the ATM, had our dinner at 7PM.

Now it’s time for Gokul to take different route. He is riding to chennai. Me & Shiva were going to Lucknow. Actual Plan was to ride till Gorakpur bypass and then go to Basti and then Lucknow. This was the Correct route plan given by Bra, who travelled a day before. Gokul will travel to Varanasi, jabalpur. When we enquired the Local guys, they said we need not to go till Gorakpur. There is a short route from campiergunj, 10kms from Anandnagar, from campiergunj take a right that leads to Mehdawal and Join at NH 28. Can save upto 40 Kms. We realized after few kms that we had made a big mistake by taking the short route because there was no proper road.

We reached campeirgunj and filled up our tanks. We enquired the cops about the roads for a short route. Cop said “Bike Chalega” means bike can go. Gokul left us in campeirgunj to varanasi. Me & Shiva took the right and start riding towards Mehdawal. Roads was good till 10 Kms. After that road began smaller to single road. After few kms we searched for the road. It was full of Patches and Fog began to reduce the visibility lower & lower. we found small villages on the route but no power, so it was dark,. but we didn’t stop anywhere. Dust and Fog Mixed together and with no visibility, me & shiva judged the road by the corners and road ends. few Kms Shiva would tail me, after that i would tail him. after 2 and half hours of drive we got into the NH 28 4 Lane road in basti.

We relaxed some time in Dhaba and start driving. we made good speed. After 20Kms, our bike began to wobble, seeing what happend, the roads were scrapped for speed control. In 205 Kms Stretch from bast to lucknow, almost 150 Kms roads was scrapped. We were not able to speed up. It was already 10PM when we started from basti. Again problem started after few Kms, the Road was fully covered by Fog and we lost visibility. we are not able to ride beyond 40 km speed. We managed by tailing the lorries, buses and cars ahead of us. We were so tired. We had taken 2 more Breaks in 100 Kms stretch.

60 Kms to Lucknow, there comes a scorpio like a god, who maintained 70 km/hr speed and safe riding. We caught up with the scorpio and reached Lucknow outskirts around 4.30 AM. Now we were confused how to reach the hotel, where we had made our bookings already. We were totally wet, the fog was dense, so we were not able to find the entry point to the city. Finally i switched on my Navigator on the Phone and found the way to the hotel, which was near Lucknow Railway station. We checked in at 5.30 AM in Hotel Raj Palace, had some Bread toast and went to sleep.

Total Distance Covered: 390 Kms.

India Border @ Bhairahawa

Nepal Border @ Bhairahawa

Day 09 (29 Jan 2013, Tuesday) –  Lucknow - Chennai

We got up at 10 in the morning and called the GATI guys for shipping our bike. He came to our hotel at 11 and took us to GATI office, 8 Kms away from the hotel, a place called Transport Nagar. Finally we packed our Bikes to Chennai, came back to Hotel, had Lunch, Checked out and Got a cab to the Airport.

We got some issues in our check in luggage due to our Bike’s spare parts. We sorted out the issue and board the flight at 7PM. Reached Chennai at 11.30 PM via Delhi connection flight.

Reached Home @ 12.30 AM and had Mom's Handmade Food.....

Accommodation
Goalpara, Assam:
Hotel Hollywood
Phone: 240259
Tariff: Rs. 400/- Double Sharing


Siliguri, West Bengal:
Hotel Sharda, Hill cart Road, Millaguri, P.O.Pradhan Nagar
Phone: +91 353 2511649 - 2531990 - 2519159
http://hotelsharda.in
Tariff: Rs. 900/- Triple Sharing


Lahan, Nepal:
Hotel Godhuli
Phone: 033-560688, 560008
Tariff: Rs. 650-750/- Four Sharing


Katmandhu, Nepal:
Tibet Guest House, Chhetrapati-Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal
Phone: 426-0383, 425-1763, 426-0556
http://www.tibetguesthouse.com
Tariff: Rs.1000/- Four Sharing


Pokhara, Nepal:
The New Winds Hotel, Lakeside, Pokhara-6
Phone:061-462643
Tariff: Rs. 375/- Triple Sharing


Butwal, Nepal:
Singapore Guest House
Tariff: Rs. 500/- Triple Sharing


Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh:
Hotel Raj Palace, Pandiragh Road, Charbagh, Lucknow
Tariff: Rs. 1000/- Double Sharing

Riders who rode with me:

Shibu Aka Shiva

Paul aka kai pal

Dodo aka daniel Anandraj

B-Ro aka Sailesh

Chair Man aka Harish

Subu aka Sai Subramaniam

Go-Kill Aka Gokul

Bra aka Bharath

Ashish Choudhury

Arul aka Konjum Konjum

Conclusion:

This blog is intended to give information regarding different places and routes and corresponding info regarding hotel accommodation, fares etc. This will be an on going series of blogs about my travels and hope that my blogs will be of great help to future riders along the same roads that i have so proudly ridden over these past months and years on my RE Classic 500.