Day 78 - Lumbini, Nepal to Varanasi, India

Day 78 – His.

Today was a travel day. Normally when I say that it means a few hours on a bus or train. But it is going to mean something different while we are in India. Our itinerary says we travel by bus, plane, train, jeep, boat and elephant. I like the elephant bit in particular – but it certainly gives you a clue that this will be something a bit different. Unfortunately today it meant 12 hours in the back of a van with two rest stops of about 10 minutes each. It has been a nightmare travel day from hell. But the only way to view these things is that they are an experience. Still, it also goes to prove the point that it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

We set off from Lumbini at 8 and got to the border crossing some 45 minutes later. The land crossing between India and Nepal is possibly one of the easiest I have crossed. The place still had that desperate wild west town feel that all border crossings seem to have but the bureaucratic process that is immigration was stunningly easy. We went into the Nepal side and got our exit stamps, crossed to India and the immigration guys actually helped fill in our forms (unheard of!) and in about 5 minutes we were across. We were dogged by the usual collection of sharks, sellers and money changers that tell you scare stories as they try to convince you to change your money there (in this case they told us the banks were going to be closed for 10 days because of the festival) or try to sell you cigarettes at inflated prices and offer you two camels and a bolt of cloth for your daughter.

Still, on the whole it was astoundingly painless and we packed ourselves onto two waiting mini vans (it’s a large group and two vans were needed) so we could continue our journey through north India.

In terms of actual miles it’s not too far from the border to Varanasi but the state of the roads and standard Indian driving practice means we don’t do more than an average speed of 15 miles an hour as we dodge buses, buffalos, ox carts, cyclists, walkers and over decorated lorries. It was pretty obvious the locals don’t see a lot of tourists – or white faces. We were the object of intense interest every time we slowed down enough for the locals to peer in the windows and see what we looked like. Unfortunately the interest was a little too intense for our sister van behind us.

We were ahead in one van and our sister van was only 5 minutes behind us – but it seems that the old world war one story is true. That’s the one about lighting a cigarette. When you strike a match the sniper sees it, light the second cigarette and he has time to aim, light the third and he has time to shoot. This sort of applied to our vans – as we went through the locals had time to notice and organise and as the second van went through they had time to strike. Apparently as our sister van was pulled up waiting to pass a lorry, a gang of locals surrounded the van and threatened to smash in the windows unless they guys paid them some money – which of course they had to do. Another of life’s little experiences? I am certainly glad I was in the first van and I never light my cigarette from the third match. We have been told time and again India is a little different. This little episode has certainly forewarned us.

Our sister van caught up with us at a level crossing and the guys in the van were most upset. However, the general consensus was there was nothing to do and we drove on. Eventually we arrived at Varanasi but everyone is dog tired and irritable so we dispersed to our rooms to shower, order coffee and go to bed. We are up at 5 in the morning to go and see the sunrise over the Ganges. 5 in the morning! I have to wonder – are these people mad? Ah well, it is supposed to be fantastic – It had better be.