From Delhi to Katmandu

In spite of the lonely feeling we had when we arrived last night, we woke up our second day in India in a very busy neighbourhood of old Delhi.


And like the day before we start over a great "vegetarian only" breakfast.


To get a change from the AC taxi and in order to get more into the Indian daily life, we decide to wander around the neighbourhood.

We find an extremely welcoming people, who are even asking to have their pictures taken. The neighbourhood is very peaceful and we are really wandering these streets in search of more customs which the inhabitants are happy to show and explain to us.

But our day in Delhi arrives quickly at its end, since we have to catch the 8pm train to Gorakpur, to the East and closer to the Nepal in order to cross the border on foot and continue our way to Katmandu. We thought we had plenty of time by leaving at 7pm since we were in the center and so is the station, but after about 20 min ride in our rickshaw, we are stuck in a non-moving traffic jam. Caught by time and following the indication of our driver that the station is only another 10 min on foot, we venture into the mass of people, cows, bikes and buses under 35 degree heat and 100% humidity. It's only after 30 min, completely soaking wet by the sweat and dehydrated by our race that we arrive to the gate of the station, at exactly 8pm. By the sight of the dense crowd converging into the stairs we are almost out of hope that we will make our way to the platform... Which platform? Our tickets does not have any indication, the departure board is all written in Indi and the only english-speaking persons we approach give us the most different answers, including a train controller, who seems to see our internet ticket for the first time. Anyway we trust the controller and run to the only plattform where almost no one is waiting... It's only after Paul has ran back to the "help desk" that we found out our train is about to leave: on the same platform we first asked the train controller! Fighting our way back the stairs we finally make it and find our names printing on a sheet next the gate of wagon 1. It's a relief, and we can finally all drink the litter of water which we have lost in the last hour.



We have booked non-AC sleeper for about 6 euro for the 700km ride which will take us about 15 hours.


The comfort is limited, and apart from the proximity of the toilets, we spend a good complete night and meet a couple of young travellers. This, together with the landscape passing by the open doors of the train make it a surprisingly pleasant 15 hours ride.




The arrival in Gorakpur is much less complicated since we are directly approached by a private drivers who can take us to the border in 2 hours for a good price, so shortly after dropping our backpacks, we are on our final road to the border. As many land border, it consists of a town grown on either side of the border and with permanent traffice and commerce.


After the normal formalities, we finally cross the border and are welcome in a peacefull Nepali immigration office, where all the stress from the last 24 hours seems centuries ago.

But already we are looking for the next connection for our final 9 hour ride up to mountain to the valley of Katmandu at 1500m.


Our luggage is loaded on the roof of the bus.

The ride is not comfortable, especially after the nice night we had on the train, but the couple of stops along the way, show us a great first picture of Nepal's way of life.



5.30 am... exhausted but delighted, we improvise a last minute refreshment while waiting for the arrival of Sujit before checking in to our hotel!