Yatra

Yatra

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Certainly, if you are to avoid inconvenience in Nepal, you’ve got to get used to with “Nepali time”. That day I woke up at 4 in the morning, had a cup of tea and rushed from Boudha by the earliest micro bus to Koteshwor, where  it was already two hours that I had been waiting for my friends to pick me up. It was not that I knew very little of “Nepali time” i.e. the time allotted by people is always to be multiplied by a certain factor of safety–which in our case is generally more. But the long two-hour wait was surpassed by the excitement of tour to Nainital. The bus finally arrived at 8:15 and picked us from Bhatbhateni and as I was getting onto the bus,the sight of  its green license/number plate gave me some  relief–the travel would be relaxing. But still we were not out of the “Nepali time zone”: we waited for another hour before we finally hit the highway. The bus halted at Naubise for breakfast. To my surprise, it was not a regular eatery of the highway but a hi-fi café. Since I had had my breakfast during the two-hour wait, I decided to have an espresso only. The price seemed okay for the drink but not the volume --it was far less than what you would get at ‘ordinary’ places. After all, it was a hi-fi cafe!

We then set off on our journey to the far west.  I’ve got to admit the coffee beans at the highway café tasted great but even they were not able to stop me sleep, thanks to the alarm at 4 and the tiresome waiting for the bus. I woke up when the engine stopped at Mugling for lunch. Freshening up I asked the owner of the hotel, a lady to fetch me a veg plate avoiding any interactions with meat. Being a vegetarian since birth, I have always had trust issues whenever I have to dine at “not-so vegetarian” places. She seemed to be a nice lady and assured me to eat without any reserves and so did I. The plate arrived, the curry were so little in it that it seemed more like a lunch for the birds than for a man. Nevertheless, I ate to my hunger although asking for the curry for at least two times. We set off and were going unless being set back during another 1.5 hours traffic jam at Daunne Bhir on our way to Butwal. We stopped at Butwal for the night at “The Mirror Inn”. The hotel room for two of us seemed to be fine and we rested for the night to leave for Surkhet the following day. We woke up early and left for surkhet, which was a seven hour ride from Butwal. The day passed silently as we left Butwal behind. I was busy sleeping leaving no room in taking advantage of the foldable seats the bus provided. It was about 6:30 in the evening that I happened to look outside the window. I was glad I did look outside, for what I witnessed cannot be put into words. The silent forest road with the triumphant fireflies sound, the Bardiya National Park lit up by the moon, the forest was completely wrapped in the clouds. This sight didn’t look less than a newlywed bride covered with a veil. Beholding this sight we stopped for the night at Surkhet, which I’d like to overlook–thanks to the lodge where we spent the night.

The following day we stopped at Bulbul taal, a small pond in the Surkhet valley and we left Surkhet for Mahendranagar, it was a lazy day’s ride. As we were about to reach Attariya, I went at the driver’s cabin to have a wider look of the far west. Most parts of the region looked untouched by urbanization, as if nature had taken the highway in her laps as her own child and the greenery was eye soothing. We stopped for the night at Gangotri Hotel, one of many hotels the wealthy Gangotri group owns. The room was okay and four of us shared it. The next day we set off for Nainital at around 9 am on two Scorpio cars. We were soon on Nepal’s side of the border and in no time on Indian side of the border, where we were asked to get out of the car and have our backpacks checked. I felt more like a mutiny on board HMS Bounty, when the SSB checked my bag containing clothes and shoes in detail.

 As we went past the Tanakpur Barrage, the roads felt as smooth as curd with no jerks, even for us who were sitting right above the tire in the rear. Indeed, India was not like the one of the popular narratives of UP-Bihar:  it was much more developed that we imagined. But that was not what made me sad; what made me sad was the plight of the development work back home. As soon as we crossed the Indian side of the border, even the wind felt so different, as if it was not air at all–at least not one which I had breathed until I’m 20. The car stopped at the Gurdwara, where Suren sir and I were prohibited from entering for a while–for wearing shorts. I had a glance inside the holy temple, but had a wider look for seeing where the Prasad was distributed. I had heard that Gurdwaras serve the best halwa. I have a little shortsightedness but that didn’t stop me from seeing the site of  Prasad distribution first. Suren sir and I went and had our share. It was no exaggeration to say that the Gurdwara served the best halwa; it was indeed delicious. 

Nainital was only 140 km far from Mahendranagar, one of the popular destinations for the people visiting there. The distance must have been too dear if not the road should have been familiar to our cab driver, an Indian who looked lean and had a simple appearance that he drove us to our destination in about 4 hours. On our way, we stopped at a dhaba and although it was a vegetarian place, I failed to have any for I had had an upset stomach thanks to the custard drink I had had outside the Gurdwara. But I managed to gulp a coke and some popcorn and I found the price of food stuffs reasonable in India. We then set off and as we climbed uphill the weather was welcoming us with the crisp. As the cab was taking the last turn to the top  I had a beautiful view of  a lake--it was Nainital standing beautifully on the lap of the hills. We drove along the lakeside, to our hotel–uphill from the bottom. 

The street that lead to the hotel seemed no less than the streets of Amsterdam pictured in frames of cinemas, the white architecture adding to its aesthetics. The hotel looked ordinary until I saw a café at the corner, which had the most spectacular view of Nainital directly below it. I wished I would wake up to this view every day to have a morning cup of coffee. Freshening up, I grabbed up to my windcheater for the weather was not too hot for a place 2000m above sea level. We then set out for a walk around the town. The Nainital Street looked cozy and warm, the lighting of the street adding to its beauty. The street vendors were on business and the aroma of barbequed corn was irresistible so we stopped and had some. As we were roaming around the lakeside, the boat owners were very persistent in persuading us but we thought of keeping the idea of boating at bay, after all roaming around the lakeside with the evening lights just being lit was not enough for us yet. We went to Dominos for Pizza ruling out the idea of conventional Dal Bhat at least for a day. A medium sized Margarita with extra cheese was what I ordered for dinner, which was yummy but I’ve got to admit I missed rice that night–after all bhat is bhat. We went to our hotel room after that, the hill station was getting quieter around 8 in the evening.

 At the hotel my body craved for a cup of Nicotine or a caffeine then, and I asked for it but to my dismay–the café was closed already. This was when I realized–Nainital doesn’t have a happening night life. My craving was over only the following day when I woke up to the majestic view at the same place. The next day we woke up early and went for a walk in the hills. Along the way, I witnessed St. Joseph’s college and other big names heard in Bollywood movies. The lake couldn’t look calmer from the top of the hills. We then checked out of the hotel after lunch and we were out of Nainital. Although I wished to explore Nainital more, returning felt soothing differently because I was getting closer to my home-Nepal, where my heart lies.

 In no time we were at the same dhaba where we had first stopped by. This time too I settled for the popcorn. We were now every moment getting closer to Nepal, this feeling was in itself so enjoyable. As our cab driver was about to be changed at a place near the Indian side of the border, my phone rang although a single line of network was yet to be seen. It was a text from NTC that read “Your balance is getting low”, how welcoming did it feel for me! We were soon through the Tanakpur Barrage and on the Indian side of the border, where the SSP stopped us and looked inside but didn’t ask us to get off the car. 

And soon enough we were on the Nepal’s side of the border, the heat was not much less than the Indian side here either but the air had already started to feel familiar now, it smelt so welcoming and I was already feeling at home.  Nepal Police didn’t care to check us or our stuff there. Perhaps, they must have known by intuition that we are clean and a bunch of tourists on a tight budget who were desperate to be home. The NTC’s network line was now increasing every moment the car steered towards Mahendranagar. I visited the most anticipated place of this tour, Nainital but I feel it incomplete because I didn’t get a chance to visit the forest with the veils of clouds, our own Bardiya National Park but that calls for a new Yatra sometime soon….