India to Nepal : Crossing the border at Panitanki - Kakarbitta

( I first posted this stuff at Indiamike.com. This is now reposted in my blog with some editings. )

Nepal is not a place nowadays where people are rushing to go. Still some people (mostly westerners) want to go there. Its is a place for typical oldie, holy-poly Hindus, 'Mountain monkeys' and typical westren blokes looking for cheap grass.



I recently did a trip to Kathmandu, Nepal (in July 2007). I flew to Bagdogra, which is probably the nearest airport at the Indian side to Nepal border. One can fly into Bagdogra from Delhi, Kolkata and Guwahati. Good news is that Air Deccan (an Indian LCC) flies into Bagdogra from all the three destinations mentioned above.

Nepal border is located at about 25KMs from Bagdogra airport. The Indian side of the border village is called Panitanki. Nepal side village is Kakarbitta (or Kakarbhitta, kakarvitta, kakadvitta). Bagdogra is also the nearest airport for Gangtok (Sikkim) and Darjeeling. There are taxis available for hire outside the airport.
If you are on a budget, and don't want to spend money on an expensive taxi ride to border, you may hire an Auto rickshaw (tuk-tuk) to a place called "Bihar Mode" from airport (about 10 mins from airport). This should not cost you more than Rs.50. At Bihar Mode, you will get plenty of local buses to Panitanki. The journey to Panitank may take upto 30 mins. It will cost you Rs.10.

At Panitanki, you may choose to cross the border by foot (about 1 KM walk) OR hire a cycle-rickshaw (peddled). Panitanki and Kakarbhitta are separated by "Mechi" river. There is a bridge which is no-mans land. Indians are entitled to free movement. Nobody questioned me when I simply walked acrossed the bridge to Nepal. The Indian immigration and customs is a ramshackle hut which seemed to manned by a bunch of duffers who seem to think that fair skinned blondes are the "phoren people" who needs to be inspected for documention. Its easy to hoodwink them if you look like an Indian (though I am not advocating it here).



At Kakarbhitta (also spelt as Kakervitta), things seemed even relaxed. Nepali immigration simply looked on. They also seem to be interested in catching only westreners. I couldn't experience Visa issuance process as I didn't need one. At the end of Mechi bridge at Nepali side, you may be persued by touts who wants to sell you bus/flight tickets to various destinations within Nepal. It could be a nuisance at times as they hover around you till you relant.
Bus from Karakbhitta to Kathmandu

I took a bus from Kakarbhitta to Kathmandu. I could have flown from Bhadrapur, which is the nearest airport to Kakarbhitta. But the flights seem to leave from Bhardrapur in the mornings, and I had reached Kakarbhitta well past noon. There were conflicting theories of how long it could take to bus from Kakarbhitta to Kathmandu. It varied from 12 hours to 18 hours. Kakarbhitta is the easternmost border point of Nepal. The road distance to Kathmandu is 600 KMs.

Here is a pic of our bus taken when we stopped for loo break.




The road from Kakarbhitta towards Kathmandu is named "Mahendra highway". It joins "Tribhuvan highway" 25 KMs south of Hetauda town. The quality of road is surprizingly good!. This road was constructed about 12 years back with the help of Korean government. The road is made of concrete with a top thin layer of Asphalt. This road has not seen maintenance from past 5 or 6 years. Yet, it had manage to hold on. There are very few places on the way where there are few potholes. But they are tolerable. Also, the souther part of Nepal (called Terai) is actually a "plane". That is it is not hilly region. The roads are straight and obstacle free. Buses will maintain good speed in Terai region.

Touts assured me that bus will not take more than 12 hours, only if I took their company's bus. The bus stand is located just after the immigration. There are various private companies operating buses to Kathmandu. "Agni", "jwala", "Makalu", "Swayambhu" to name a few.The buses depart to Kathmandu from 3 PM till about 6 PM. (Note: Nepali time is 15 mins ahead of Indian time)

The government owned "Sajha Yatayat" (blue colored buses) is grounded from past few months (don't know the reasons for it). Nepal is bit unstable these days. Strikes and Road blocks are quite common. It may not be a good idea to hire an Indian vehicle all the way to Kathmandu from Bagdogra, though its possible. Maoists have strong anti-India feelings and they may turn away Indian vehicles from any point.

My advice is take a "Tourist" coach. That is, there will be one or two buses labled "Tourist". They often have better seating and most importantly, the chances of being blocked by striking villagers / Maoists on the way for Tourist coach is less. Before committing, insist on seeing the bus. Check the seat quality, whether it properly reclines etc. Ask them to mention the bus number and seat number on the ticket receipt. The ticket would cost about INR 400 to INR 475 in the tourist bus.

In my experience, whole journey took about 15 hours from Kakarbhitta to Kathmandu. It could have taken an hour less, but for the heavy downpours of July. The bus looked great from outside. Interiors were not bad either. However, it didn't had a functioning windshield wiper!. Driver kept guessing about the road ahead and made violent brakings to avoid oncoming vehicles. We left Kakarbhitta at 5:30 pm and reached Hetauda at 3 PM in the morning. From Hetauda the hilly region begins. From here, the its an upward journey till we descend into Kathmandu valley. It may take nearly 5-6 hours from Hetauda to Kathmandu.
Once you reach Kathmandu, you will be most likely deposited at a place called "Swayambhu". Sometimes you may be taken into the bus park located at Gongabu. You can hire taxis to reach your destination within Kathmandu.

For the return journey to Kakarbhitta, you need to board the bus at Gongabu bus park. My return journey cost me NRS 500. Tickets are available at the counters.

Enough of it now! Leave a feedback if you find it useful (and even if you didn't)