CHAOS REIGNS ON THE ROADS

 

As tigers are now officially off the plan, we hit the motorway to head north. We pass numerous nasty accidents and the resulting traffic chaos and are relieved to turn off the main road and head along minor roads through miles of farmland and huge swathes of National Park, all touting tiger safaris. By mid afternoon we reach Khajuraho and track down Sameen’s land where we can camp. Sameen is very welcoming and full of ideas of things to see. Of course he can offer a taxi service! The Dance Festival has started so he takes us to it at 8pm. There are market stalls with lots of locals in ethnic dress, but we rush through to the performance area and find a seat in the foreigner area. It is a magic setting with a huge stage in front of the lit-up temples. We watch a few performances, one of Kathakali dance (we saw this in Fort Kochi) and a traditional dance of the area. All amazing, but a tad long for us.

The next morning Sameen collects us bright and early to take us to the Raneh Falls National Park. The falls would be incredible during the monsoon, but currently there is hardly any water. Then into the park for a game drive. We get to spot different deer and some rare gharial/crocodiles. Obviously, no tigers! Finally, back in town he takes us to quite a few monasteries. The first we enjoy the most because it is still in use. The monks here live very simply and there are rows of pictures of naked monks (not a pretty sight!) Templed out, we ask him to drop us back to GR2, but first he insists on taking us back to his home for a meal.

Mid afternoon we wander into town and into the gorgeous grounds where the most famous temples are. There are loads of local tourists here too all gawping at the fabulous carvings on every surface of the temples. The soldiers are giggling as they spy the most erotic carvings and the tour guides are pointing them out with laser pointers. Then we explore the shops and later that evening return to eat at the market stalls before we pop in to watch some more dancing.

The next morning, we leave bright and early for a huge driving day of over 400km. Lots of back road through poor farming villages where the locals are harvesting crops, feeding their cows and making cow poo patties. Finally, onto bigger roads that fortunately have ring roads around the cities and onto the huge city of Varanasi beside the mighty Ganges.  There is continual chaos on the roads. Evey intersection is gridlock. John is perfecting his defensive driving skills and at the same time pushes, shoves and squeezes like a local.  It is getting late by the time we head into Varanasi, and we are rapt to find the Lime Villa Homestay at 6pm, right beside the Ganges. We can camp on the river front behind the Hotel. Awesome! It is a surprisingly quiet spot. No one bothers us even though loads of people come down to look at the river. The only annoying thing is all the bugs that get in through our flyscreens. Our sheets look like a bloodbath by morning!

The next morning, we head into the centre of the action. Our tuk-tuk drops us near the Dasawamedh Ghat and we thread through the crowds to the waterfront. Wow what a moment. The whole waterfront is awash with colour, noise and thousands of people. Not to mention hundreds of boats motoring up and down the river. We can see Ghats/steps leading down into the water as far as the eye can see. We stop and soak in the scene, then decide to start wandering along the waterfront with the throng of locals. But the lure of a boat ride is too strong, so we find a boat full of locals so we only pay local price and we cruise along the waterfront. It’s the perfect way to see the action without the crush of the crowds. At the cremation ghat it is all action. The funeral pyres are burning and more brightly wrapped corpses are being carried to the rooftop for their final goodbyes. Everywhere along the riverfront people are joyfully immersing themselves in the sacred river.

Finally, back on shore we wander a bit further before we are engulfed in crowds, so we decide to head through the maze of alleyways that are  crammed with people heading to the river. We cannot believe how many people are here. Later that evening, back at the Lime Hotel, we join other travelers for a meal. It is here we learn why everywhere in this area is so crowded and why so many vehicles are sporting orange flags. The very famous, and incredibly huge Kumla Mela Festival is on right now at Prayagraj. She tells us 400 million people are expected to attend over 45 days! Far out!!! That may well explain why we saw so many trucks stopped sitting beside the road and why the police kept stopping us. We assume trucks were banned from driving yesterday! Tonight, we close all our windows – no blood bath tonight!

As always, it’s time to move on and we do like to get through cities early in the morning before all the market stalls spread across the entire road!   Once out of the city we follow the motorway but get snarled in massive traffic jams. Total gridlock for hours at a time. Not just once, but 3 times. We only achieve 200km today. It is getting late and a spy a big river, so we head there and find a nice spot for the night. Annoyingly after dark local teenagers decide it is hilarious to come and bang on our door before running away. We don’t find it hilarious and pack up. Such a pain to find a spot in the dark. There are hundreds of trucks still on the road and countless have stopped right beside the road. We join them. Not perfect, but we sleep OK. In the morning, we head off at sunrise. Traffic is already crazy so we are relieved when they take a different road to ours! We reach Patna, find the Waterfront Drive and enjoy a well-deserved breakfast right on the sandbank of the Ganges River. Sadly, once the amazing, raised river road ends we are plunged back into city chaos with not a sign in sight of how to find the motorway. And sometimes Google doesn’t know best! At the next town we head to the bridge to cross the river, but there is a height barrier. Oh well, we continue to Munger and weave through the back streets trying to find the motorway. With a few random directions from locals, we find the amazing rail & road bridge over the river before plunging along dirt tracks in Khagaria to find Hotel Yashi Raj where we plan to camp.  Oh bother, they say we can only park if we pay for a room. Well, it’s nearly dark so we pay for a room! It is such a nice room we stay inside and use their services to get some much-needed paperwork for Bhutan & China printed.

We have been hunting down a vehicle inspection place for a report for our entry to China and time is running out. The owner of the Hotel suggests somewhere to go and so we set off on a hunt. We try so many places, but they don’t seem to be bothered with vehicle inspections here. In the end we fill in the form ourselves. Fingers crossed it will meet with approval. By the end of the day, we pull into the huge grassy parking lot of Hotel Dalkola. They want to charge us nearly as much as a room, but after John chats to the owner, we are allowed to stay for free! Bonus.

Wake to thick mist, so get some chores done before we head off when it clears. We plan to drive to the famous tea plantation area of Darjeeling today. There are 2 routes, so we will go up on The Hill Cart Road and come down via the main road. But first we head straight to the centre of the city of Siliguri to find a big supermarket to stock up. Finally, we head through miles of emerald tea plantations and up into the mountains. Our road mirrors the Himalayan Railway, also known as the Toy Train. It is a narrow, windy steep track, often only a single lane. The scenery is fabulous with lots of tiny towns hugging the cliffs. And to top it off the train comes chugging along. The bonus is hardly any traffic until we reach the other road up the mountain where all hell breaks loose.  Miles of narrow road with houses and shops encroaching on to the road and clinging up and down the hillside. The traffic is totally clogged up.  And of course, we are wider and higher than all of the traffic, adding an extra layer of difficulty. There is overhanging wires and of course, absolutely nowhere to park. Every available spot is full. The Himalya Train comes through amidst all the traffic – we have been crisscrossing the tracks all day. We are now committed to finding the camp spot way past the town of Darjeeling. The drive is a mere 50km, but it takes hours and hours. Just on dusk we find the parking area with a barrier up. I head in to find someone. Yay Success. It’s a tad pricey but who cares. We settle in and stay put 2 nights! Our spot is high above town with great views. Now if the clouds would just lift, we would see the mighty snowcapped peaks of Kanchenjunga (the third highest mountain in the world) We wake in the night with GR2 shaking – an earthquake! Fortunately, only a small one.

In the morning, we head off to explore wearing full winter gear. It is freezing here.  Uptown we wander around the local markets. Many of the people here are Nepalese so it seems worlds away from India. And of course, we stop for tea and cakes before heading to the tourist part of town on the top of the hill. Then its down to a stunning Buddhist Monastery. John finds another way back on google maps and we head downhill a long long way which I find very concerning as that generally means we will then need to go back uphill! Fortunately, 3 guys pick us up and drop us off at GR2. It is a 15min drive so who knows how long that would have taken me on foot!  This must be the steepest place in the world that we have explored. We enjoy local momos for dinner and hope tomorrow will be fine.

It is sunnier, but still no snowcapped peaks although we can now see tea plantations running down from our parking spot. We leave town bright and early before too much traffic builds up and it certainly makes it easier. There is still traffic and congestion through the towns, but we make it down in one piece! Phew! Back on the flat planes again we head to Siliguri and find the SML Isuzu workshop. It’s time for our regular grease and oil change. All done we roll out of town and towards Bhutan. Lots of towns and miles of tea before we find a dry riverbed between 2 tea plantations for a quiet night. The next day miles more tea plantations interspersed with military bases. Border zones are always full of military. Yet another riverbed spot for the night. The locals tell us elephants come to drink at night. We will see! Nope not an elephant in sight.

We continue eastwards. Miles of flat driving passing hundreds of slow trucks. By the end of the day we hunt down another river, but we can’t find access to it, so it’s a petrol station tonight.

 

We are making good time on our route to Bhutan and still have a few days before we can cross the border. Our visas are very date specific so we research what else we can do in the area. We don’t fancy big towns or lots more temples, but there are a few National Parks with game drives that go rhino hunting. Maybe we will get to see the Unicorn Rhino! We don’t want to turn up and miss out again so we go online and book (with great difficulty I might add) an elephant safari. So today we head to Pobitra Sanctuary and ask if we can stay in the car park ready for our safari tomorrow.  Jeeps are sitting waiting, so we go on a safari and spy heaps of Unicorn Rhinos. Awesome!

On our last day in India, we head out bright and early for our elephant safari, and it proves to be way better than we hoped. It is such fun sitting high up on the back of an elephant slowly walking through the park. The only noises are birdsong and our elephant munching on the odd bush here and there. And we can get up close to heaps of rhinos.

Then its time to head to the border. We find a spot on yet another riverbed for the night. All our paperwork is ready for us to enter tomorrow morning. We are very excited!!!  Bhutan here we come.