Border Crossing India to Nepal

[tobiasmauz]

Hello,

we are at the moment in Rishikesh in India and want to enter Nepal with two Honda Transalp in 2-3 weeks. Is it possible to cross the border at Banbassa / Mahendranagar, in the west of Nepal?
Does anybody have informations about the Mahendra Highway in Nepal (condition of the road? safety?).

Thank you very much

Renata and Tobias

www.transasiatour.de

[Lars]

Hi Tobias,

I am actually staying in Bangkok and am about to fly to Kathmandu on 19th - so I thought. The travel agency just told me when I wanted to pick up the ticket, that the Royal Nepal office is "currently closed"

Obviously the riots in Kathmandu do currently escalate; see bbc.com/news. Actually a guy stays in my guesthouse who lived in Nepal fo a while and he is hesitating to go right now.

As far as I am informed at the moment, no westerners or tourists have been attacked so far, so I took, the risk of going to Nepal would be tolerable.

But the german foreign ministry just issued a travel warning today and is now advising against travelling to Nepal at all.

Would really like to get some news from somebody within Nepal, too.

Just to add more specific questions:

- Are the airport area and the main tourist area affected by the protests yet?
- Is it still possible to get safely by taxi from the airport to the main tourist area?
- Do taxis work at all at the moment, considering the curfew?
- Will I be able to get my motorbike out of customs at the airport?
- How about the road between Kathmandu and the border to inda?

Regards

Lars

[NamasteBuzz]

Renata/Tobias

Yes it's possible to cross at the western border. Don't know about the road - there may be roadblocks. You will have to get round them and probably cross a few rivers where bridges are blocked. Fuel's a bit low on supply here so fill up at every opportunity.

Lars

Airport is operational. Thamel is safe but lots of it is shutdown.

Travel is safe early in morning. Taxis can be procured but cost more at the moment. Buses and taxis are available for tourists.

Govt bodies - like customs - are open. It's a good time to ride a bike in Nepal just now coz there is no other traffic! Roads to India should be passable but you might need patience.

Drop me a line on namastebuzz@hotmail.com or call 977 - 1 - 4311595 and ask for Buzz - my Nepali family speak some English. If you need me to find out any info here for you I will do my best.

Apologies for delay - haven't been on e-mail for a while.