Alternatives to shipping into Nepal

[Story Leavesley]

Hello again,

It seems like Nepal is a little risky for travelers these days (see my post in the safety section). I'm scheduled to ship my bike from Bangkok to Kathmandu next week. I'd like to hear possible alternatives to shipping into Nepal.

I know there are several horror stories about shipping into India. Can anyone give me good or bad news about air shipments into India? And are there other nearby countries that might be better for air shipment than Nepal or India?

Thanks for any help.

Story

[Matt Johnson]

Story,

I went through Nepal last month. It's as safe as anywhere else in the region. There are regular Maoist strike days when everyone is off the road so if you have time to sit tight on those days it would be best. I needed to hurry on so biked 300km on a strike day. Saw only two army vehicles moving all day. I wouldn't recommend it, nor want to do it again, but canvassing locals before departure produced a small majority vote that I'd be safe as a tourist.

The Maoists don't seem interested in picking on tourists (other than for a financial contribution when treking) so you should be fine. The Nepalese are friendly, helpful, people so try not to be too put off by alarmist news stories.

Matt

[David and Cheryl Laing]

Hi again, in 2001 we freighted to Katmandu but this time (in late October 2004) we thought that we would air freight to Dhacca in Bangladesh so we could go a different way. We know of another Australian who did this in 2001. His web site is www.weride4ms.org
I spoke to him after he returned and all went okay because he had the help of a Horizons Unlimited community member in Dhacca. Think that the customs there a bit easier to deal with than in India because there are less of them . . . . Looking forward to eventually meeting up.