We had read in Lonely Planet and all over the internet about the overcharging that happens at the border crossing, although most other articles I have read are accepting of this practice. The corruption is so engrained that it hat the starts at the 4 Thousand Islands in Laos. The agent on our bus offered to organise a visa for us for $30 each, $10 more than it should have been … [Read more...]
Crossing the border from Nepal into India via Kakarbhitta
Important Tip Ensure you change your Nepalese Rupees before you cross the border as it is extremely difficult to change them in India as it is not a traded currency. If you change Nepalese Rupees in India you will often only get offered a fraction of their value. Sauraha to Tadre Bazaar We travelled from Sauraha to Kakarbhitta in one long day as we wanted to get the bus … [Read more...]
Crossing the border from India to Nepal via Sonauli/Sunauli
Train to Gorakhpur If you want to cross the border from India into Nepal one of the most popular routes is via the Sonauli crossing. There isn’t a train which goes right to Sonauli, so you need to catch a train to Gorakhpur then a jeep/bus to Sonauli. We caught the train from Varanasi to Gorakhpur at 00:40, arriving at 6:55am (although our train was delayed an hour so we … [Read more...]