Mirik, Nepal: Where there is a will, there’s a way..

Got up at 8am. Went to station and booked my bike. For a change I dint have to struggle. The packing and booking were done at a good speed. I talked to the porter who would be loading the bike. He said if I was there near the luggage coach when the train came, he would load the bike and take rs.100 for it. Else he will load it in a different train. I left my bike and got out of the station. It was 10am and my train was at 5pm. I had 7hours and nothing to do. I was touring, why sit at home and watch tv. I decided to go to the Mirik lake and from there to the Pashupati market in Nepal. I took a taxi, picked up my camera from the hotel and started. First the way was broken up. When we got out of the city, we entered the forests of the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary..

Then there was an army camp. It was surprising to see a Go-Karting place there maintained by AWWA. Roads after that were narrow single lane and twisted passing through forests.

After many kilometers the hills started.

The hills were covered with bright green tea estates.

The roads were very bad. Good I wasn’t on my bike. There were only 25kms of hills but the roads were very steep and narrow. Even 2 cars could not pass each other properly. And since I was not riding today, it was not raining. The weather was lovely. Bright and sunny but not warm. soon i realised that the front wheel on my side was wobbling a lot. it was totally worn out and the driver changed it..

while i clicked more pics..

soon fog started drifting in..



Also throughout the way were beautiful flowers.







I reached Mirik at 12:30pm. I got down and took a walk around the lake.

It was a typical tourist spot with families enjoying picnic and horse riding..

Another pano of the lake..

Took a few pics and then we started for Pashupati market. Some more pics on the way..



Nepal border was 15kms from Mirik. Reached there at 1:30pm.

I had to leave my taxi there, cross the border on foot and take a cab from there to the market. It took rs.150. You can also walk but it was a tiring 2km walk. In the market you get clothes, shoes and electronics (mp3 players, cameras, home appliances) which were pretty cheap.

I got 32gb pen drive for rs.300 (which turned out to be fake and only 512mb). A Nepali rupee is .62 times an Indian rupee. I dint have much time and I left at 1:45pm. On the way back I stopped many times to click photographs. The clouds..





The flowers were just so beautiful that I could not stop myself from stopping again and again to take the pics.

















oops forgot to shut the macro mode off. flower came in focus and not the cat..

more flowers..



still learning how to focus in macro mode..









Soon I realized that if I stopped anymore I would miss my train. We reached NJP by 4pm. I had run out my money. So first we searched for an ATM. An HDFC one we found was closed. An SBI one had a very long line. Another HDFC one had no money. Finally in an UBI atm I got the money. I reached the hotel at 4:20pm. Train was at 5pm and I had a room full of stuff to pack. Rushed through the packing. 4:35pm.. Picked up the stuff and went downstairs. Hotel manager had not called the rickshaw. 4:40pm.. Shit I was getting late. Rickshaw came, I quickly loaded my stuff and myself. He started pushing the thing instead of peddling. Slowly we reached the station. Good I had taken a hotel right next to the station. 4:50pm. I rushed up the stairs of the bridge and down to the platform. Luggage was heavy and both my hands were aching. Train wasn’t there. Thank god!! I put my luggage down and sat down. Then I realized that I had not had anything to eat since morning. I saw a food stall behind me. Quickly I asked the guy to make an omelette. I was feeling so hungry that I asked him to wrap it in a roti. Then I had some aalo sabzi with the roti. Tasted wonderful or maybe i was too hungry. Soon train came and I ran to keep my luggage on my seat. I had a sleeper class ticket. Then I rushed to the luggage compartment. There I could not see my bike anywhere. I asked around and they told me that the whole luggage compartment was booked for someone and no other luggage would be loaded in it. I heard some noise from behind and saw 4-5 porters bringing my bike. When they came to know that the compartment was sealed, they said they’ll load it in the compartment at the other end. So we ran the entire length of the train to the other end. There they loaded my bike and asked for rs.150. Bit more that what had been decided earlier but its ok. Then again I ran back to my coach. There was still come time for train to leave. I ran to the AC coach and asked the TT if there was any space in it. He said yes and that I could sit in it if I gave him rs300 extra along with the difference in the fare. So again I ran back, picked up all my luggage and ran to the AC coach. So finally I sat down and took a deep breath. The realization that the trip was over hit me and with a heavy heart I went to sleep..

Distance traveled in the day: 150kms
Total distance in the trip: 2716kms

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