Entering Nepal from India (via Bhimdatta)

After leaving Dehradun for Nepal, our last halt in India was Rudrapur, a small town in Uttarakhand around 250 kms away. It was probably the least interesting place we have visited in the complete journey. If we were time-bound, no way we would have spent our night in Rudrapur. As per an office colleague who happens to be from Rudrapur, except an ‘Olive Cafe’ and ‘Sardarji ke momos’, there is nothing to do there. Trust me, even they are not worth the visit.
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​However, if you are on a road trip, it is not about the destination anyways, it’s the journey that matters. But when it comes to our journey from Dehradun to Rudrapur, even the journey is quite hideous. Broken roads and dusty surroundings all around UP makes the journey quite tiresome. It took us a good 7 hours to reach Rudrapur from Dehradun. Thank God we left early in the morning. 

​The next morning we left from Rudrapur to enter Nepal. The roads from Rudrapur to Bhimdatta (the first city you hit when you enter Nepal from the western side) are surprisingly very good. It took us less than 2 hours to hit the Nepal border. You would expect a broad road and a nice checkpost when you exit India and enter Nepal, but it is nothing close to what you would imagine. The border is almost a muddy road with multiple police check posts from both nations.

Here is the detailed stepwise process to enter Nepal (you can skip this section, it’s purely informative):

1. Almost 2.5 Km before the border, there is a small toll booth (almost hidden) where you need to pay INR 35 as toll tax to cross a single lane iron bridge over Sarda river before you cross the border. Don’t miss this, or you will have to come back to get this receipt. (We had to do so!)
   
2. Almost 1.5 km before the border, you need to enter the driver’s name, vehicle details on an Indian Police Check post
   
3. After that you cross the single lane iron bridge, and you see the Indian Customs check post. They are supposed to check what is in your car but they won’t and let you go with an apparent INR 100 entry fee (without a receipt). I am quite sure there is no such fee, but the policeman sitting there asks for it and puts it in his pocket.
   
4. Then comes another Indian Police check post where they will again ask you to fill in the vehicle and driver details and are supposed to check what you are carrying in your car. No one really checks it though.
   
5. Then comes the Nepal border and you enter the same details again
   
6. Right after the first Nepalese check post, there is a small customs door on the right. You take your car in there where they will create a vehicle permit for as many days as you want (@ NPR 450 per day)
   
7. Then you cross another check post where they collect NPR 160 (INR 100) as Municipality fee and also stamp your Nepalese permit for the regions you want to visit in Nepal. (We got the all area permit in Nepal)
   
8. The last step is to go to the RTO (which is 7 km ahead of the border right after a small market). It is very difficult to spot the RTO, so the best way is to keep asking people for directions to the RTO (‘Yaatayaat’ in local language)
   

All this took us a good 2 hours to complete the formalities. Nepal’s E-W Expressway is a 2-lane highway but the number of vehicles in the country is less I guess, that you can easily drive at good 80-90 km/hr on that.

The Juice:
1. The border check post opens in intervals to let the vehicles pass. There are two hour intervals with two hours break, so time your entry accordingly. Check for the timings online before you go since they keep on changing.
2. Don’t expect a fancy international border. Indian state borders are fancier than this international border.
3. Driving in Nepal is more difficult than in India. People do not care about the vehicles on road and walk on highways carelessly. There are multiple accidents everyday owing to this. Be extra cautious while driving here.