Kathmandu to Surkhet

Our time preparing for Nepal had been heavily focused on climate. The heat, temperature, rainfall, monsoons, and even the political climate.

The Nepali government had been focused on implementing the first constitution in the history of democratic Nepal. This had been a priority since the ending of the civil war in 2006, but the earthquake had made this an even more pressing issue in Kathmandu.

Part of the constitution was focused on dividing Nepal into seven administrative regions- similar to states- based on a variety of factors. Nepal is a very diverse country, with descendants of many different tribes and ethnic groups still concentrated in some areas, and even wandering nomadic tribes in some areas.

The nature of Nepal’s topography and geography means that there is a big difference in culture between the Northern Nepali attitude, culture, and beliefs, on the mountainous Chinese border when compared with the people living in the Terai (or lowland) region bordering India.

It is in this Terai region of Nepal where violence and protests- lightly covered in Western media- had taken place. Several different groups of people had taken issue with several different elements of the new constitution, and as a result several riots ensues, resulting in many casualties and the deaths of more than 50 people in three months.

Kathmandu to Surkhet

Unfortunately, our bus ride from Kathmandu was due to travel through several of the affected areas. We had been glued to English language newspapers and scouring the internet for up to date news, trying to pick the most opportune moment to travel. We asked every local we could about what they thought of the situation, but received every answer from “There is no problem, you can go anytime,” to “Do not take the bus. It is too dangerous,” and everything in between.

At the bus station when we were finally buying our tickets, we asked the salesmen how long the overnight bus would take. We had been told that certain areas were under curfew, and some of the major roads would be closed during the night. They took a significant glance at each other, before the more talkative of the two gentlemen smiled and said “16 hours” with confidence.

Fast forward to 16 hours into our bus ride. We were stuck behind our third major road closure of the trip. The sun was now up and blazing brightly, and the driver of the air conditioned bus we paid for had decided that loud Nepali music videos were much more conducive to keeping morale than cool air, and we sat and watched the same music videos on repeat for the majority of the journey.

Arrival

With road blocks, military checkpoints, congestion, and breaks, the ride took a total of 27 hours from start to finish. We had watched every single Nepali music video ever produced, and one and a half Bollywood movies.

Character building experiences aside, we arrived in Surkhet safe and sound. The views from the mountains coming out of Kathmandu had been spectacular, and were almost matched by the vistas of endless green farmland and colourful houses towards the end of our journey.

We had made some friends along the way, including a local man who worked in Qatar and was home to visit his wife, an English teacher at a nearby military school, and a nice man from Surkhet who insisted we come on to his bus and drink Mountain Dew with him at one of the road blocks.

It was now 10:00pm. Our military school friend helped us find a hotel, and after checking several and finding that a women’s conference in town meant that most hotels were full, we googled our way to Hotel Panchakoshi, who gave us their two spare rooms at $6 each per night. We ate, slept, and got ready to explore the town.

Surkhet

Surkhet is a region in South West Nepal, just North of the Terai region. It had experienced some of the worst protests and violence in August, and had spent a week under a 6pm armed curfew as a result. The violence had died down recently however, and there were no safety concerns upon our arrival.

We would be staying in the main town and capital of the region, Birendranagar. This sits near the Bheri River, and is even serviced by it’s own domestic airport, the Surkhet Airport. The region is mainly agricultural, and much poorer and less well serviced than Kathmandu or Pokhara, despite proximity to the Indian border.

We will certainly consider flying next time we visit.

Namaste.