OD_Jul'14_Nissan_Meet_The_Neighbours

OVERDRIVE JUL 2014110

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Words Alan D’Cruz Photography Varun Anchan

We took some time off from our busy schedules to visit our neighbours who we realised we know very little of

Knock knock

FEATUREMEET THE NEIGHBOURS WITH NISSAN

All images in this story were shot on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III and an EOS 6D with an EF24-105L f/4 IS USM lens. We use this combination as it offers the best balance between high image quality, high ISO performance and faster burst rate.


JUL 2014 OVERDRIVE 111

One fine day in office we just happened to pool together our passports to see which parts of the

globe our combined experiences covered. We realised that we actually had a lot of the globe covered already but this came as no surprise. With the number of international launches and drives we get invited to, there is no dearth of Schengen and US visa stamps on our passports. But missing were stamped visas from our neighbouring countries like Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan. Most of them are accessible by road too (with the exception of Sri Lanka) and so the next obvious thing was to

plan a road trip to meet our neigh-bours. And since Varun, our show’s producer Sohini and I are not exactly the epitome of culture and polish, we thought we’d take along six OVER-DRIVE readers to better represent India. Knock, knock anyone home?

THE PREPARATIONTruth be told, preparations started months in advance and if you thought planning a foreign trip takes some effort then you can imagine what planning for four countries was like. To add to the level of difficulty we were going to cross international borders eight times during the trip. This is because entering one country and then returning to India, before



moving on to the next makes the process easier as opposed to crossing two international borders with a car registered in a third country. Thank-fully, political relations with Bhutan and Nepal are extremely good and Indian citizens are allowed to travel to and from both countries freely, only needing to show a government approved ID to cross the border. Although, Bangladesh and Myanmar still required us to apply for visas and this had to be done in advance.

Where better to kick off our trip than from our nation’s capital. The plan was to leave in the night so as to skip the heavy morning truck traffic getting out of Delhi. This would also mean that we would be able to reach

the border early in the morning ahead of the rush. We were going to cross over to Nepal at the Bhimdatta crossing in Uttarakhand. After a long afternoon nap we were wide awake at 9:00pm just in time for the arrival of our rides for the trip. The sight of the Nissan Terranos pulling into the hotel driveway greeted us as we checked out. For me this is when the magnitude of what lay ahead of us really set in. Over the next 18 days we would visit four countries, covering nearly 5000 kilometers and taking in some amazing sights. We had four Terranos, two 85PS diesels and two 110PS diesels. We quickly loaded them up with luggage, spares and lots of water and snacks. It’s always good

We drive on the Indo-Nepal highway as we head towards Kathmandu. A monk chants at the Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu. On the way to Hetauda we drove through some truly awesome roads

Preparing for a long road trip

When travelling long distances through relatively unknown roads, it’s best to take more than one vehicle. So that if one breaks down, you have the other to go fetch help or tow the other to safety. If the car is not packed with luggage and passengers, you should have enough room to carry spares, While you may never use them, if you do break down, you will thank your lucky stars that you have the parts to get running again



to carry as much water as you can for long trips, especially when travel-ling over unfamiliar roads. You can survive being stuck in no man’s land without food but not without water. Snacks help too and keep up energy levels on long road trips.

THE FIRST CROSSINGAfter driving through the night we reached the border at 8:00am and on time. We passed through the Indian border cleanly enough after our pass-ports were checked but the check-ing at the Nepal border took a little longer than expected. To cross into Nepal, you only need to produce a government approved identity proof and your car papers and you’re good to go. Once over the border there is

a Nepal customs check where your identity proof is checked again and then you need to take your vehicle to the RTO check post to have your pa-pers checked. This last process takes quite a while with a lot of red tape, but in all fairness this is only due to the fact that a number of vehicles cross this border on a daily basis and never cross back. This is because of the black market for cars in Nepal – a result of high import duties and so the RTO department is extra vigilant.

After taking agonisingly long clearing the customs and RTO checks we were finally free to drive into our first country. Next rest stop was the town of Butwal which is also known as the gateway to Nepal. After two very long days of driving we were

River bashing, some unbridled fun along the way. The stupa of Boudhanath dominates the Kathmandu skyline. First sunrise as we head toward the Nepal border. Shops offering a variety of handicrafts and souvenirs. You can even find cheap hiking gear as Kathmandu is often the first stop for hiking trips into the Himalayas


happy to just let head meet pillow for some much earned rest – exploring Nepal would start in the morning.

DISCOVERING NEPALThe next day began at a very relaxed 10:00am, as we headed out towards the capital city of Kathmandu – a mere 260km to the east of Butwal. On the way we would be driving through the beautiful Terai range with the foothills of the Himalayas to the left of us and the plains on the right. At Bharatpur we turned north-wards and then headed up towards the hills before continuing eastwards towards the country’s capital city. The tight mountain roads brought a welcome break from the monotony of the plains. We stopped at a quaint little roadside dhaba that is actually a family house with a table out front

for customers. As it was a little past lunch time there was nothing ready and they were kind enough to start up a meal from scratch. The simple fare that we watched being prepared was really tasty and we filled our bellies to the brim. The drive into Kathmandu was a steep climb after which we were greeted by the traffic of Kathmandu. It has a truly big town feel too and it’s similar to any tier II town in India and has wide roads, a lot of cars and the accompa-nying traffic. Our hotel was within walking distance from Thamel which is the tourist market that has a great number of eateries, quaint pubs and offers lots of shopping opportunities. We also managed to visit the Boudhanath and Pashupati-nath temples that are in the centre of the city. The Boudhanath Stupa is

The sunsets got better as we continued on the journey. A typical Nepalese meal of ‘dal-bhat’ and chicken, freshly made and piping hot. It was quieter than usual near the Pashupatinath temple, giving us ample time to take in the architecture

Driving in Nepal

You need to be careful when driving in Nepal, the roads are filled with cyclists and pedestrians and while the general road sense is quite good compared to India, you still need to be careful. There is also a lot of livestock on the roads and the goats are really annoying and unpredict-able. There is really no ‘safe side’ with them and you have to just slow down and wait for them pass. Most roads are decently surfaced with broken stretches here and there and all the roads we encountered were single carriage ways. Traffic between cities is fairly sparse though the towns can get quite crowded



ADVT


one of the largest in the country and its imposing dome with long strings of prayer flags rising up to the top was striking due to both its sheer size and the serenity around it. Kapil Malhotra, one of the readers travel-ling with us said it was probably the most peaceful place that he had ever visited. The Pashupatinath temple is one of the most important Shiva temples in the world and during Maha Shivratri it draws as many as seven lakh devotees to its grounds. On the day we visited though it too was a much quieter place and the one sight that will stay with me for a while is the massive golden bull statue just at the entrance. The next day we headed up into the mountains of Nepal to the lofty hamlet of Daman. It sits at a height

of 2320 metre and though that’s not quite that high, it offers a perfectly unobstructed 180 degree view of the snow capped Himalayan range.

WELCOME TO MYANMARAs per our itinerary, after leav-ing Nepal we should have headed on to Bangladesh. Unfortunately due to some political unrest we were advised against entering with vehicles registered in India. Though we were promised safe passage into the country, the authorities couldn’t guarantee the safety of our vehicles. So we had to improvise and head on to Myanmar instead.

Driving to the border town of Moreh has to be one of the most pleasant experiences of the drive and the North East of India is a won-

Team OVERDRIVE and our readers gather for a quick briefing session in the morning. A statue of Buddha quietly rests in the tranquil ruins of Bagan. These two lions are the largest sculptures in Mandalay and guard the southern steps up to Mandalay hill



derful place that some ‘west coast-ers’ seldom get the chance to see. To get to the Myanmar border from Gauhati takes about two days. We broke journey in Kohima, Nagaland where we made time to visit the his-toric Kohima war cemetery and war memorial. The next day we headed to Moreh where we would cross over to what was now our second coun-try. The paperwork was supposed to be more straightforward here as most of it was done in advance but as luck would have it, here too we got delayed. We were told that our personal paperwork was complete but to take the cars over the border we’d need another document and this would take two days to arrive.

This would throw our already tight schedule completely out of whack. When you’re travelling to multiple countries, re-arranging schedules at the last minute is virtually impos-sible without great financial loss and we had already skipped Bangladesh. Some frantic calls were made and finally we realised that it was just a simple misunderstanding. The language barrier (the border officials spoke broken English and the local Naga dialect) had led the Indian bor-der officials to believe that we were heading into Myanmar and then on to another country. Since we were coming back into India the Carnet papers (a custom check exemption document) for the cars were not

Pagodas are a common sight as you drive across Mandalay. We drove most of our journey on the India - Myanmar Friendship Road which was built by the BRO (Border Road Organization). The view from the top of Mandalay hill

Driving in Myanmar

This was exciting as you have to drive on the right side of the road. Not uncommon if you’re in Europe but the catch is that almost everyone in Myanmar has right hand drive cars. So instead of the driver sitting in the middle of the road, you’re all the way over the right hand curb just like we were. It helps that there is very little traffic in Myanmar and their road sense is fairly good as well. They indicate with the right hand indicator when the want you to overtake and even do this for oncoming traffic


required. The relief was evident on all our faces when we heard this but due to the bad connectivity, making numerous calls and running around to getting the mess sorted, we had lost five hours. We ended up crossing over to Myanmar in the fading light with our hotel a further hundred kilometers away – this was going to be another late night.

TEMPLE RUNThe next day we set out towards Mandalay which is the second largest city in Myanmar. The city is really well planned and is a stark contrast to the rural areas that we drove through on the way. The city has some beautiful sights to see with many pagodas and also massive lion

sculptures guarding temple gates. The next day we headed to the temple ruins of Bagan, the ancient city which was once the capital of the Pagan kingdom. Rumour has it that the ruler at that time asked all citizens to go out and build their own temples in reverence of the gods. And between the 11th and 13th century, archeologists believe that there were as many as 10,000 Buddhist temples, monasteries and pagodas in the Bagan plains. Today there are around 2200 ruins remaining and tourists can spend days and weeks exploring them all. This is the one place to do all your souvenir shopping and with a little skill at bargaining, you can come away with some great deals. Don’t bother with the brick and

The panoramic view of the Bagan ruins. Now there are just 2,200 left, imagine what this view would have been like in the 13th century when there were 10,000. One of the few left hand drive trucks transports locals to Tamu

The food in Myanmar

The food in Myanmar is absolutely awesome. Opt for their set meals and you end up with a host of small containers with a multitude of meats, pulses, greens, rice and sauces that you can combine together to make you own unique dish. This allows you to sample a number of flavours in one meal. The chillies are nice and spicy, the meat is well cooked but beware of fish sauce. One of our readers, LD Sharma, will tell you that Myanmar also had the best vegetarian options on the whole trip.



ALL CITIZENS OF THE KINGDOM

WERE ASKED TO GO OUT AND

BUILD THEIR OWN TEMPLES IN

REVERENCE OF THE GODS



mortar shops though, their prices are pretty steep and fixed. The hawkers outside the temples have the same quality of merchandise and give you a far better price.

Unfortunately our experience at Bagan was short lived and though we would have all loved to spend much more time at the ruins, we had to cut our trip short and head back to our hotel. Our trip was really short lived but we did really enjoy our time in Myanmar. The next day we drove back to the border town of Tamu to cross back into India. The beautiful country was really exciting but this fleeting trip means that I will be going back there soon. I know I say that a lot but the next country we’re heading to proves

that I do mean it and even follow through with my plans.

BHUTAN AGAINIt’s been barely a month since I was here last and having really loved the country of Bhutan I was dying to share the joy as Sohini, Varun and all our readers got to experience this beautiful country in the clouds. As usual, we managed to get stuck in immigration procedure again. This time we were late to the office and had to join the end of a very long queue of people also wanting in. Then the RTO officer who needed to stamp our line permits for driving our cars through Bhutan conveniently disappeared to go enjoy a leisurely lunch with his

The Rinpung Dzong is a large fortress monastry that towers over the city of Paro. Food in Bhutan is spicy and delicious too. The weather wasn’t the best but still we managed to come back with some vibrant memories of the Paro valley

Driving in Bhutan

Bhutan, as a whole, must have the best road sense in the world. Almost everyone is a considerate and polite driver, even the truckers. To the extent that even if you come up to them on a mountain road and flash once, they will pull over and let you pass whether they are going uphill or down! You also have to be very mindful of speed limits and traffic rules in towns. Always indicate for turns and keep in mind that vehicles on your right have right-of-way



girlfriend. I’m completely serious, you cannot make stuff like this up. To cut a long story short we ended up leaving the border town of Phuentsholing at 4:00pm, not the best time to be leav-ing if you wanted to enjoy the beauti-ful mountain roads that snake their way up and down and up again as you head back into the glorious foothills of the Himalayas.

CITY IN THE CLOUDSDriving into the picturesque city of Paro is really a treat for first time visitors and something that I had raved about for the last sixteen days, promising the rest of the group that we truly had the best saved for last. But that night they had no idea where they were save for the few twenty odd metres of road ahead of our

convoy, that you could see in the headlights of our Nissans. There were majorly disappointed faces all around when we reached our hotel. Don’t worry, I promised them, tomorrow morning will be a different day. And it was, getting up early, we all awoke to what I believe is one of the prettiest cities I have ever seen. The lovely square houses with beautifully painted walls and woodwork are all neatly arranged as if by design. Even though the weather was not at its best (peak season is between Dec – Feb) we all came back to the hotel after an early morning with memory cards full of pictures.

We ate a hearty late breakfast and then made our way on to Thimpu, the capital of Bhutan. It’s a very well planned city and first time visitors

The Buddha Dordenma project is now complete and the 60 metre golden gilded statue quietly watches over the city of Thimpu. Pass through this colourful archway that stands on the Indo-Bhutan border and you enter a whole new world


need to know that Bhutan is very strict with their speed limits and road rules. So you need to be extra careful while driving anywhere in Bhutan but particularly in the capital. Amit Jakhar was really surprised with how disciplined the traffic was “I wish this was the case back home”.

One of the most awe inspiring sights in Thimpu is the 60 metre tall Buddha statue that is the largest in the world of its kind. It was built by a non-profit organisation and was erected to bestow blessings of peace and happiness, not just on Bhutan but on the whole world. After some souvenir shopping in the capital we headed back to Phuentsholing for the night. The trip back was one of the most exciting and challenging of the whole visit as we again ended up driving

through the night, having been delayed thanks to a traffic jam in Thimpu. As luck would have it, we also got caught in what was the first proper downpour of the monsoon. The narrow roads were wet and slippery, streams flowing over them at a number of places. We even had to clear rocks and stones away from fresh landslides on two oc-casions before continuing on our way. This 170km drive will probably play out countless times in our minds. The next day, we all made our final border crossing back into India.

We journeyed into their lands, soaked in their traditions, their ways and even broke bread with them. In a way, our mission to meet our neighbours was complete. And the next time we knock, maybe you can come with us.

Tiger’s nest (far left) is one of the most picturesque sites in Bhutan. It’s also a two hour hike up a steep slope, so you have to work hard for the picture. Bhutanese art is very detailed and some of these canvases take years to complete

Border crossing tips

With Nepal and Bhutan you can arrive and drive into the country with just a government approved identity proof. For private vehicles you need to have originals of all your docs. In Nepal you get a temp green number plate which you have to display. In Bhutan you receive a line pass to travel in the country. For Myanmar you need to apply for a visa in advance but the paperwork at the border is quite straightforward. Knowing the local language on both sides of the border is essential, we learnt.


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