Jan. 26 - Damak, Nepal

Thursday, January 26 :: Damak, Nepal :: 79km today / 2770km total

Up very early amidst morning Republic Day celebrations. This marks the day that the British were kicked out from India. I've long wondered whether this was a good thing, and spent much of my ride pondering whether India would be better off if it was still ruled by the British. An extremely difficult question to answer, so many different factors and hindsight and what-ifs. Then, I hit upon it... the problem was that I was asking the question the wrong way, and its much easier to answer in the reverse. The question SHOULD be: "Could India be any worse if it was still ruled by the British?". This question is much easier for me to have an opinion on, having cycled through India for over a month... for 98% of the population, I can't imagine things being worse, in 2006. Maybe Gandhi-ji, for all his good and noble intentions, was barking up the wrong tree when he demanded the British leave.

Such thoughts are not good for my health in India on Republic Day, so border-bound I was. The West Bengalis along the roadside were quite placid, and I had a quiet ride to the border. I took it easy, never liking to show up at borders sweaty and gross. The border was a chaotic mess, and I had to double-back across it to hunt down a well-hidden Indian Immigration Office, for my stamp out. Things were extremely strange on the Nepali side... about 35 uniformed customs agents were milling around, quite excited as I approached. OK... I cautiously made my way towards them, holding out my passport and $30US visa fee. They waved all that off and motioned for me to sit down at the head of a circle of lawnchairs. I sat down and was given 2 bags of fruit, a garland of flowers, a red spot on the forehead, biscuits, and tea. All the agents excitedly sat down, chattering in Nepali, and one more-official-looking-guy asked me my name and nationality. Soon "Canada" and "Durrant" were echoing around the place, and a few speeches were made, interrupted by polite clapping. I asked what was going on... apparently today is World Customs Day, or something to that effect, and I was the first non-Indian foreigner across the border, and was to be celebrated. Alrightly then, I can roll with that. After half an hour it was all over, passport stamped, off I went.

OK here's the situation in Nepal. Nepal has a monarchy and on-again, off-again democracy. Elections are coming up. There are Maoist (Communist) rebel forces that don't like the monarchy, and think the monarchy is no good for the common Nepali. There has been a low-key but simmering civil war for a few years now, between the Nepali Army and the Maoists. Both sides are ADAMANT that tourists, particularly Western tourists, are not targets. Many tourists have come into contact with Maoists in the past few years, but none have been physically harmed.

As I rode into Nepal I noticed a commotion, not farther than 1km from the border. A Communist flag was planted in the middle of the road and a van was parked sideways, blocking one lane. Some soldiers were very upset and yelling at lots of people. Needless to say I GOT THE HELL OUT OF THERE.

Today there was some sort of strike in Nepal, and there was no road traffic except for the very occasional army vehicle or ambulance. This turned the Mahendra Highway, the road I'm riding across Nepal, into one massive... bike lane! I was the fastest thing on the road, for 15 minutes at a time. It was awesome! The freedom, the lack of fear. For the first time this trip I rode without too much concern of being flattened.

The road was extemely flat - not what you'd normally think of for Nepal. The only highway across Nepal, the Mahendra Highway, follows the Southern Border with India very closely, and hence is on the Gangetic Plain, the large flat swath of land that drains into the Ganges. The mountains are immediately to the North, but for the most part the Highway is dead flat.

13km from Damak a CRACK resonated through my bike. Yes, my frame broke again. Sigh. I got off the bike and started walking, pushing the bike along. The cracks widened and deepened as I walked, and after about 4km the bike completely broke into 2 pieces. Now I was stuck - no road traffic, how was I going to do the last 9km to Damak? There's always an answer, and along came a cart loaded with bamboo, being pushed by 3 people. Well, soon the cart was loaded with bamboo and a bicycle and being pushed by 4 people. 9km later we were in Damak, said our goodbyes, and it wasn't long before I was asleep.