Varanasi; India - Nepalese Border

Today, I woke up at 3:30. At 4:15 (late because 2 of my friends alarm didn't go off and then they got stuck a broken lift, which I bet was still playing Yesterday Once More by The Carpenters on a continuous loop) we got on a bus to a train station further away from Varanasi station (which is literally across the road from our hotel) because we could get a direct train from its starting station rather than join a scrum for seats and luggage space. The bus went down a narrow street which was blocked, so did a 12 point turn causing likely damage to low hanging power cables...we made as quick an exit as is possible to make on a bus wedged across a dirt track, and were dropped off back at the station less than 100m from our hotel. It turns out that the powers that be in Varanasi started tarmacking the roads overnight - a noble and necessary task - but are doing all of them, at once. India.

At Varanasi station we waited for almost an hour for our train to come at about 6ish. Really glad we got up at 3:30 to effectively take the journey across the road, we did a last minute dash to a different platform, and boarded a train which we didn't have tickets for. It all worked out okay, and after a very long and uncomfortable train ride we arrived in Gorakhpur and got on a minibus for 4 hours to the Nepalese border. I'd been warned that the roads around the border were bad, but that implies that they should have at least been recognisable as roads, which they were not. The immigration staff on the Indian side were obstructive and unhelpful, grilled some people on the minutiae of dates and accommodation, and tried to extort a fine from our guide. They couldn't argue that the bulk of us have unicorns on our passports and at 18:00 let us through. The Nepalese border staff were helpful and welcoming, and our passports were stamped with no issues. 

We got on a new minibus and went to a hotel close to the base of the Himalayas, had an awesome dinner with lots of booze, and realised they're playing the exact same bloody Carpenters song on a loop in the lift.

Love Emily x