The long road to India...

Taking the bus from Kathmandu to the border with India and on to Darjeeling had initially seemed like a cracking idea. We could see some more of the country, avoid paying lots for a plane (not sure I fancy flying in Nepal really) and it just seemed like a bit more of an adventure!

Speed Control.. Yeah right?!

Unfortunately we managed to find ourselves in Kathmandu slap bang in the middle of a festival...our visas were running out and finding a bus was proving to be just a little bit tricky. Having eventually conceded we got a ticket for a local bus...overnight...to the border. Now the Tourist buses are a bit nicer and a bit more money..but the roads are the same and we figured it would probably work out ok...

The bus seemed to find every pothole there was and if there were any particularly viscous looking ones I am fairly certain the bus driver put his foot down! We were near the back of the bus.. not the best place to be positioned, although slightly better than the back row who may now be suffering with concussion!

Then around midnight the efforts of our driver paid off as a loud metallic crunching/breaking sound was heard and the bus ground to a halt... Sometime later a small committee went to inspect the now cooled underside of the bus and the tinkering began... 

Erm...yeah, it's broke...

Several hours later the bus limped away from the side of the road and we edged closer to the Indian border.

As dawn broke we made it to a little town where further repairs were to be made...the time ticked on and the supplies ran low. Hobnobs and water.. not really enough for the 17+ hrs.

At last we were on our way, the roads seemed a little smoother and the driving a little calmer. We had avoided a little rooftop bus ride (which I think looks like quite a lot of fun - but not sure my mum would agree!)

One day maybe?

We crossed the border in to Siliguri, India around 1pm, sad to leave Nepal but looking forward to seeing a tiny part of India. We only have a week here, first to sample some tea in Darjeeling and then on to the big city - Kolkata before flying on.