During my recent visit to Nepal, I got the chance to visit and explore a few locations in the western region of the country. Even though we were on these short road-trips to visit our distant relatives and friends, we got to observe how everyday folks handle the inconveniences of such trips in their lives.
Nepal is a land-locked hilly mountainous country, its roads are the back-bone of its economy, travel, and delivery of essential goods. Building internal road infrastructure is difficult and expensive, so Nepal almost entirely depends on assistance from nations like China, India and Japan, for the construction, upkeep, and expansion of the highway system. The constant flow of large, essential goods transport and other vehicles contributing to the rapid wear and tear of the roads.
It was especially challenging to go on road trips on such poorly maintained roads with heavy traffic. Below are some notes and reflections from these brief visits.
Kathmandu to Deukhuri (Dang)
The Kathmandu-Narayanghat road is not maintained properly, I thought its traffic condition was even worse now than it was two decades ago. It seems that the personal vehicle and motorcycle traffic has increased significantly.
From the window, you could sometime see road-side fruits vendors or corn on the cob roasting in the smoky fire on the Highway.
Mungling, has been a popular resting destination for buses, trucks, and personal vehicles for a long time. There are many restaurants, which serve popular Nepali and western foods.
Bharatpur is one of the fastest growing cities in Nepal with many cultural and religious places. This lively tarai town is very dear to me, as I once worked at the nearby agricultural institute and have plenty of vivid fond memories.
Prithvi Highway ends here at Narayanghat, and the western section of the East-West Highway leads to Butwal.
Even though, the Narayanghat-Butwal section of the road has been under 6-lane expansion since 2019, only a small portion has been completed. A recent report says that only 23% of the 122 km road has been completed so far.
The travel conditions on this section were so bad that it was probably the worst road-trips we had in a long time.
During the return trip to Kathmandu, the road conditions in a small part of the Naubise/Darke area of the Prithvi Highway were so bad that we were stuck in the traffic for about 4 hours and got to Kathmandu late.
Deukhuri
Bhalubang, a new booming town and newly announced regional capital of Lumbini province, was the main base for our Nepal visit. The area was originally inhabited by people of Tharu decent, but more recent settlers are people of all ethnic background.
During our stay, the temperature here was extremely hot, frequently reaching the 90s and even reaching the 105F daily highs. The morning and night temperatures were pleasant, but the day temperatures were often unbearable, especially with only ceiling fans.
I will write more about Lalmatiya (Bhalubang) and its surroundings in a separate post.
Dang valley
We took a daylong family trip to the Dang valley, where we got to know and reconnect with extended family members in Tulsipur, Gorahi and Kothari.
Tulsipur and Gorahi are relatively larger country towns with good roads, schools and businesses. The majority of wealthy Dangalis seem to be following the nationwide pattern of constructing or rebuilding their residential homes into larger, multi-story metal-fenced structures. Many people rent out a portion of their home to small businesses, which in turn creates a steady stream of passive income.
Even in tiny rural country towns, many households possess luxurious, cozy sofas and a large flat screen TV for entertainment, suggesting an increase in financial prosperity. The majority of family own a personal a mobile phone, similar to those found in western countries.
Butwal-Bhairahawa
Butwal is a much cleaner, less polluted, and less crowded city with fewer traffic vehicles than other similar cities. The climate here is considerable warmer than in Kathmandu, but it is likely to be manageable.
Every small town we visited in Nepal had several ongoing residential housing or business construction projects. The sight of a few multi-unit constructions of western-styled apartment units in Butwal by real estate developers left me completely taken aback.
During our visits, we stopped by a popular pure vegan GOOD DO eatery, which appears to be achieving notable success and establishing a strong presence in the community.
Krishna Nagar
The Krishna Nagar trip was mostly a family visit to meet and catch up. During our visits, the temperature in Krishna Nagar was very hot too.
We also did little shopping for some Indian goods from Bodni, a border city of India.
Surkhet
We too a three-day family visit ans site seeing trip to Surkhet, by public bus and private vehicle hitch ride. The route to Surkhet was an absolutely scenic, traversing through the Bardia National Park, which leads to picturesque mountainous loops with numerous steep turns. While we were passing, it seemed like Nepal Army was taking care of the road and the National Park forests.
Surkhet valley is beautiful developing hilly town with relatively well maintained public parks, schools and hospitals.
Suryavinayak (Bhaktapur)
Even with our very limited time, I had the opportunity to join a nice 2.5 mile morning walk to Katunje hill in Suryabinayak municipality, Bhaktapur. The walk brought me back into contact with a childhood friend from Pauthak, and we shared our fond memories about our time together and how our childhood place has turned into a ghost village since all the youths moved to bigger cities.
While I was in Kathmandu, I also visited the my other extended families: sister (Jadibuti), and stepbrother/high school friend (Koteshor). Their very warm and welcoming hospitality at their homes truly impressed us.
The fond memories from the visits will stay with us for a long time.
Despite making some re-connection visits to my extended family members, I was unable to meet my professional friends or go to some of favorite places to see what was happening. Regardless, it was undoubtedly one of the most memorable trips I’ve had in a long time. The warm hospitality that we received during the visit will remain in our hearts forever.