Fun weekend ride to Dawanne, Nepal

Date: 8th/July/2019.
Bikes: Royal Enfield Classic 350, Bajaj Dominar 400
Total Distance: Around 400 kms
Riders: Jitendra Ojha, Prasant Rai
Route: Gorakhpur > Padrauna > Thuthibari > Dawanne > Butwal > Saunauli > Campierganj > Gorakhpur.

I received a call from a friend currently based in Padrauna, Kushinagar and invited me to his place. Upon reaching Padrauna, we had a nice chit chat and then thought to have dinner at a nearby Dhaba. While having dinner we decided to ride till Dawanne, Nepal the next day.

I woke up fairly early as per my standards and after having a delicious breakfast in which we had Suji Halwa, Jalebi, and Curd. We started the ride at around 9.30am and plan was to enter Nepal via Thuthibari border post. We then went to get the Bhanasar document for which we had to show our individual bike RC and Driving license. Took hardly 10 mins in the immigration office and we had the Bhansar paper.

We then started our ride and as we were closing in the mountains, the mood of the weather was changing and both of us decided to put on the rain jackets. It turned out to be a wise decision as soon after it started raining cats and dogs.

As we were traversing through ghats and twisties while enjoying the mesmerizing beauty of mountains, the icing on the cake was that it was also the first time for me to use the intercom with a fellow rider. Soon we reached the restaurant that was pre decided. We ordered a veg thali and had a delicious lunch. Our plan was to start the return journey after having lunch. However, as they say, jab aa hi gaye ho to thoda aur explore kar loo. We then decided to continue the ride towards Narayangarh after having lunch and some rest.

It was raining continuously and the joy of riding our bikes in the mountains under the rain was at a different level and that was evident from our conversation via intercom. We were traversing through beautiful terrains wherein on both sides of roads are covered with dense forest.

We were roughly 30 km before Narayangadh, that there was a long traffic jam and upon enquiring came to know about a accident. We decided to return back as it was getting a bit late and I had to reach back home same day due to some personal commitments. If not for that, my friend came up with the idea of night stay at Narayangarh.

We decided to enter India via Butwal > Saunauli route. Riding continuously in rains for 8-10 hrs since morning, we were feeling quite tired and hungry. We reached Butwal at around 7-7.30 Pm and decided to take Tea and Bread Omelet break. We then started the journey and soon we reached Sunauli border. After going through the security checkup, we resumed our journey and both of us decided to continue the ride as we didn’t wanted to waste more time. It was dark and raining, we were maintaining a moderate speed of around 45-50 km/hr as we didn’t want to take any chances, plus and more importantly, we didn’t want to measure Kms. Enjoying the time off and the ride was more important.

We took a short break upon reaching Campierganj and gave a call to a common friend who is also a rider and YouTuber to pack some Biryani for us. At around Mid Night, we reached Gorakhpur and had the Chicken Biryani and parted our ways to respective homes.

Soon, I reached home and upon changing, I took a shower and after that slept like a baby. After a long time, I had a soul-satisfying ride and a great learning experience.