My partner said it was the Delhi to Kathmandu bus . We followed it with our eyes and without prompting looked at each other and said in unison : “ Do you want to go to Kathmandu ?”
Bursting into laughter at the craziness of the idea , we set the GPS north to Nepal , a destination that was not in our itinerary . We had a long way to go to Nagaland . But … across the Himalayas we went , up and down into the Kathmandu Valley in the spur of the moment . Not as easy as it sounds though .
We reckoned we had time to do both Kathmandu and re-enter India at Siliguri . We were adding more than 1,500km to our trip but we had 6 weeks to do it . Getting to Kathmandu wasn ' t easy , but that ’ s for another story … Suffice to say it was great to again walk around Durbar Square and see how Nepal has survived the devastating earthquake of a few years ago .
This detour goes to prove that if you are flexible , there is nothing to fear about changing course provided you have a sound knowledge of distances which can be deceiving on a map . Distances in kilometres mean nothing when there are mountain ranges involved or the roads are bad . And they mostly are the further away you get from the main hubs .
There is also a misconception about equipment . If you think you need a super expensive bike with all the electronic bells and whistles to go through this terrain , you are wrong .
Power is another point . Yes , the more powerful your engine , the better for overtaking on highways , but for the rest of Indian roads you don ’ t need it . Our faithful twelveyear-old Royal Enfield Electra ( 350cc ) gives a steady 120km per hour on good highways , yet it doesn ' t even have a petrol gauge . Yes , you read right . The trick is to always remember how many kilometres you have done since your last fill up .
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