66 km.
I took a rest day in Bhairawa to go see Lumbini. I have been in the area before but never felt it nessecary to spend and extra day for Lumbini. Now on a bike I need rest days anyway and took the opporunity. Went there by bus.
Lumbini town is not much, but there are several guest houses.
The temple built on the spot where Buddha is supposed to have been born did, like many similar places, not really live up to my expectations. I had seen glorified paintings of the temple elsewhere in Nepal. But the actual temple is far more modest, and there is a fair bit of rubbish lying around.
Today I crossed the border into India. It was a 5 km ride from Bhairawa. The border crossing itself was hassle free since I had my visas OK.
Coming from Nepal to India I had a feeling of having come to a land of plenty. Immediately the road was much wider and in much better condition. As I had suspected I made a good bit better speed with the same effort. There are more restaurants, more chai shops, and everything tastes much better. I have really had it with weak Nepali tea and tasteless food for a long time.
Of course there is also a lot more people, towns and villages here. I guess there is more traffic too but it only bothered me when congestions occured in towns. Indians share with Nepalis the inability to see a larger picture in traffic. Each and everyone on the road always tries to squeeze in to the very last inch of space available. Even though exactly that makes it impossible for anyone to move at all.
After 66 kms I happened on a quite new looking hotel in a small town called Pharenda. First I rode past it, thinking it was not really my style of place. But when I had cycled through the town without seeing any other options I turned back and moved in. The manager was very nice and helpful. He locked my bike into an underground garage that felt very safe. Some of his staff were the ordinary lazy buggers though, and the place could well have been much cleaner had they not sat around doing nothing quite so much.
The Haveli hotel had an attached restaurant where the food was really good.
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