Nepal/Northern India

[Seldom Seen Smith]

I have been contemplating this trip for a long time now. If anyone here has been before I would really like to talk to you about it. Ideally I would like to go for 3-4 months and spend a lot of that time backpacking. I have been told that these two countries share an open boarder with each other so I am hoping I can just cross over. Does anyone know if the boarder is still open? I have also heard that the Maoist rebels in Nepal are against the open boarder policy and I am wondering if this could be a problem. Do the Maoist typically leave foreigners a lone or do I have to watch out?

I am also looking for cool villages or places to backpack in either country. I hear the villagers are quite welcoming and will often take you in. Any places I need to avoid? Any places I need to visit? About how much money did you spend a day? Where is the good hashish at (temple ball hash from Nepal is the best in the world)? What's the best time of the year to go?

If someone could tell me about there experience and maybe answer some of those general questions I would greatly appreciate it. I haven't done to much research on either country but this is something I want to plan and do a couple years down the line. These are two countries that I must visit before I die.

 

[dirty_feet]

A good friend of mine just returned from a 4 month backpacking trip in India a couple days ago. You won't ever be the same after this if you go!

If you do any hiking/trekking - the Annapurna Range in Nepal is absolutely breathtaking and there are several tea house treks you can go on, as well as private, more secluded hiking and camping. I HIGHLY suggest you google tea house trekking in Nepal - there are several different kinds of hikes offered gong from tea house to tea house over a period of anywhere from four to ten days.

My friend stayed in Northern India and made his way south and then went back up through Nepal and back into Northern India. I'm not sure how hitchiking or anything was - but he did stay at several cheap hostels, ashrams, and worked on some farms as well. In a world view perspective - India is said to be one of the few countries that will make it through the recession just fine due to lack of materialism and low standards, and low costs of living.

Going back and fourth between the borders (Nepal and India) - he had no problem - he was over there from November to about a week ago.

From all the incredible emails I received from him - the ones during his hike in the Annapurna Range were my favorites.

 

[nitepeepole]

i just got my ten year visa for india today. woo. i'm excited about it. it's one of the very few countries in the world that is so open to americans visa wise. so for ten years from today i can be there 6 months at a time. but i heard hopping into another country like sri lanka or what ever is easy and it just resets you. ha and every one is a train hopper there. im mostly excited becuz the general cost of living there is dirt cheap.

i just saw flights to india are $399. from new york. check it out.

 

[CdCase123]

i just got my ten year visa for india today. woo. i'm excited about it. it's one of the very few countries in the world that is so open to americans visa wise. so for ten years from today i can be there 6 months at a time. but i heard hopping into another country like sri lanka or what ever is easy and it just resets you. ha and every one is a train hopper there. im mostly excited becuz the general cost of living there is dirt cheap.

i just saw flights to india are $399. from new york. check it out.

hey, what the hell does the following mean;

Passport Requirements: Original, signed passport valid for 6 months from day of application, and with at least two blank visa pages. Amendment pages are not acceptable for visa stamps.



does that mean i need to have a valid passport for six months prior to applying for a visa?! i sure hope not! or that my passport needs to be valid for at least 6 months after application? i'm leaning towards the latter

can you give me tips for applying? how did you go about doing so? thanks

and do you actually have to follow through with information given on the visa application, such as port of arrival/departure and expected time of arrival etc?

i really would like to try to save up money this autmn/winter and be in india by late winter/spring-2010

 

[nitepeepole]

the valid passport means. you have to send them a passport with at least six months of validity remaining on the day you arrive in india or the indian border guards won't let you in. so if you dont have that you should get a new passport now. it takes about a month to get a passport returned from the state department and then the indian visa takes less than 2 weeks.
you dont need to stick to your port of call, expected time of entry or reference information.

the visa application is pretty simple. i did fill mine out three different times tho to make sure i got it all neat.

good luck man.

 

[CdCase123]

i just saw flights to india are $399. from new york. check it out.

you think this is consistent? ive heard similar reports from other people about ridiculously low prices to india and have done some research myself but i dont want to get my hopes to high. but jeez 400 bucks to india, that would eliminate a serious amount of time i will have to work at my somewhat shitty job for.

 

[adanisback]

I'll see you in Nepal in a few years!