Bhairahawa

The first thing we do is notice that there's a spot of rain in the air as we take our bags to deposit on Oz Bus #5. Then it's a short walk back to Nepal immigration and to have our visas stamped. Our hotel for the night is 3km inside the border and aside from a short walk to the ATM's (that either don't work or don't accept our particular brand of card), we head for dinner and drinks in the hotel. In the morning, we get our first glimpse of the foothills of the Himalayas – obviously it's an impressive sight and in the far distance we can just make out snowy peaks amongst the clouds. In the morning it's also noticeable that driving along the roads is a better experience. The houses seem to be set further back from the roads in the towns and villages too and the roads themselves both in a better condition and far wider. There is less traffic and therefore less horns beeping! Many, many fields are set with rice and the patchwork effects seem to demonstrate the timing of the crops. In public areas there are huge swings made with long bamboo stalks at each corner that seem to be constantly busy and there's a noticeable number of houses that have smaller swings set in individual trees as we make our way along and away from the border, until the bus stops for quick repairs to the air conditioning.