Bicycle Touring South Asia: Nepal, in Butwal
Cycling around South Asia, my latest bicycle touring update from Nepal. In Butwel. Felt lazy today, so I didn’t bother moving! Besides, it’s Saturday, a day to sit around and drink beer all day! Also, the sooner I get to India, the sooner I’ll be going home! The other main reason for not moving is that I need to wait as long as possible before getting to India to let some of the chaos die down that’s going on there at the moment!
You may have read or heard that the Indian government scrapped the 1000 and 500 Rupee notes. Literally overnight, and they are no longer legal tender! Which by all accounts is causing chaos at the banks, with people queuing all day to exchange their notes and long queues at all the ATMs.
That’ll Teach You
I thought that I was being Mr smart arse and didn’t exchange my Indian rupees when I crossed into Nepal because I knew I’d be going back, now I’m left with about 3000 unusable rupees unless I want to spend all day queuing at a bank to exchange them, but considering it’s only about £35, it really doesn’t seem worth bothering with, but £35 in India can go a long way!
On my last night in India, I was going to get some more cash out from the ATM so I wouldn’t have to worry about it when I went back to India, but the queues were really long then, just as well I didn’t!
Another reason for delaying my return to India, or rather Delhi, as that’s where I’ll fly home from, is the pollution. Apparently, it was so bad the other day that they closed all the schools for 3 days!
Tour Information
It’s been years since I took this ride, but the memories (and the data) are all archived:
- Photos: See my photos on Flickr
- The route: View my route across India & Nepal
- Videos: Check out my YouTube videos
- Tour page: Ride overview
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