It's the last day of October and we are about to leave Gorakphur, the biggest intersection for people traveling to and from Nepal.
AND we are shorter of 72 US dollars !!!??? Ace! :(
At this very moment I am sitting in a packed train in a general class, as usual. However due to a few police officers feeling sorry for us we got the best seats; the most comfortable ones, in the aisle by the windows. Millions of Indians are pushing each other around me but I am in the safe zone. I feel as if the luck was coming back to us. But let's start from the very beginning, shall we?
After three months of making, selling,saving up money, and budgeting in Pokhara, it was time for us to leave the place. The last three days of our stay was decided to be spent as holidays. In the end, we did really deserve some time off. We rented a bike and went to see the lakes around the city. We went for the pizza anytime we felt like it, and we stopped counting our daily budget. Funnily enough the budget had not changed anyway- apart from the expenses for the bike.
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| Looks cool, huh? But in fact it isn't much.. All gone now |
On the last day I was supposed to change all the money we saved up to Indian rupees. I didn't have a lot of cash and yet it was so difficult to find places where they would have an Indian currency. I checked the money changers- no Indian rupees available. Only in one kiosk, however they gave me a very bad rate (Nepali rupee to Indian is fixed at 1:1.6 since 1994, but these people want 'commission' from literally everything). I went to the bank. No Indian currency either- why anyway, since the rate is pegged therefore it is not profitable for the Nepalese banks to have stock in that currency. Rastra National Bank offered to change only 2000 rupees per person. Well, we would need A LOT of persons to do it this way.
Finally we found a hotel which was willing to change the money even though we would loose some cash on the rate. However, soon we realized this would be the best option. We still played with the idea to keep 20 000 in order to change it somewhere else, maybe even try it at the Saunali borders. This might be the worst option or on the other hand it might be the best option. But who knows at this point? This part of the world is incredibly unforeseeable.
Our attempt to solve this dilemma was quickly interrupted by the guy at the reception who told us they don't have enough Indian rupees for us. OK, so the problem had solved itself. We still need to keep half of our money to change elsewhere.
The way it works in Nepal before you are going for holidays to India (considering you do mind to take out the cash from an Indian ATM) you simply visit all your friends to change the money. There are enough Indian tourists paying with their currency hence all the shopkeepers have some Indian rupees each day. I found richer part of the Lakeside where the Indian holiday seekers usually stay. There I tried to exchange the money from shop to shop, from hotel to hotel.. Most of the people usually had only less than 2 000 so it was really a challenge. Some wanted a commission, others looked at me bitterly saying 'not possible'.
I started to feel very nervous about the whole situation however I managed to change quite a large sum, all things considering, and was very proud of myself. Firstly, on the day I started my challenge, the biggest holidays, Diwali, had just begun. Secondly, we were doing it in a big rush. If we would allow ourselves more time we might be able to use the help of our Nepalese friends. Thirdly, 500 and 1000 notes of Indian rupees are banned in Nepal so changing large sums can really became a difficult task.
Ups, we already overstayed a day after our visa expired. Well, what to do. Some friends told us the first day is for free and then you pay 5 dollars a day. It is a lot of money, but less than if we would change all the money at the Saunali border side and pay the high commission (what I later found out would indeed be the case).
The next day we finally left Pokhara, hoping the last few thousands could be exchanged at the borders. However I foresaw it might be a problem so I kept asking in the shops right before we boarded the bus for the borders. Literally, I was walking into every single little shop which were right next to the bus station. And guess what, I did manage to exchange all the money! We now had only 405 Nepali rupee left for the journey.
As it usually happens the bus for Saunali was running late therefore it was already night when we reached the South. Again, we talked about the best possible option- let's overstay our visa for one more day and find a hotel in a nearby village or let's try our luck and go through the borders at night? The immigration office might still be open, but what about the buses on the Indian side..? Would it be possible to get out of the border site and continue to Gorakphur? We weren't so sure... as we talked, the conductor came to us and said the bus cannot go all the way to Saunali but will stop one village before and later we need to take another bus. Well, our problem was solved again without any possibility to do anything about it. We stopped 3 km from Saunali, got out of the vehicle and begun looking for a hotel. In the first one we entered I tried to persuade the guy that we have our last money plus we need to have some dinner and buy a water, so pretty pleeeease give us a cheap room... (wouldn't be too difficult to use the Indian rupee, of course, but I did wanted to spend all the Nepali money and frankly, try the challenge of budgeting to the last penny ;) ) I succeeded.
We went to the borders in the morning. Just for the fun of it I asked at the two official money changers at what rate they would change the Nepalese currency to Indian. At the first one he asked for 3 percent commission- the worst offer I have heard so far- and at the second one he was out of the cash anyway. Wow, imagine if we would bring all that money to the borders! We would be screwed.
Finally we found a hotel which was willing to change the money even though we would loose some cash on the rate. However, soon we realized this would be the best option. We still played with the idea to keep 20 000 in order to change it somewhere else, maybe even try it at the Saunali borders. This might be the worst option or on the other hand it might be the best option. But who knows at this point? This part of the world is incredibly unforeseeable.
Our attempt to solve this dilemma was quickly interrupted by the guy at the reception who told us they don't have enough Indian rupees for us. OK, so the problem had solved itself. We still need to keep half of our money to change elsewhere.
The way it works in Nepal before you are going for holidays to India (considering you do mind to take out the cash from an Indian ATM) you simply visit all your friends to change the money. There are enough Indian tourists paying with their currency hence all the shopkeepers have some Indian rupees each day. I found richer part of the Lakeside where the Indian holiday seekers usually stay. There I tried to exchange the money from shop to shop, from hotel to hotel.. Most of the people usually had only less than 2 000 so it was really a challenge. Some wanted a commission, others looked at me bitterly saying 'not possible'.
I started to feel very nervous about the whole situation however I managed to change quite a large sum, all things considering, and was very proud of myself. Firstly, on the day I started my challenge, the biggest holidays, Diwali, had just begun. Secondly, we were doing it in a big rush. If we would allow ourselves more time we might be able to use the help of our Nepalese friends. Thirdly, 500 and 1000 notes of Indian rupees are banned in Nepal so changing large sums can really became a difficult task.
Ups, we already overstayed a day after our visa expired. Well, what to do. Some friends told us the first day is for free and then you pay 5 dollars a day. It is a lot of money, but less than if we would change all the money at the Saunali border side and pay the high commission (what I later found out would indeed be the case).
The next day we finally left Pokhara, hoping the last few thousands could be exchanged at the borders. However I foresaw it might be a problem so I kept asking in the shops right before we boarded the bus for the borders. Literally, I was walking into every single little shop which were right next to the bus station. And guess what, I did manage to exchange all the money! We now had only 405 Nepali rupee left for the journey.
As it usually happens the bus for Saunali was running late therefore it was already night when we reached the South. Again, we talked about the best possible option- let's overstay our visa for one more day and find a hotel in a nearby village or let's try our luck and go through the borders at night? The immigration office might still be open, but what about the buses on the Indian side..? Would it be possible to get out of the border site and continue to Gorakphur? We weren't so sure... as we talked, the conductor came to us and said the bus cannot go all the way to Saunali but will stop one village before and later we need to take another bus. Well, our problem was solved again without any possibility to do anything about it. We stopped 3 km from Saunali, got out of the vehicle and begun looking for a hotel. In the first one we entered I tried to persuade the guy that we have our last money plus we need to have some dinner and buy a water, so pretty pleeeease give us a cheap room... (wouldn't be too difficult to use the Indian rupee, of course, but I did wanted to spend all the Nepali money and frankly, try the challenge of budgeting to the last penny ;) ) I succeeded.
We went to the borders in the morning. Just for the fun of it I asked at the two official money changers at what rate they would change the Nepalese currency to Indian. At the first one he asked for 3 percent commission- the worst offer I have heard so far- and at the second one he was out of the cash anyway. Wow, imagine if we would bring all that money to the borders! We would be screwed.
We entered the immigration office. I immediately recognized one of the workers and to my surprise, he remembered me as well. He shook my hand and took my passport. I knew it will be easy to explain to him why did we overstayed. He looked at me and said we have to pay 39 dollars. Each!!
What the fuck??? How is that possible? Well, it seems the charge for extension is 30 dollars, plus each day is additional 3 dollars. Shit, this was really bad.
I begged, I cried, I tried to tell them I do not mind going to the jail. But we certainly do not have that many dollars and most certainly could not pay that much! We stayed there for few hours. I didn't know what to do anymore, and I felt very vulnerable.. I was angry with myself for not checking the issue of overstay more properly. I was angry at us for wanting to stay in Pokhara longer. I was totally pissed at the fact that we would loose less if we simply change the money at the borders- even though I still doubt they might have that large sum of hard currency.
Me and Tom tried to explore every option possible, but in fact nothing else was possible. Ignorantia legis neminem excusat (Latin for "ignorance of the law does not excuse). If you manage to overstay in Nepal, it is best to go to the Immigration Office in Pokhara or the one in Kathmandu; pay the fee, get a one month visa extension and then you won't have to pay the daily charges.
But back to my story. At the end the boss at the Office agreed to give us a little discount- as much as 7 dollars. Splendid... I asked him to pay in Indian rupees but he told me to go change the money to dollars. Fuck no! I will loose even more on an ill rate. Plus I definitely remember paying in rupees at this office before!
Then the guy who recognized me at the beginning told me not to be mad with him. And to bring the rupees. Quietly. The boss has left...
I had quickly done so. He hid the money in his pocket and started doing the paperwork. Meanwhile his colleague came, took the rupees and went to the money changer. Well, at least now I know how it works. So officially you can pay at the Nepali-Indian borders only in dollars. However, they also accept the Indian or Nepali rupees- at a poor rate- and then change them to the money changers, who again change them to other tourists who reache the borders, with a high commission of course. That is how the Indian currency, which is (best to my knowledge) banned in Nepal, gets to the money changer at the border! Simple as that.
At least we had a quick ride from the border to Gorakhpur. We got some very tasty bananas (such a difference after Nepal where it is a great difficulty to find a sweet, ripped banana :) ) and got luck with boarding the train at Gorakhpur Junction. There were many police officers to keep the nation in a proper queues. Each wagon was being open only after the previous one was fully boarded. As we waited, the police let us come first and told us to take the single seats in the aisle. Of course, the best seats. They also gave us few seconds before they let the rest of India to enter the car. Typical chaos continued, then everyone settled. Delhi awaits!
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What the fuck??? How is that possible? Well, it seems the charge for extension is 30 dollars, plus each day is additional 3 dollars. Shit, this was really bad.
I begged, I cried, I tried to tell them I do not mind going to the jail. But we certainly do not have that many dollars and most certainly could not pay that much! We stayed there for few hours. I didn't know what to do anymore, and I felt very vulnerable.. I was angry with myself for not checking the issue of overstay more properly. I was angry at us for wanting to stay in Pokhara longer. I was totally pissed at the fact that we would loose less if we simply change the money at the borders- even though I still doubt they might have that large sum of hard currency.
Me and Tom tried to explore every option possible, but in fact nothing else was possible. Ignorantia legis neminem excusat (Latin for "ignorance of the law does not excuse). If you manage to overstay in Nepal, it is best to go to the Immigration Office in Pokhara or the one in Kathmandu; pay the fee, get a one month visa extension and then you won't have to pay the daily charges.
But back to my story. At the end the boss at the Office agreed to give us a little discount- as much as 7 dollars. Splendid... I asked him to pay in Indian rupees but he told me to go change the money to dollars. Fuck no! I will loose even more on an ill rate. Plus I definitely remember paying in rupees at this office before!
Then the guy who recognized me at the beginning told me not to be mad with him. And to bring the rupees. Quietly. The boss has left...
I had quickly done so. He hid the money in his pocket and started doing the paperwork. Meanwhile his colleague came, took the rupees and went to the money changer. Well, at least now I know how it works. So officially you can pay at the Nepali-Indian borders only in dollars. However, they also accept the Indian or Nepali rupees- at a poor rate- and then change them to the money changers, who again change them to other tourists who reache the borders, with a high commission of course. That is how the Indian currency, which is (best to my knowledge) banned in Nepal, gets to the money changer at the border! Simple as that.
At least we had a quick ride from the border to Gorakhpur. We got some very tasty bananas (such a difference after Nepal where it is a great difficulty to find a sweet, ripped banana :) ) and got luck with boarding the train at Gorakhpur Junction. There were many police officers to keep the nation in a proper queues. Each wagon was being open only after the previous one was fully boarded. As we waited, the police let us come first and told us to take the single seats in the aisle. Of course, the best seats. They also gave us few seconds before they let the rest of India to enter the car. Typical chaos continued, then everyone settled. Delhi awaits!
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Of course all the money had been spend in Jaipur. For the stones. Which are very difficult to sell on Palolem, a part of Goa where we are staying at the moment. Hence, we are at the square one. Poor, happy, and have absolutely no clue about the future :)
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