After an hour we stop to eat and buy a map, because the GPS shows only one road in this remote area in western Nepal but we wish to explore more of Nepal than the average tourist. We drive into the mountains, but it takes longer than expected. When it gets dark we look for a place to sleep in the village of Budar. There are guest houses in the village but they are really basic; we doubt about what to do when a restaurant owner approaches us and asks us to stay with him. Out of courtesy, we take dinner in his restaurant and get the company of two little girls.

The Two Cuttest Girls in Nepal

Almost the entire village comes to talk to us. The toilet of the restaurant is awful so we go for many walks to do our business in the wild.
We talk with the host about our planned route and he tells us this is an "impossible road". We don’t really believe this because the road is on the map so we decide to try. The views are incredible and make everything worthwhile.

Views over the Himalaya

The next day, the road starts well apart from the potholes and some landslides which have wiped off small pieces of the road. We spend the night in Safeh but several people warn us that the road ahead would deteriorate dramatically. Meanwhile, we find out that there is only one dish available in this region ... and it is not tasty. The chicken here is full of bones and fat so is also not advisable.
We wake up the next day at half past five due to the noise in the room next to us. But in good spirits we leave for Birendranagar and that actually seems to be working pretty well until Mangalsen. Here we arrive at seven o’clock and get a glimpse of the road ahead of us... swallow!

Start of Impossible Road

Here a man addresses us and we talk about our plans. He tells us there is a river further down the road without a bridge. There is a ferry that can take a person and a motorbike, but he is not sure about Mickey. We decide to go for it and what follows is true hell. The road only consists of sand, mud, gravel, deep potholes and crumbling rocks. We fall over countless times and the belly of the bike knocks constantly against the large boulders. The service stand is therefore completely destroyed ... but what an adventure! We take a break in a small village, and there is a man who says you can cross the river, even with a car. So now we are reassured about continuing. Two hours later we arrive at the river. It took us five hours to drive thirty kilometres! To reach the ferry we have to drive through water and deep gravel.

Road to Ferry

Then we see the "ferry". It appears to be a raft, one which carried food supplies but certainly not cars. Moreover, it appears that the raft wouldn’t cross anymore that day because the operator had gone home.

The "Ferry"

Going back was not an option so we decide to camp on the beach by the river. Here we filter water from the river and prepare some food under the watchful eye of the whole village. In the evening we enjoy the millions of stars and the Milky Way is very visible here. Then we crawl in our tent for a quiet night.

Beach Camping

In the morning it was time to try the raft. The drive up is scary but seems doable. On the other side of the river, riding off the raft was another story. Kevin has never been so scared on his bike.

See Kevin Driving off the Ferry

When we are finally back on the road it appears it’s just as bad as on the other side of the river. We still do not know why, but everywhere we went the locals assured us that the road would improve after the next village. After five hours we are finally driving on good tarmac roads again. Our bodies are aching from all the beating we had to endure. An hour later we arrive in Birendranagar where a school teacher invites us to his home. His name was Deepak and he showed us around the village.

Deepak's House

We get a room to sleep in and we have dinner. The food is pretty good, especially for Nepali standards. There is no bathroom, so we have to go to his brother’s house to take a shower and go to the toilet.

On The Road

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