A quick review of driving conditions in Sikkim, India and the last three weeks in Nepal.
Driving the plains of India is tough. Every minute a new experience. I have driven in 14 countries and India is in a class of its own. The good news is you only average 20 mph so you have time to react to the unexpected person, animal, bike, scooter, motorcycle, tut tut, car, taxi, truck or bus.
Enough about the plains of India and its crazy driving. Lets talk the truly tough driving -- mountains of West Bengal & Sikkim, India plus our time so far around Kathmandu, Nepal (vs. the lowlands).
The roads are narrow. Narrow in a single lane or lane and a half and the really wide almost two lanes so you must be prepared to back-up when meeting on coming taxis and trucks. Steep in I can't think of any roads (non-4wheel drive roads) with up and down grades as steep as India. I don't even bother to think about the number of hairpin curves I have driven in the the last two months. I only count the hairpin curves I had to back up in order to complete -- 3 so far. The roads are rough -- rough as in most the 4-wheel drive roads I have driven are smoother. Only once or twice have I shifted into 4-wheel drive but have driven hours in 1st and 2cd. We spent two plus days driving in Sikkim where I never drove 20 mph; when I hit an area where I was doing 30 mph we both thought we were back driving the west Texas interstate we were moving so fast.
When asking directions you are typically given the time to your destination not the kilometers and it always takes longer.
Our Toyota 4Runner is a big vehicle in India & Nepal. We are small truck size not car size. This creates problems. The taxi drivers coming at us think we are the same size they are and make road adjustments based on this info. It isn't until they are less than a 100 meters away that they begin to realize we are wider -- time to brake to avoid a head on. I can't imagine driving these roads with a vehicle larger than our 4Runner.
Several times we have driven with Indian or Nepal passengers. To a person they can't believe how smooth the ride is in our 4Runner. We have shocks that work! The high clearance of our 4Runner, the skid plates, the oversized tires, the shocks, etc. all make for a much smoother drive than any Indian or Nepal vehicle provides and allow us to drive faster over the potholes, etc.
As for navigating get use to stopping and asking people if you are headed in the correct direction. Garmin maps in Sikkim are worthless; I turned our Garmin off rather than listen to "turn left" off a mountain side every few minutes and ending up in the wrong town looking for a hotel and more. Google maps is basically good until you get within one to five miles of where you want to go and then is pretty much worthless. There are very few road signs, signs announcing you are entering a town or leaving we have come across "one", and in Nepal they aren't in English. (You need to have the phone number of the place you are going to so you can call for directions and the same goes when you get into a taxi -- no street names for the most part and absolutely no numbered addresses.)
Should you decide to drive the mountain roads of West Bengal or Sikkim, India (spent three weeks in this area) or the mountain roads of Nepal (a week plus so far): (1) buy the best shocks money will purchase and (2) don't drive anything larger than a Toyota 4Runner.
P.S. It is great fun showing everyone our 4Runner. We stop at a gas station, restaurant, village fruit stand or where ever and I end up showing groups of 5 to 25 people our cars. Everyone wants a photo sitting on the driver side (left in our Toyota vs right in their vehicles) or a photo of our Texas plates and Nancy and I. The roads are bad but the people are great.
Driving the plains of India is tough. Every minute a new experience. I have driven in 14 countries and India is in a class of its own. The good news is you only average 20 mph so you have time to react to the unexpected person, animal, bike, scooter, motorcycle, tut tut, car, taxi, truck or bus.
Enough about the plains of India and its crazy driving. Lets talk the truly tough driving -- mountains of West Bengal & Sikkim, India plus our time so far around Kathmandu, Nepal (vs. the lowlands).
The roads are narrow. Narrow in a single lane or lane and a half and the really wide almost two lanes so you must be prepared to back-up when meeting on coming taxis and trucks. Steep in I can't think of any roads (non-4wheel drive roads) with up and down grades as steep as India. I don't even bother to think about the number of hairpin curves I have driven in the the last two months. I only count the hairpin curves I had to back up in order to complete -- 3 so far. The roads are rough -- rough as in most the 4-wheel drive roads I have driven are smoother. Only once or twice have I shifted into 4-wheel drive but have driven hours in 1st and 2cd. We spent two plus days driving in Sikkim where I never drove 20 mph; when I hit an area where I was doing 30 mph we both thought we were back driving the west Texas interstate we were moving so fast.
When asking directions you are typically given the time to your destination not the kilometers and it always takes longer.
Our Toyota 4Runner is a big vehicle in India & Nepal. We are small truck size not car size. This creates problems. The taxi drivers coming at us think we are the same size they are and make road adjustments based on this info. It isn't until they are less than a 100 meters away that they begin to realize we are wider -- time to brake to avoid a head on. I can't imagine driving these roads with a vehicle larger than our 4Runner.
Several times we have driven with Indian or Nepal passengers. To a person they can't believe how smooth the ride is in our 4Runner. We have shocks that work! The high clearance of our 4Runner, the skid plates, the oversized tires, the shocks, etc. all make for a much smoother drive than any Indian or Nepal vehicle provides and allow us to drive faster over the potholes, etc.
As for navigating get use to stopping and asking people if you are headed in the correct direction. Garmin maps in Sikkim are worthless; I turned our Garmin off rather than listen to "turn left" off a mountain side every few minutes and ending up in the wrong town looking for a hotel and more. Google maps is basically good until you get within one to five miles of where you want to go and then is pretty much worthless. There are very few road signs, signs announcing you are entering a town or leaving we have come across "one", and in Nepal they aren't in English. (You need to have the phone number of the place you are going to so you can call for directions and the same goes when you get into a taxi -- no street names for the most part and absolutely no numbered addresses.)
Should you decide to drive the mountain roads of West Bengal or Sikkim, India (spent three weeks in this area) or the mountain roads of Nepal (a week plus so far): (1) buy the best shocks money will purchase and (2) don't drive anything larger than a Toyota 4Runner.
P.S. It is great fun showing everyone our 4Runner. We stop at a gas station, restaurant, village fruit stand or where ever and I end up showing groups of 5 to 25 people our cars. Everyone wants a photo sitting on the driver side (left in our Toyota vs right in their vehicles) or a photo of our Texas plates and Nancy and I. The roads are bad but the people are great.