Getting out of the Katmandu valley to get to Pokhara, was a bit of an effort. Choking pollution, too much traffic and a road partially blocked took a little negotiating and some patience. However, we were soon on a much better road with gorgeous scenery and better air. My new co-driver/navigator was feeling a little under the weather (self inflicted) and some snoozing went on, while I drove. The navigation was not too tricky though as there is really only one road.

We stayed in a beautiful eco lodge, a little outside town, for two heavenly nights. We were the only guests and it felt like a private house party. It was, without doubt, the best hotel we had staying in on the rally and was just what was needed after a tough, but totally fab, three weeks.

The road to get to it was challenging, especially after we had a huge storm the night before we left. In truth though, it was so lovely we couldn’t be bothered to go anywhere. I was feeling a bit peaky while we there, and so tired that I achieved nothing. One short shopping trip with Anne, armed with a list of stuff to get for other people and then a lot of lying around, was all I managed.

Leaving for Lumbini, the much restored occupants of car 24 were in high spirits. Mark drove the whole way on the twistiest road of the rally. All quite lovely though. Once we came down from the hills it felt as if we were already in India. Nepal is really the hills and the Terai, both very different from each other.

Lumbini is the birthplace of Lord Buddha, allegedly. I have to tell you, that the heathen crews on their way to Varanasi, did not even bother to visit the pilgrimage sights, even though we were practically next door to them. Instead, we arrived not too much before dinner, drank lots of beer and some had a swim to cool off in the fierce heat. I was stung twice after disturbing a small wasp nest under an outside table.

A 6 am start for the border – it was only 25kms away but the so called road was a disaster. It took quite a while. Then, the real fun started.

It’s all a little tedious to explain, but the upshot was that an error had been made when we entered Nepal from Tibet and the car carnet had the stamps in the wrong place. The officials were adamant that the cars had not been stamped out of China, despite us saying that in China there was a Bond and the carnet was not used. Then, they had not officially entered Nepal, even though we said for them to come outside and look – there we were! We said to watch us drive over the border, into India and wave us “goodbye” and they could see we had left. The carnets already had an exit stamp, just in the wrong place, and India wouldn’t care as it was a whole new page for their stamps.

It took several hours. Then, a small mutiny occurred, we only wish we had done it sooner. We picked up our documents from the pile and said we were going into India, we were told it wouldn’t be allowed and we needed to stay for another day. Sod that! We already had our exit stamps in our passports and so we were going and nothing was going to stop us.

Back in the car, bye bye Nepal, into India: hunky dory. The Indian officials could not have been lovelier. We crammed into the tiny office, chairs were produced and we were given masala tea and biscuits while the formalities went ahead.

It was almost noon before we left the border and we still had per 300kms to get to Varanasi, on a road that was only about 35% what we would recognise as a road.

It was truly scorchio – Rudi measured almost 50C. We were dropped headfirst into marvellous Indian chaos. The going was very slow. A combination of poor road, so many people, dust, trucks, buses, bikes, pedestrians and cows etc. made it all quite tricky, great fun though. Driving in India is never dull, far from it. The cacophony of towns and villages has to be experienced to be believed. It was much tougher in the old cars, obviously, so I need to whisper this next bit. Having resisted having the a/c on in our cab, we finally relented in the middle of the afternoon. We were only going to have it on for 10 minutes but somehow managed to forget to turn it off.

It was dark by the time we reached the outskirts of Varanasi. Everything is harder in the dark. The chaos goes up several notches. We had been given a sheet of route tulips that would take us to a large filling station where the shipping people would take the cars from us. Problem was, the route took us through an army base and they were having none of it. I worked out a new route, but we kept being thwarted by road blocks and one way systems. You cannot conceive of how busy and chaotic it all was. Normal traffic rules have no meaning here. Cars on the wrong side of the road, with out lights: normal. Ditto, bicycles and motorbikes. Plus, there are so many people walking on the very narrow streets. You can hardly see for the dust, too.

There were a few interesting manoeuvres from Car 24, with only the odd bump. Mark drove splendidly – I was very grateful he was driving as my night vision is poor and it would have been hard for me. Most cars had gentle nudges – but none of us hurt anyone.

We finally reached our beautiful Palace hotel on the banks of the Ganges at almost 11 pm. 17 hours on the road! After dropping the cars off, we went in a taxi to the river where the last part of our journey was by boat – a wonderful way to arrive. I love Varanasi and it is good to be back. It’s quite mad, but totally amazing. We had a very late and delicious dinner before some restorative sleep. Many crews have left for home today so our rally family (subset) is breaking up. A few of us have another night here.

We went for a walk along the ghats this morning – all of life is here. We visited the cremation ghats and saw many bodies arriving and queuing up for burning. They were wrapped in orange cloth which was discarded before the body was placed on the pyre and the fire lit. It’s quite a thing to see. The ash is then pushed into the river, next to people bathing washing their clothes.

So that’s it. Many thousand of miles. High altitude. Dusty plains. Temperatures ranging from -20C to +50C. The highest peaks in the world. Ancient cultures and lands that are rarely seen by westerners. The purest air to the most polluted. All with the best group of people to travel with and in our own cars. This has been one of the best ever rallies. Tough, fabulous and unforgettable. I’ve got a few days in Delhi and then it’s home to a house move before I leave for a rally in Madagascar in a months time. I may even write about it.