Border crossing into Nepal

I read about the best way to travel imto Nepal from Varanasi, India amd followed the expert advice: The bus is loud and bumpy, so take the train to Gorakhpur which leaves at 00:40, amd arrives at 5:30 or 6am. Then a 3 hour bus to Sanauli (yucky border town) This way, there would be enough time to cross the border, and see the scenery on the 7 hour drive from Sonauli to Kathmandu, and not need to stay the night in no man's land.
In reality, I got shooed out of my hotel at 10pm. I maneuvred in the dark, shit-filled alleyways just fine with my trusty headlamp, passing several stubborn cows blocking the way. I took a slow bicycle rickshaw to the Varanasi train station, the hall is completely filled with sleeping homeless families. I sat in the cafe until it closed at midnight. It only had a couple insects crawling around, I didn't order anything. The train was delayed several times, and did not leave until 2:30am. I waited in the main hall, watching a policeman wake the families up with his stick, and see two mice come out of a hile in the wall to take food out of a sleeping man's bag.
I arrived in Gorakhpur at 8am, amd took a bicycle rickshaw a few blocks and caught a bus to Sonauli and befriended a young couple from Moscow. We walked across the border at 1:45, paid the $40 US for the 30 day visa. On the Nepal side, there was a bus to Kathmandu at 2pm which I thought I could run and still catch, but come to find out, time in Nepal is 15 minutes ahead of time in India. I missed the bus by 15 minutes, but there were enough people wanting to go that a shady border company was able to fill a van and leave at 3.
I did see a lot of beautiful mountain and river scenery, on par with the route to Yosemite or Lake Tahoe, but the river is much wider and more breathtaking. No snowy peaks yet, that will come later in Pokhara. I did see 20 or so very small forest fires. I don't know if they were very harmful to the land, but they created a lot of smoke on an already dusty road, but looked really cool at night. Men are very respectful, and I had to consciously let my guard down a bit. I'm happy I can ne nice to people again, and they're very nice back.
Kathmandu has similar air quality to Los Angeles, people wear thin breathing masks, but it's actually a really awesome city. The streets are paved in square stones and they wander all over, leading to public squares with odd shapes, and ornate temples. The scale of the roads and buildings is very pleasant. It's clean, there's no garbage or cow shit. There are many shops that sell outdoor gear and clothing, so a main task is to buy proper hiking boots, socks, thermals, a down jacket, wooly hat etc. so I can go trekking up to snowy peaks. The one name-brand store is The North Face (REI, why aren't you here?) And the prices are the same as at home. I'll try my luck with the knock off stuff in the local shops at a third of the price. River rafting is also popular in Nepal, so I'll see if I can fit that in, too. Another main task is to kick the latest bout of diarrhea/Delhi belly.
Nepal seems to be a poorer country than India, but I think they take care of eachother much better, clean up, are honest, and respect rules and police. I like it very much.
The power went out last night and never charged my phone. I'd like to post pictures of Durbar square from my kodak camera. Coming soon! I was able to capture photos of a local festival where boys carry a shrine with a twirling umbrella, dance, and play drums, symbols and flutes and wear littke hats in the street. Some groups do it in red, others blue. The guide book says it's Nawa Barsa, Nepali New Year.