Last night we arrived in darkness in a town without a welcome. When we woke up this morning, our suspicions were confirmed. This was a dangerous place.
Mau had not been on our itinerary and Varanasi had been the last real port of civilisation before we pushed on north to the border. Mau was an unplanned, halfway point, only meant as a place to rest after a half-day’s drive. We simply wanted to keep on schedule, but hadn’t really considered the risks that might involve.
On arriving, we knew things weren’t quite right. There was no reception desk and no welcome drink.The old man stooped and wheezed as he grasped the rusting handrails and led us up a rotting staircase, past pan stained walls we could just make out in the dim light of the odd bare light-bulb.
Mau is a staunchly Muslim town and despite our combined cultural understanding - my living and working alongside Muslim friends in Singapore and Katie and Gordon living in Dubai – we knew this place we were in right now was probably very different. Who could tell what people were whispering? Who knew how many white TV crews had pulled up in this town before? And if they had, who knew how many had left the next morning?
Up until now, The Grand (Not) Hotel in Khandwa had been our benchmark of bad. But this place, our hotel without a name was surely the lowest we could ever expect to go.
I caught a whiff of the old man’s dirty wife-beater as he drew back the bolt on the outside of our door. We’d become used to having padlocks on the outside in other towns. But here I couldn’t help thinking how they might be used to lock us in rather than keep others out. Daylight would not come a moment too soon.
I stood in the doorway with my bags, as the old man hopped around the room, his sarong flapping as he tried to stamp on an insect – probably a locust.
For the second time on this trip, I SMS-ed Ian, our Executive Producer in Dubai to let him know our situation and our exact location. He replied, promising to send in the troops if he didn’t hear from us by breakfast. I took some reassurance from that as I dozed off to the sound of the aircon whinging and the hum of the bugs in the filthy carpet and blankets.
Morning came, no troops required and another international diplomatic situation avoided. We quickly packed our bags and hit the road. The town of Mau would be our last stop in India and it couldn’t have been more fitting.
Another milestone for us today - we left India and crossed the border into Nepal. No amount of customs clearance, invitation letters or carnets can really prepare you for what happens on the day. We had initially considered smuggling all of our HD camera equipment and Caucasian bodies across the border. But by doing this, we would run the risk of everything being confiscated if it was found. We decided instead for the more formal approach – to bribe our way through.
It worked like a dream and in less than an hour, we had visas in our passports, all of our equipment, unchecked and still packed and the cars now parked, undisturbed just metres on the other side of no man's land. We’d made it into Nepal.
We've headed 25km off the main route to the small village of Lumbhini. Tonight we'll fall asleep in the foothills of the Himalayas and wake up in a most appropriate place.
Lumbhini is the birthplace of Buddha and suddenly, there’s a very zen feeling among the crew.
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