Birganj Off The Beaten Path

If you take the road east from Birganj centre and try to approximate parallel the Indian border, you end up where the recent clashes between pro-maoists and pro-lowlander (Madheshis) clashed in January. This is bara District, with the notorious district capital Kalayia. I was there a month before the clashes happened and the mood was weird; the maoists had all but fled and the pro-Madheshis had taken over the grafitti tagging where the Mao comrades had left off. The army was confined to a couple of camps, and generally the situation was tense, apprehensive.
This part of Nepal is the bread basket and fields carry three crops a year provided there is peace and irrigation and access to agricultural inputs. The Terai is beautiful, and the rural Parsa, Bara and Rautahat districts are no less beautiful that the rest. It will be a while before the tourism here takes off (if ever?). Along canals, ponds, lakes and rivers, many waterbirds are to be seen.
Even if the road conditions are terrible, it is well worth taking a breif excursion into the Terai heartland and see for yourself. Safety is so-so; there is much dacoity from the Indian side. We also crossed the border and wee-weed in India and came back. Mission accomplished!