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As with the west, the eastern Tarai - the portion east of Chitwan - is where Nepal dovetails with India. It's lusher and more tropical than the west, but also less wild, more populous and more industrial. It's also, if anything, more Indian. Although the foothills are usually within sight, the main east-west highway sticks to the plains, where the way of life is essentially identical to that of Bihar and West Bengal just across the border; in many parts of this region, Nepali is the second or even third language, after Maithili, Bhojpuri or other north Indian dialects. Most travellers only flit through here on their way to the border crossings of Birganj (for Patna) and Kakarbhitta (for Darjeeling), and outside these places you won't find a speck of tourist hype. The cities are admittedly awful, but with one outstanding exception: Janakpur , a pilgrimage centre that's immensely famous among Hindus but seldom visited by Westerners, which provides all the exoticism of India without the attendant hassles. Although large tracts of jungle are less common east of Chitwan, bird-watchers can check out Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve , straddling the alluvial plain of the mighty Sapt Koshi River. What few visitors the eastern hills get tend to be trekkers bound for the Everest or Kanchenjunga massifs, which rear up like goalposts on the northern horizon, or rafters running the Sun Koshi. But while the prospect of travelling twenty-plus hours by bus from Kathmandu puts most people off, this isn't a problem if you're already in the eastern Tarai. By turns riotously forested and fastidiously terraced, the hills are great for day-hiking, even if you've vowed not to trek (but get a permit anyway, just in case you change your mind). Two all-weather roads extend into the hills, one serving the lovely Newar town of Dhankuta and rowdier Hile , and the other Ilam , Nepal's tea-growing capital. Buses make good time through the eastern Tarai on the Mahendra Highway, and the completion of the Dhulikhel-Sindhuli Highway will soon make getting to the east even easier. However, most of the places described here are located on side roads, thus requiring various degrees of extra toil to get to. Also, tourist facilities in this region are minimal to nonexistent, adding to the difficulty (or adventure) of travelling here. You won't find much Western cuisine, but the Indian and Nepali food is wonderful. If you're cycling, many of the small bazaars en route can provide basic food and, at a pinch, lodging. A phenomenon specific to eastern Nepal is the haat bazaar , or weekly market, and it's worth trying to coincide with one or two of these pan-cultural extravaganzas.
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