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About Birgunj : The headquarter of Parsa District and the second largest city of Nepal with a population of nearly four hundred thousand people. Situated on plain land, it is a most vibrant city, and has remained the Gateway of Nepal since its days of foundation in 1897 by Bir Shamsher J.B. Rana. Now it has become the hub of the commercial and industrial activities of the country and is quite close to the Indian Railway Station, Ruxaul Junction, about an hour's walk. It is a multicultural city where Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists and other ethnic communities live together in peace and harmony. Hindus and Muslims constitute the major portion of its population. It is a multilingual city, the residents of which speak Nepali, Bhojpuri, Hindi, Urdu, English, Newari and other local dialects. Places of worship like temples and mosques are to be found at short distances in the city. It is a main entry point to Nepal from India for routes such as Calcutta and Patna. Majority of all the foreign goods shipped to Nepal by sea go through Calcutta-Haldia Port to Raxaul to Birgunj then reach to main cities like Kathmandu. Hence Birgunj is an important land entry point for goods to Nepal. Apart from the Indian railway, this city has good links of roads by which all the Indian Metropolitan cities have become quite accessible. Simra is the nearest Airport from where one can fly and arrive Kathmandu in a quarter of an hour. Likewise, Morning, Day and Night bus services are readily available to and from Kathmandu. As for the climate, it is temperate with 8 c. lowest in the winter and 37 c. highest in the summer and the average rain fall registered during the rainy season is 80mm. Nice hotels and shopping centers are to be found in the city. Royal Chitwan National Park is about 4hrs. drive from here where one can go to enjoy the wildlife of Nepal. Apart from a few tourists who actually go to Birgunj to see the city, the city is simply taken as a stop over place for travelers, businessmen and pilgrims going to other destinations in Nepal. But spending a day or two at Birgunj is recommended, and is worth it, to discover another taste of Terai of Nepal! How to get there? Birgunj has a railway to Raxaul, so it is connected to many cities in India. It is also connected to Kathmandu by several air flights a day. The Airport is at Simara, about 20 km from Birgunj. Air flight from Kathmandu is Simara about 20 minutes. Birgunj is also well connected by road to all cities in Nepal, and the City offers many choices in luxurious to economic accomodations for travellers |