After taking in all the interesting palaces and temples of the square, it was time to make our way out of Kathmandu and, indeed, Nepal. This meant a drive just short of 500 km to the border at Kakarvitta and beyond to Siliguri. If you’ve driven on mountain roads, you’ll know that covering that sort of distance in a day is a bit of a tall order. Not when you’re at the wheel of the Brezza, though. More than half the drive was in said mountains, where the Brezza’s sweet handling came to the fore. The latter bit was through open plains, though, where its DDiS 200 engine with its 200 Nm of torque was allowed to reign supreme. Thanks to the SUV’s powerful engine we made the 10.00 pm deadline for the border closing with just over 45 minutes to spare.
The next day, we left Siliguri and headed straight for yet another border town. We were making our way to Phuentsholing so that we could cross over to Bhutan. The distance between Siliguri and Phuentsholing is about 150 km and the views en route are simply enchanting. From flourishing tea plantations to massive bridges and gurgling streams to keep you company, all seen from a perfectly paved road. Well, you can’t really ask for much more.
The Brezza’s commanding seating position and wide windscreen meant I didn’t miss a thing, including an off-road section leading right to one of those streams. Time to get muddy and the Brezza’s ample ground clearance meant I didn’t need to worry about the rocks strewn across the path either. After wading into the stream and taking it all in, we were off again.
