It took 25-year-old Bayya Sunny Yadav more than eight hours to convince the border officials at Benapole to allow him to enter Bangladesh on his two-wheeler, despite having all the valid documents. Benapole is on the Bangladesh side of the international Petrapole-Benapole border checkpoint while Petrapole is in India.
Hailing from Nuthankal village in Suryapet district in Telangana, Sunny started vlogging four years ago to document his travels on his two-wheeler. Having travelled across all parts of India, barring Sikkim, , Sunny decided to travel to Bangladesh when he learnt that no two-wheeler had crossed the India-Bangladesh border since 1947. Reason : ‘Bangladesh does not allow entry of two-wheelers with foreign license plates, to prevent the illegal sale of vehicles,” claims Sunny. He gathered this information from the strong biker’s community in Bangladesh, and later he “did some research and found it to be true.”
After obtaining his VISA to enter Bangladesh, Sunny first went to Mumbai from Hyderabad for the paperwork required for his Triumph Tiger 900 (bike passport). The Western India Automobile association issues passport for two-wheelers. He was also required to get a separate visa for his Triumph Tiger 900. “In Bangladesh, the maximum permitted power for motorbikes is 165 CC. Anything higher than that needs documents to prove the bike is not crossing the border to be sold. Also, the biker has to pay a 200% deposit on the original price of the vehicle. Since I am a YouTuber, with all the necessary documents and proofs, I was given a concession on the deposit amount at the High Commission in Mumbai.”
Yet when Sunny reached the Bangladesh border after riding for eight days, covering 3,100 km (Hyderabad-Mumbai-Bangladesh), he spent nearly eight hours assuring border officials – with proof of his travel to places like Nepal – that he was entering Bangladesh only as a tourist and to post on his YouTube channel which has 1.3 million followers.
Sunny who is still in Bangladesh says he was discouraged by his friends to make that journey. He says, “They had all negative things to say about a country they had never visited!”
“Without thinking too much I decided to proceed and enter Bangladesh from West Bengal. The biker community in Bangladesh helped with information on paperwork, routes, time, season to travel, places to visit etc. I was touched when I saw more than 40 of them waiting for me at Benapole to welcome me. There, people are friendly and do not discriminate on the basis of nation or religion.”
After spending 17 days in Sylhet, he is amazed at the love and attention the people of Bangladesh are giving him. “People in Bangladesh love Hindi movies and serials. So they understand Hindi and I am able to communicate with them. Everyone is warm, friendly and curious about India,” adds Sunny.
But mostly it is his bike that is making heads turn, says a thrilled Sunny.
