30th - 31st October 2010 (day -1, day 0)
Travel, travel, travel...
1 Nov 2010 (day 1)
First day cycling included a 4 hour route out of Kathmandu and round a circular route approximately 30km. The city streets were absolutely manic with incredible traffic to negotiate. We dodged in and out of cars, motor bikes, bicycles, people, wild dogs, all meandering along the roads without any thought for safety or for following any rules at all. The main aim was to keep left, but really it was everyone for themselves! We headed out of the city through some rural communities and up to a place called Bhaktapur. This is an ancient town with many temples and shrines – very beautiful. We had a little time there before heading back to the city centre. We got back at lunchtime and headed straight off to a school in the mountains about 3 hours drive away. This school has benefitted from computers supplied by our charity. This trip was extremely difficult and we only just made it to the school before darkness. We were met by all 400 pupils who gave us all flowers and escorted us down their track to the school where we were treated like royalty, very humbling and quite overwhelming. We eventually made it back to the hotel for about 8pm and supper of buffalo curry.
2 Nov 2010 (day 2)
Kathmandu to Markhu. We started at 7.30 on a chilly morning and headed through the crazy city streets and out through the equally manic suburbs. It was fascinating to see all the monkeys at the appropriately named “Monkey Temple” just off the main ring road. We then started the long climb up into the mountains. We were treated to wonderful views of the valley and also we passed through some ancient villages and the Hindu pilgrimage site of Pashupatinath and then onto the Temple of Changu Narayan. The climb seemed endless until we finally arrived at our mid-morning stop around 10.30. We looked around the village for a while before setting off again on a really long steep climb to our first mountain pass at around 1570m. The route was mainly stony, off-road and very tough indeed. We reached the summit at lunchtime for a well-deserved rest. After lunch we again climbed on up roads which impossibly hugged the steep sided valley until around 5.30 when we reached Markhu, a tiny village on the side of a beautiful lake – after an invigorating and cleansing wash in the lake we camped on a very cold night!
3 Nov 2010 (day 3)
We again hit the high trail with a huge 45km climb up to our highest point at around 2488m. During this climb we started to get great views of the high mountains in the far distance. It is difficult to express how challenging this climb was but it made lunch more than worthwhile (cooked by the brilliant Nepalese support crew). The afternoon was something quite different. Having climbed all the way up, it was time for the massive descent – 45km in approximately 75 minutes. A hair-raising experience as we charged down the other side of the mountain at breakneck speeds. The road was amazing with continuous switchbacks as we turned through 180 degrees every 100m or so all the way down. Although this road was paved, the switchback corners were often in very poor condition due to the torrents of water which pass over at certain times. It was really exhilarating but hard work as you had to handle the speed, the corners and the rough road surface for a long distance.We regrouped near the bottom before setting off on the 15km stretch into Hetauda and our welcome hotel.
4 Nov 2010 (day 4)
Set off from Hetauda on Day 4 heading 73km on a flat, fast route following a river to Chitwan National Park. We started in the warmth of the early morning sun ready for a long hot day. The idea was to reach our lodge by lunchtime and have the afternoon off exploring the park and probably taking in a safari.18km in and we were travelling fast through a village with busy traffic and very busy life going on on both sides. Suddenly a dog ran out in front of us - our guide braked hard and swerved and the dog doubled back and caused the three of us following to brake sharply. One of these three unfortunately went straight over his handlebars and landed with a sickening thump on the tarmac. The brake levers are the other way around which may well have contributed. The accident attracted a lot of attention from the locals who hadn’t seen anything quite like that on their doorsteps before! The doctor arrived fairly quickly and assessed the damage – broken clavicle – ouch! The rest of us continued at a more sedate pace arriving by lunchtime at the Lodge in the National Park. Some of us took a canoe trip and almost capsized, followed by a pleasant walk back through the jungle. Watched the sunset over the river with a nice cold bottle of Everest beer – nice!
5 Nov 2010 (day 5)
Penultimate day of cycling started at 5.30 with an elephant safari through the jungle. We sat 4 to an elephant and wandered through the jungle spotting deer, monkey, crocodile and many amazing birds. Ride was fun and got some good photos.
We left the Park by transport as we had to negotiate the main road en route to Pokhora. The road was hardly in good condition and only just wide enough for two vehicles to pass. It was another hair raising experience amongst the chaotic traffic – very pleased that we didn’t attempt to cycle this section. We followed the river for two hours until we finally stopped for lunch.
After lunch, the group headed off for 20km along the river bank finally stopping to regroup at the bottom of an 8km climb up to our mountain village camp. This was one of the most challenging climbs I’d done – very steep and lots of tight switchbacks.
Once we were all at the top we went straight to a cafe and all enjoyed a well-deserved beer before cycling the final kilometre to our final destination, a plateau at the top of the mountain and our campsite for the night.
The view from the campsite was the spectacular Annapurna range of mountains, breath-taking and beautiful. We watched the sun go down over the mountains which was quite something.
6 Nov 2010 (day 6)
The final day’s cycling started with tea outside our tents at 6am watching the sunrise over the sacred Fishtail Mountain…absolutely spectacular, particularly as the cloud filled the valley several hundred meters below us giving an appearance of a carpet or sea. Following tea and breakfast, we struck camp and the group set off back down the 8km hill we had ridden up the previous day. Like the much longer decent on day 3 this was quite technical and challenging with all those switchbacks – made even more interesting once we broke into the cloud and the visibility went from near-perfect to around 10 meters! At the bottom, we regrouped and set off on the next 20km stretch before a compulsory stop. The day’s route was 73km in total and a pretty tough day. We followed a single road through many villages and some fabulous countryside. We had a water stop 20km on and ensured all were in good shape. The next 20km would take us all to the lunch stop by a river bank. We passed through some lovely towns including a town with both Hindus and Muslims living side by side. We also passed many villages preparing for Diwali with much singing and dancing. We enjoyed lunch by the river and the group looked really tired. Only another 30km or so to go! We continued on to the outskirts of Pokhara and brought the group together to cycle the last few kilometres together through the town. We crossed the line at our hotel. All tired and delighted to have completed a really epic journey through the mountains and jungles of Nepal. A tough week’s work by anyone’s standard but truly an amazing experience. A good evening was spent in Pokhara exploring the views and the retail offer – not to mention the late night attractions of the “Amsterdam Bar” (a band doing bad soft metal covers in Nepali accents – interesting!)
7 Nov 2010 (day 7)
Lazy morning – the first one since we arrived – only to get delayed by 3 or 4 hours on the internal Buddah Air service (I kid you not!) from Pokhara back to Kathmandu. Transported back into the bustle of Tamil, central Kathmandu and had a few hours to wander prior to our celebratory meal.
8 Nov 2010 (day 8)
Not much to say other than 24 hours of travel and jet lag. What a fantastic, epic trip !
Travel, travel, travel...
1 Nov 2010 (day 1)
First day cycling included a 4 hour route out of Kathmandu and round a circular route approximately 30km. The city streets were absolutely manic with incredible traffic to negotiate. We dodged in and out of cars, motor bikes, bicycles, people, wild dogs, all meandering along the roads without any thought for safety or for following any rules at all. The main aim was to keep left, but really it was everyone for themselves! We headed out of the city through some rural communities and up to a place called Bhaktapur. This is an ancient town with many temples and shrines – very beautiful. We had a little time there before heading back to the city centre. We got back at lunchtime and headed straight off to a school in the mountains about 3 hours drive away. This school has benefitted from computers supplied by our charity. This trip was extremely difficult and we only just made it to the school before darkness. We were met by all 400 pupils who gave us all flowers and escorted us down their track to the school where we were treated like royalty, very humbling and quite overwhelming. We eventually made it back to the hotel for about 8pm and supper of buffalo curry.
2 Nov 2010 (day 2)
Kathmandu to Markhu. We started at 7.30 on a chilly morning and headed through the crazy city streets and out through the equally manic suburbs. It was fascinating to see all the monkeys at the appropriately named “Monkey Temple” just off the main ring road. We then started the long climb up into the mountains. We were treated to wonderful views of the valley and also we passed through some ancient villages and the Hindu pilgrimage site of Pashupatinath and then onto the Temple of Changu Narayan. The climb seemed endless until we finally arrived at our mid-morning stop around 10.30. We looked around the village for a while before setting off again on a really long steep climb to our first mountain pass at around 1570m. The route was mainly stony, off-road and very tough indeed. We reached the summit at lunchtime for a well-deserved rest. After lunch we again climbed on up roads which impossibly hugged the steep sided valley until around 5.30 when we reached Markhu, a tiny village on the side of a beautiful lake – after an invigorating and cleansing wash in the lake we camped on a very cold night!
3 Nov 2010 (day 3)
We again hit the high trail with a huge 45km climb up to our highest point at around 2488m. During this climb we started to get great views of the high mountains in the far distance. It is difficult to express how challenging this climb was but it made lunch more than worthwhile (cooked by the brilliant Nepalese support crew). The afternoon was something quite different. Having climbed all the way up, it was time for the massive descent – 45km in approximately 75 minutes. A hair-raising experience as we charged down the other side of the mountain at breakneck speeds. The road was amazing with continuous switchbacks as we turned through 180 degrees every 100m or so all the way down. Although this road was paved, the switchback corners were often in very poor condition due to the torrents of water which pass over at certain times. It was really exhilarating but hard work as you had to handle the speed, the corners and the rough road surface for a long distance.We regrouped near the bottom before setting off on the 15km stretch into Hetauda and our welcome hotel.
4 Nov 2010 (day 4)
Set off from Hetauda on Day 4 heading 73km on a flat, fast route following a river to Chitwan National Park. We started in the warmth of the early morning sun ready for a long hot day. The idea was to reach our lodge by lunchtime and have the afternoon off exploring the park and probably taking in a safari.18km in and we were travelling fast through a village with busy traffic and very busy life going on on both sides. Suddenly a dog ran out in front of us - our guide braked hard and swerved and the dog doubled back and caused the three of us following to brake sharply. One of these three unfortunately went straight over his handlebars and landed with a sickening thump on the tarmac. The brake levers are the other way around which may well have contributed. The accident attracted a lot of attention from the locals who hadn’t seen anything quite like that on their doorsteps before! The doctor arrived fairly quickly and assessed the damage – broken clavicle – ouch! The rest of us continued at a more sedate pace arriving by lunchtime at the Lodge in the National Park. Some of us took a canoe trip and almost capsized, followed by a pleasant walk back through the jungle. Watched the sunset over the river with a nice cold bottle of Everest beer – nice!
5 Nov 2010 (day 5)
Penultimate day of cycling started at 5.30 with an elephant safari through the jungle. We sat 4 to an elephant and wandered through the jungle spotting deer, monkey, crocodile and many amazing birds. Ride was fun and got some good photos.
We left the Park by transport as we had to negotiate the main road en route to Pokhora. The road was hardly in good condition and only just wide enough for two vehicles to pass. It was another hair raising experience amongst the chaotic traffic – very pleased that we didn’t attempt to cycle this section. We followed the river for two hours until we finally stopped for lunch.
After lunch, the group headed off for 20km along the river bank finally stopping to regroup at the bottom of an 8km climb up to our mountain village camp. This was one of the most challenging climbs I’d done – very steep and lots of tight switchbacks.
Once we were all at the top we went straight to a cafe and all enjoyed a well-deserved beer before cycling the final kilometre to our final destination, a plateau at the top of the mountain and our campsite for the night.
The view from the campsite was the spectacular Annapurna range of mountains, breath-taking and beautiful. We watched the sun go down over the mountains which was quite something.
6 Nov 2010 (day 6)
The final day’s cycling started with tea outside our tents at 6am watching the sunrise over the sacred Fishtail Mountain…absolutely spectacular, particularly as the cloud filled the valley several hundred meters below us giving an appearance of a carpet or sea. Following tea and breakfast, we struck camp and the group set off back down the 8km hill we had ridden up the previous day. Like the much longer decent on day 3 this was quite technical and challenging with all those switchbacks – made even more interesting once we broke into the cloud and the visibility went from near-perfect to around 10 meters! At the bottom, we regrouped and set off on the next 20km stretch before a compulsory stop. The day’s route was 73km in total and a pretty tough day. We followed a single road through many villages and some fabulous countryside. We had a water stop 20km on and ensured all were in good shape. The next 20km would take us all to the lunch stop by a river bank. We passed through some lovely towns including a town with both Hindus and Muslims living side by side. We also passed many villages preparing for Diwali with much singing and dancing. We enjoyed lunch by the river and the group looked really tired. Only another 30km or so to go! We continued on to the outskirts of Pokhara and brought the group together to cycle the last few kilometres together through the town. We crossed the line at our hotel. All tired and delighted to have completed a really epic journey through the mountains and jungles of Nepal. A tough week’s work by anyone’s standard but truly an amazing experience. A good evening was spent in Pokhara exploring the views and the retail offer – not to mention the late night attractions of the “Amsterdam Bar” (a band doing bad soft metal covers in Nepali accents – interesting!)
7 Nov 2010 (day 7)
Lazy morning – the first one since we arrived – only to get delayed by 3 or 4 hours on the internal Buddah Air service (I kid you not!) from Pokhara back to Kathmandu. Transported back into the bustle of Tamil, central Kathmandu and had a few hours to wander prior to our celebratory meal.
8 Nov 2010 (day 8)
Not much to say other than 24 hours of travel and jet lag. What a fantastic, epic trip !
Full set of pictures available here:
