Photo Trip Report: Riding Across Nepal

[buksida]

Despite the luxurious settings, I didn’t sleep well and woke groggily with sticky eyes, a snotty nose and cracked lips. Living in the tropics for decades softens you up somewhat and harsher conditions take longer to acclimatize to.

Several coffees, a hot shower, a good breakfast, a group shot and a couple of hours later we were on two wheels again heading back towards Pokhara on the final leg of our Himalayan odyssey.

We were soon back on main roads again along with other bikes, trucks, and those mentalists driving busses who were determined to kill anything that wasn’t another bus. Full concentration was needed to stay alive and avoid the traffic – I was beginning to miss the solitude of mountain roads.

The landscape was predominantly green again with verdant terraced hills and flowing valleys so I stopped to grab a few shots where I could. We were approaching Pokhara from the northwest and stopped at a viewpoint called Sarangkot for lunch and more panoramic vistas over the town and lake – this country has a postcard around every corner!

It was a downhill ride for the last half an hour into the town where we set out six days ago – it felt like we’d been on the road for months. The nine battered and muddied motorcycles rumbled into the Hearts & Tears clubhouse where we celebrated surviving some of the toughest roads in the world and having the adventure of a life time.

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To follow: Pokhara

[Big Boy]

we celebrated surviving some of the toughest roads in the world and having the adventure of a life time.

It truly was the adventure of a life time. You aint going to forget that any time soon. Thanks for sharing.

[lomuamart]

Yeah, awesome trip report. I doubt anything you do on a bike now will ever compare to that - maybe The Andes or Africa?

There's some food for thought.

[caller]

Stunning trip, report and photo's. I think the most 'must see' you have produced to date.

[buksida]

Here are a couple of vids from the first two days riding.






More to follow ...

[Big Boy]

Is this the same buksida that used to complain about the road from Bang Saphan to Hua Hin?

Some hairy moments there, and that bridge is still something else. I found myself watching the road instead of the scenery, so I'll have to watch again later.

[pharvey]

Truly fantastic Have thoroughly enjoyed the reports and photography - some incredible scenery and interesting sights

An incredible journey indeed - unfortunately one I could only do on 4 wheels......

[HHTel]

Superb pics and vids Buksi. What fantastic memories you have to look back on. Extremely jealous.
Looking at the quality of the roads, not to mention the mud, did everyone manage to stay upright or was there an occasional 'spill'?

Pharvey, I doubt very much that it's even possible to do that on 4 wheels.

[pharvey]

Pharvey, I doubt very much that it's even possible to do that on 4 wheels.

Certainly impossible to do the same trip, but as they did have a support vehicle (Jeep) through a lot of it, would certainly still be "do-able" in part. And no doubt also a great experience.

[Big Boy]

I was actually wondering the same i.e. would it be possible to hitch a ride in the support vehicle?

[buksida]

Yes, as mentioned in the report there were several spills daily! There was also a support vehicle which we did rely on - it would be tough to do this type of trip solo.

More vids ...

[buksida]

Due to the ongoing Coronavirus/Covid-19 outbreak our airline had cut its schedule and delayed our return to Thailand by a day. We were now due to fly out on the 18th leaving three days to kill in Pokhara. Another concern was that countries were rapidly locking down their borders and we may have problems re-entering Thailand if overzealous officials wanted to cause problems. Nepal had already stopped issuing tourist visas so it may be a mission to get it extended if we have to stay in country.

Tony’s leg had turned nasty following his rock encounter on day two so he made several visits to a local clinic and was put on heavy antibiotics, advised not to do too much walking, and no beer. I spent the days cleaning up our gear, starting on this trip report, wandering around the largely deserted lake, and sitting on Tony’s balcony or the roof with a telephoto and cold tinny taking shots of the surroundings.

We sampled several good curries in local eateries in the evening as the entire town, usually bustling with tourists, ground to a slow halt and those places still open welcomed our custom. One night we felt a minor earthquake which when later checked measured 4.1 and was recorded just 26 kilometers away.

Met up with Matt from Hearts & Tears on the last day to go shopping for yak cheese, local coffee, a pashmina for the mrs, cheap chocolate, lots of curry power, paste, pickles and prayer flags, and of course some Khukri rum. We bid our farewells and he returned to close up the clubhouse as all further bike trips had been cancelled for the foreseeable future; we were the lucky ones and the last ones to see this beautiful place for a while.

He also got the very sad news that a fellow biker from a group of Spanish riders that we passed doing a similar trip was killed on the same road a day ago. It was a collision with a truck and a sobering reminder of how dangerous things really were on the road.

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To follow: Leaving Pokhara

[Dannie Boy]

As many people have already commented, stunning photos Buksi, but even more amazing is the contrast between the snow capped peaks and areas of greenery - fantastic!!

[migrant]

Great trip, great pics, Thanks

[Big Boy]

I don't know how observant you were whilst sat on Tony's balcony with your tinny, but in 3830 and 3836, there appears to be a canal beside the lake. There is an unusual wave pattern on the canal - did you see what caused it?

In e.g. 3830 signage seems to be entirely English. Was the use of English prominent there? In fact the only non-English signage I spot throughout today's batch is Chinese.