Biking Nepal

To kick off the break in Nepal myself and 2 others hired motorbikes to take a wee jaunt for a few days. I had wanted to spend my time volunteering but I just didn’t find any positions that I was very interested in, they all involve rooms full of children and I just can’t willingly put myself in that situation!! I was so nervous going to pick up this little 200cc bike I was shaking, the thought of driving on these crazy roads was pretty terrifying but it had to be done! The first thing we did was go for a slow crawl around the city, trying to get used to the traffic and the mayhem. Driving in Asia is like driving the wrong way up a one-way street, everyone is against you and it’s every man for himself! We soon relaxed and I decided to head out of Kathmandu alone and off I rode in the direction of Nagarkot, the only fairly local place where a view of Mt Everest is possible. I rode out of Kathmandu and started heading uphill, the road to Nagarkot is a beautiful winding uphill ride, like the one we’d just done on the truck only this time I was all alone with the wind and dust in my face and the freedom to do my own speed and stop when I wanted. All of a sudden motorbiking Nepal was the most enjoyable experience and I found I was riding with a big grin on my face, looking around at all the fresh green scenery, which of course at times makes me think of home. There were two reasons I wanted to go here, first was my quest to view the highest point on earth and secondly because it has been the only place so far that my parents have specifically mentioned from their own travels. So here I sat with an Everest beer in my hand, in the same village my parents had viewed the sun rise over Everest 38 years ago, and I waited for my Mum’s birthday to tick around, it was really quite special and I’m glad I had a night to myself there to reflect upon this. This whole trip is a rough copycat version of my parents trip as they embarked upon an overland UK to Sydney trip all those years ago, completed by public transport, I wonder how much has changed in all that time.

Two mornings in a row I got up at 5am to climb the small hill to the viewpoint of Everest and 2 mornings in a row I looked out over the sun rising above the smudgy clouds, it was not to be this time. I was joined in Nagarkot by the other biking truckers and after a relaxing day in this lovely tranquil hilltop village we spent day 3 of the biking adventure actually biking! We headed in the direction of the Shivapuri National Park. After a few hours on the road we found we were maybe averaging about 20kmph, the road was appalling (I actually felt like Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman at times!!), trying to get up this hill through enormous pot holes which were now full of mud thanks to all the rainfall, it was slow going and we wondered if it was really worth the effort so we headed back to Kathmandu. What a difference a couple of days makes, this time I was winding my way through the Kathmandu traffic with the confidence of a local, tooting my horn at every opportunity, squeezing into tiny wee gaps between vehicles and ducking and diving where necessary, riding Kathmandu actually became fun for a little while but the overall stress is too much, I’m meant to be on holiday!

I finished my first week of the break walking around Kathmandu. I was quite happy having all this time to myself and used it visiting various landmarks. I went to see the rivers around Kathmandu which join together as a tributary to the Ganges and is therefore also a very holy river but it’s not very big and the ghats are no longer used.

Nearby Durbar Square is well worth a visit, it’s in the old town and home to many a delapidated but very attractive building, the place is buzzing with people selling their wares or sitting around all the different temples, of which there are many!

I took an afternoon out in Bouddha to visit a volunteering trucker, Chris, and also to see the Stupa there, one of the larger Stupas of Kathmandu but not the biggest. We partook in the customary clockwise walk around the stupa, 3 times as required, we spun all the prayer wheels and I just love to look at all the prayer flags adorning the stupas. Every time you spin a prayer wheel you are releasing the prayers out, every time the wind blows the prayer flags they are releasing the prayers out, it’s such a nice way to involve everyone in the religion and also to add a bit of colour and extra interest to it. We then visited the school at which Chris had been volunteering and had a great chat with the headmaster, Kinley, a former trekking guide. Before we left his office there were plans drawn up and flights arranged for a 3 to 4 day Himalayan trek for the 2^nd week of my break, and the next opportunity for me to view the so far elusive Mt Everest!