Namaste :-)

It has been too long since I last released my colourful thoughts into the world of twowheelswhirled so I am going to make up for it by sharing some colourful photos instead. Everything has been moving so quickly since we left Tibet and my appreciative side is having trouble keeping up with the pace - therefore it is great that I get to share some pictures with you from Nepal (as promised a waning moon ago :-) Yep, we still have photos that we have not shared from the Tibet ride or from Mount Everest but we have over 1000 photos to go through and our departure is creeping closer than ever thus putting pressure on our time. We are going to post these later when we return to the UK with some special reportage :-) In fact we have some plans up our sleeve that will give twowheelswhirled an interesting continuation from our current trip...

Anyhow, back to the photos - K has already written some accounts of the trip so I will fill you in on some finer details :-)

After much downhilling, a border crossing and then further descents we spent our first few hours in Nepal riding our bikes. We were really charged up and excited, we had no guide book, only our map which showed the route. We did not know where we were to stay that night but luckily the signs for the Last Resort came into view.

We rode along the canyon road with the river following alongside but way down below.


This is the town which we rode into that is adjacent to the Last Resort - well on the other side of the river that is (the river is visible way down in the gorge on the left hand side of the picture)


We had to carry our loaded bikes up some steps (thank goodness that K was fed milk and cookies when she was a child) and then we pushed them across a rather long pedestrian suspension bridge that was a great test if you should suffer from vertigo. This is the view from the bridge looking down at the raging water below. Makes you want to bungee jump from the bridge, right? No? Me neither :-)


It was a great result - The tents were spacious inside and we had private parking for the bikes outside. We were surrounded by bamboo forest and beautiful flowers.




After recovering for a day we loaded the bikes up and continued on our way. This is the suspension bridge - the local kids liked to line up in rows and grab hold of metal roped sides and would try to wobble the bridge as much as possible in order to strike fear into any foreigners that may be crossing.


Surely we could reach Kathmandu that day... :-)


The ride started pretty well, with our rest we were recharged and full of gusto. As we rode it was great to see some of our friends rafting on the river below much further downstream from the Last Resort. This is moments before the boat had gotten turned over by the swift current from the recent rains.


It was a great undulating ride through more spectacular scenery...


The road surface varied in quality :-)



Small villages were built high up on the steep slopes which were more often terraced in order to make the most use out of the land which was cultivated to grow corn and other crops.




Cows were in abundance - something that we had not seen since we left India. It seemed that every home had one or two.



One of the larger townships looking quite rustic.



I had to stop K from diving in and joining these guys fishing, it has been hard for her to control her angling spirit on this trip with such great rivers accompanying us en route.


The road soon began to climb up a valley - we had been told by some of the friends that we bumped into at the Last Resort that there was only a small hill. This is a fair description after you have come from Tibet....we rode up and up.

The unrelenting heat did not help, the temperatures were also way higher than those in Tibet which we had become accustomed to. K was overheating and had to occasionally stick her head under cold water sourced from nearby streams and rivers and provided by taps at the side of the road in the most strangest of places.


The view was great...


...but we were still riding up, we were waning (but still smiling) and quite far from Kathmandu, we would have to find accomodation, this became obvious when K started lose it a bit and my teasing did not help :-)



Phew, we found a decent hotel in Dhulikhel, the proprietor was exceptionally welcoming.


...there was much artwork from a local artist adorning the walls, there was not a free space remaining.


As we headed out the next morning the proprietor was very encouraging and told us it was all down hill and would only take us about an hour to do the 30kms into Kathmandu. We thought this was a bit ambitious, but we were glad to know it was going to be downhill. The roads were good and almost traffic free in the first 15kms...


...but as we got closer to Kathmandu the traffic became heavier and the urban sprawl became endless but we were overwhelmed to be reaching our goal which was to ride into the city.



Now onto Kathmandu scenes...

Kids playing football in front of a shrine.


Amongst UN officials driving around town in cars there was an abundance of police. Nepal has quite a bit of unrest as it goes through it's transition to a democracy - violence is an everyday threat to peoples lives and police checkposts are everywhere as a result.


The streets were lively, traffic battled with pedestrians on the narrow streets and the architecture, though crumbled, was amazing and held many surprises.




Temples were dotted amongst the secular buildings. At the weekend there was much puja being offered as children played around the shrines which became a centre for community activity.


A streetside snack stop.


Sorting cotton on the streetside.


Ah, another common sight - we would often see dogs waiting patiently outside the butchers shop, waiting for pieces to accidently fall there way.


... and now Trek has branched out from bikes apparently and now distributes gas cannisters, too.


The streets of Thamel... the touristy area.


We took a walk to the Swayambunath temple which is located way up on the hill - important to pilgrims because Sakyamuni taught a sermon there.


We had to climb over 300 steps to get up to it and it was hot - everyone, including us, was really suffering in the heat.


Looking back down from the top with Kathmandu sprawled out below.


The beautiful stupa...


...and smaller monuments.


There were also more prayer wheels to be spun...


Next destination was Pokhara to buy an Enfield - yep our plans did not work out due to cost but smilin' K has an Enfield now :-) We decided to leave town the next morning and to get back to Delhi to get our motorbikes. Before getting on the bus to the border I was plesantly surprised by the arrival of coffee - see how happy it makes me :-)


I was still smiling even after spending hours on this bus on swervy roads up and down mountian sides. There was never a straight moment throughout the journey which was broken up by a few rest stops, a protest and the occasional bit of maintenace when the driver would hit the leafsprings with a hammer...


We went to Lumbini - the birth place of Buddha - as our last stop in Nepal. This is the remains of the monastery, there was also a stone marking the *exact* spot of Buddah's birth...


...and this beautiful peace pagoda. Between the birthplace and the pagoda are many modern monasteries built by countries all over the world (e.g. China, Japan, VietNam, Austria, Germany, Thailand, etc.)


That night the clear sky was decorated witha rare sight, a perfectly aligned planet to the moon that was very reminiscent of the symbol of Islam.


Until next time...