BoP Ride to Nepal - III

DAY 4 - 21st January: Butwal to Waling via Lumbini

Remember those two points we were dissatisfied about? Not enough riding and no sightseeing. The first was taken care of on the Chisapani-Butwal stretch and now it was time to address the second issue. Earlier, we had briefly considered taking a safari in Bardia National Park but the costs and timings did not fit into our plans. On Day 4, we decided to head to the Vishwa Shanti Stupa (World Peace Pagoda) in Lumbini in the morning. This was around 40 kms from our hotel, so we headed out in the morning and planned to return by check-out time and proceed towards Pokhara.

A slight aside first, to explain the planning for the ride ahead. As I said, I decided to split off the rest of the group sooner than I initially had planned. The reason was that Jomsom had a very tough off-roading patch which would take a lot of time to cover. If I went to Jomsom, I'd have to skip everything else and start my return journey immediately afterwards as I had to reach home on 26th at all costs. Furthermore, heavy off-roading can take a toll on the bike and I had a long solo ride ahead of me, for which I needed the bike to be in a perfect condition. Finally, Sunder, our riding partner from Bangalore had posted pics and information about the Everest flight from Kathmandu and this caught my fancy. I thus decided to stay the night in Pokhara, roam around the next day and then leave for Kathmandu the day after.

On Day 4 though, we made an early start for Lumbini. The weather was cold as usual and the fog was back with a vengeance. Near Lumbini, we took a wrong turn and headed off a couple of kilometers away from the Stupa before realizing our mistake and turning back. We parked our motorcycles in formation in order to have the Stupa form the backdrop. It was completely empty when we reached. When we switched off our motorcycles, it was very quiet, as if the monument and its surroundings were aligned with their true purpose and channeling the spirit of world peace in the realest sense! Without anyone telling us to, all of us dropped our volumes by a few notches, such was the power of the place.

The Stupa itself is a majestic white structure and it stood out even more against the grey and misty sky. We had to remove our shoes at the entrance. I hesitated initially due to the cold, but realized it doesn't make sense to turn back now. The Stupa had 3 levels that you climb, circumambulating as you proceed to the next level. Ankit informed us that you have to circumambulate as you head back down too, instead of directly coming down three sets of stairs. Let me note here that only Dips and I scrupulously followed this rule, while others went down directly. Guess they don't care about world peace as much as we do!

While a few were busy clicking solo pictures here, the rest of us headed back to the parking where we had spotted a small outlet serving tea and breakfast. Once again, wai-wai and chai! Tea is customarily served black in these parts, you have to specify if you want milky tea instead. The noodles tasted excellent and I washed it down with 2 cups of tea.

We had an uneventful ride back to the hotel. As we were checking out and packing up, I got chatting with the guard there about khukris. I wanted to purchase a khukri, as did Ankit and Dips, but we weren't sure if bags would be checked at the border. Locals seemed to be unsure, with some suggesting not to take the risk. The guard informed us of a khukri-seller in Palpa where we could buy and get more information on whether it can be taken across the border. As it was almost 12 PM, we decided to make a stop at Palpa for lunch, around 45 kms from here, on the way to Pokhara.

A Prussian military commander once said, and I paraphrase - "no plan ever survives contact with the enemy" (more information on this quote here). I now present to you the motorcycle touring version of this quote - "no plan survives beyond the first kilometer of a ride". It is the essence of touring, it is very hard to stick to schedules when you don't know what the roads would throw at you. What was thrown at us on this day? A load of mud.

Couple of kilometers from the hotel, as the hills started and we started enjoying the curves, we were forced to halt due to what we thought was a landslide. There were piles of dirt on the side of the road and a JCB was hard at work. We were told it would take atleast an hour and had no option but wait. We clicked pictures and chatted around for almost 1.5 hours before they started letting through the bikes. We realized it was some road repair work going on and not a landslide.

We reached Palpa, where the rest of the group stopped for lunch at a restaurant perched over a beautiful valley. Dips, Ankit and I headed towards the khukri shop, only to find that the guy had shut shop and moved out a few months ago. We went back for lunch. Lunch consisted of another delicious thakali. We also sampled 'kodoko raksi', a local alcohol. The single glass was quite potent and we wisely stopped, considering the riding ahead of us. Post lunch, the entire group left together but I had to return as I forgot my arm-guard there. This meant that I had to catch-up with the rest of group for the next 30-odd kilometers. I found them at a tea stall, where Zaheer was impressing everyone with his grasp of the Nepali language. He has a knack for languages, as we saw during the Rann of Kutch ride where he made friends with locals by speaking in Punjabi and Gujarati. The lady at the tea stall here remarked that he looked Nepali too!

The delay earlier meant that we would not reach Pokhara that day. It did not affect our plans terribly, but for me, it meant that I couldn't spend a lot of time seeing Pokhara. I was in touch with a friend from college, PS, who stayed in Kathmandu. She had a few contacts in Yeti Airlines, which runs the Everest flights and was helping me arrange for tickets for a flight on 23rd morning. We thus stopped at Waling, a village 60 kms before Pokhara. This was the last group BBB session for me, and I switched to whisky instead of beer. We finalized our respective itineraries and turned in for the night.

DAY 5 - 22nd January: Waling to Kathmandu via Pokhara

Solo riding day! While there is always the risk of ennui when you are alone, I have, over the years, started enjoying them. I still hesitate to go on a completely solo trip from start to end, but this sort, where I cover some stretch with the group and the rest alone is very much within my comfort zone. As a rider, it is necessary to get comfortable with solo riding, as it is inevitable sometimes.

We had to make an early start, there was a lot of riding to be done for all us. Everyone else had to reach Pokhara and then turn towards Jomsom. My friend had arranged for me to pick my tickets up from Pokhara that afternoon for the Everest flight next morning, post which I had to head to Kathmandu. At 5 AM sharp, we all reported downstairs for a breakfast of chai and toast. I settled up the accounts for the last time in this ride while others packed up. For the first time, the hotel manager hesitated a bit before accepting Indian currency. This definitely is not the norm, but it'd happen more often to me now than before.

As we left Waling, we decided to stop only after reaching Pokhara. We were now riding in the mountains and the fog had enveloped us completely. The roads were patchy on this stretch, which made it more challenging but we pushed ourselves. As we climbed higher into the mountains, the fog reduced and the Sun rose pretty soon. Some distance before Pokhara, the tree cover reduced briefly and a breathtaking sight lay in front of us! Our strict schedule was temporarily suspended and we had a good time clicking pictures here.

Further ahead, at another turning, I witnessed the snow-clad Himalayas for the first time. I mean, I was riding 'in' the Himalayas, but I refer to the mighty, snow clad, towering peaks we see in documentaries and movies all the time. I have to say here that it was momentarily scary to see such a huge peak right in front of me. In this manner, we reached Pokhara a little before 10 AM.

We had reached well in time, so we gathered around at the beginning of the town. The first task was to hand over the accounts book to Ankit. Amidst some applause and cheering, I retired from the role of Chief Ride Accountant and took over the new role of Lead Scout. I was now in charge of mapping the route ahead till Delhi/NCR and giving updates to the rest of the group behind, as they'd be taking the same route a few days later. After clicking one last selfie (last for me, as I don't take selfies myself), I bid my farewell to the rest of the group and headed towards the Yeti airlines office.

PS had expected me to reach a couple of hours later and had to make some calls to get the tickets. In the meantime, I waited outside the office and got chatting with a passerby. He had a travel agency of his own down the road and said he visits Delhi quite often. He took my number and asked if we could meet when he next visits and I responded positively. This little instance encapsulates the entire experience with locals I had in Nepal - they are very warm, friendly and welcomed us with an open heart. On a political level, India and Nepal have had their issues but none of this has seeped down to the general public who all seem to have nothing but good things to say about Indians. I was blown-away by this level of hospitality and I hope I get a chance to make them feel equally welcome when they visit my country.

I collected my tickets from the office and spent some time there figuring out a place to stay in Kathmandu. I found a hostel called 'Famous Traveller's Hub' in Paknajol Marg in Thamel at an amazing price of Nepali Rs 455 for two nights. Before I headed there though, I wanted to go see Lake Pame and the arrangements being made for Rider Mania.

With the help of signboards put up by BOBMC and FORE, I made my way around Lake Pame and reached the venue. A few hundred meters of dirt track riding led me to the main entrance which was barricaded. I assumed it was shut for visitors and was about to turn back when a small boy materialized and opened it for me without a second glance. I went further in to the tents where a FORE member flagged me down. Now I was clearly not meant to be here, so I was honest with him about it - I told him I am not registered in RM and won't attend it, but I just wanted to stop by and see the place and if it was a problem, I could turn back. He was happy to let me walk around but told me not to take any pics inside as they were to go BOBMC first. They were clearly busy with the arrangements on the lakeside, but Pramod aka Goofy, the Vice President of FORE was nice enough to spend some time chatting with me. He also happened to be the first motorcyclist I ever met who does this for a living and not as a hobby like we all do. I also saw a guy there casually using a khukri to cut vegetables! I later read that despite the widely-known use of khukri as a weapon by Gorkha soldiers, it is actually more commonly used as an implement in households.

I thanked Goofy for letting me see around and started my journey to Kathmandu. It was lunch time now and I had a sixth sense telling me that I am going to be massively late, though there wasn't much I could do about it now. The first 50 kms break was lunch break for me at Green Hill Restaurant and Lodge. I had yet another excellent thakali here with black tea. The lady cooked delicious food but did not seem very welcoming initially. When I appreciated the food, however, she broke into a big smile for a moment! Having been told by many many friends about how I come off as unsmiling and unapproachable, I could completely empathize with that lady.

I continue my ride to Kathmandu. The roads were amazing and the traffic was still light. I emphasize on 'still'. Light traffic means you can ride at higher speeds in the curves and I took full advantage of this opportunity. But slowly, the truck traffic was building up. I had to spend several kilometers stuck behind a line of trucks before making a break for it and overtaking them. What's good, however, is that the truckers are very nice here and help you overtake by switching on the indicator when it's safe. I'd wave them thanks after overtaking. In this manner I covered the next 50 kms in 1.5 hours and stopped for chai. As I finished and headed out, another group of riders parked beside me, coming from the opposite direction. They were the Wanderers MC Hyderabad chapter, who piped up when I spoke to them in Telugu. Such is the magic of motorcycling, speaking in a South Indian language all the way over in Nepal! Wishing them a safe ride ahead, I continued.

The truck traffic was at its peak now. The final 50 kms were a torture, as it took me 2.5 hours to cover that distance. The roads in this stretch were horrible too, so even without traffic, it'd have been a pain to ride on them. Trucks enter the city only after 8 PM and were thus parked on the side of the road. There was barely any space for a motorcycle to squeeze through at many places. At one point, I had no choice but ride through a large sand-pile, that nicely coated my boots and bags with a film of sand.

The roads finally opened up inside the city. It was almost 8 PM by the time I reached the hostel in Thamel. Despite GPS, I was unable to find the exact location because of the narrow streets. I called up the hostel guy who stepped out of a small alcove and beckoned me inside. The hostel was right above a small restaurant and I parked my bike almost inside the restaurant entrance.

I had booked a bed in the dorm, since I was alone and did not see any need to spend money on private rooms. It was a small clean hostel. The first order of the day was to jump into the shower and wash off all the dust. The water was tepid but I could not care less about it. Refreshed, I headed downstairs for a beer and dinner. I wanted to walk around for a bit, but I had to wake up early next morning to catch the Everest flight at 6.45 AM and thus went to bed immediately.

Link to Part - IV