Motorbike mission to the moon and back

So bikes have won out and we've decided smelly, farty, spitty camels can wait. Perhaps in Israel ? Instead we are going to try and reach Everest by bike. Impossible some would say? Ha! Whatever...

Day One:

Like a re-usable battery, Jo was in charge. I was still feeling a little grotty and so had opted for the tandem bike option in case it was Giardia that I had and the"explosive diorrhea" I had read about set in. I didn't want to have to worry about dealing with a bike too if that was the case. It was a 180cc road bike we shared with plenty of omph for us we figured (just enough in reality). Jo was happy as we were also saving a few dollars and so with my legs safely wrapped round his arse (this was to become very tiring after 5 days of biking!), we set off into the sunset (or just about. It took us like 5 hours to get going! Ended up being a 3pm, '8am', start).

Our first target was Kathmandu. At 180 kms it would be a 6 hour ride we figured; averaging around 30km/hr. The roads really are this bad! And it turned out this was the case; arriving in Kath at around 9pm that night. With a car though what a joke! We passed around 100 trucks, cars and buses (for real) all stuck in this massive jam because one truck had over loaded itself at the top of a hill. Bikes are tops in these over populated countries.

When we did arrive we had panda eyes from the pollution and arses to match - purple with bruises from the hundreds of pot holes on the way. These bikes were not made for bumps and these roads were not made for vehicles!

Day Two:

We set off from Kathmandy in high spirits. A 'Germany Breakfast' in our bellies and we decided a trip to the Tibetan border would be the goal of the day. The coffee they served us was full of speed and had left me feeling a bit seedy and Jo wired like a bad Thai street lamp. So again, we set off on the one bike keen to escape the maddening rush of Kath and all its 'glories' - rubbish, cows, rubbish heaps, cows in rubbish heaps, smog, noise etc.

We cruised for around 8 hours and I swear my arse will be flat if this continues for the next 7 days! On the way we came upon a town called Tatopani. A name we recognised from the trek as meaning 'hot spring'. As can only be expected, we ended up staying the night here, our goal of the border left till the morning while we enjoyed our night time sausage fest.

Seriously. We paid 10 rupees (20c) for a 'hot pool' which turned out to be four shower heads with about 20 guys showering under them. There was more sausage hanging round than at a German Bratwurst festival! The other option was to pay 100 rupees for a room with a bath. But they were hot and we were clean for once.

Day Three:

Next morning we suprisingly opted to skip the morning shower option and head straight for the border. Then for the new day's goal of Jiri; the town where the trek to Everest sets off from. 3 minute ride to the border and a 1 minute walk took us into 'China'. Filthy communistic thieves! There wasn't even a sign saying the word Tibet! And they told us no pictures. Tell a guy not to do something...

Picture of 'China':

After being denied access past the official border post, we headed off for Jiri. Grabbing some 'air' biscuits for lunch on the way (you could actually breath through them!) we made it in time for a real lunch at around 3pm. We'd picked up a guesthouse owner on the way and so stayed at his place.

Over dinner there was talk of a trek to Everest (secretly we planned to take the bikes) but the news quickly took a turn for the worse when a proper guide (as opposed to just a nosey local) joined in and we learnt that it was at least 3 days to the nearest lookout point just to lay eyes on the prize. And bikes were a no go unless they were moon capable. Was ours? Hmmm? I wonder...

Ah well. That's life. So with our true goal stolen from us like this bracelet of Jo's I'm wearing, we decided to head back to Kath the next day and re-plan from there.


Day Four:

Seeing as we were headin back to Kath, we decided to look in on some burning dead bodies while we were at it. Ghats they call them over here. There's one in Pashupati Jo had heard about that we decided to visit. Turned out to cost $5 and there wasn't a body burning so what was the point? We ended up cruising for food instead. Plus Kath was still a mad house to drive through and getting off the road was priority one.

Ah the joys of night time. Getting ready to enjoy the next day's excitement. More bumpy road, more straddling another guy, more smog in the face and more bloody Nepalese drivers who don't know left from right, back from front or how to drive a car! Hahaha.

Day Five:

Same guesthouse as last time so another Germany breakfast and we were off. This time for Pokhara. We had decided to see if we could hand the bikes in 2 days early, grab some moneys back, and head to Lumbini (budhas birth place) instead and then on to Varanassi as well.

Bit of a long ride back but we knew what was in store for us when we arrived so that was a relief. No trying to bargain a room or argue over food prices etc.

We got back in Pokhara around 3pm and after a quick dust off of the bike and a couple of litres of siphoned fuel later (we could sell it back), we managed to return the bike and get a bit of money back too. Wow! Nice people. So we now had the time to visit a few more places. Lumbini (birth place of buddha) and Varanassi (back in India) were the plan...