Back. Safe and sound.
After some long, cold, very cold, and tiring rides I made it back from Lhasa in one piece. It's certainly hard to articulate the whole journey after spending most of the past 14 days high in the Himalayas meandering through mountain passes and switchbacks that took us up over 15,000 feet. I thought living in Mumbai was sensory overload, but controlling a motorcycle and passenger over some very rugged terrain all the while glancing at some of the most stunning scenery imaginable was just about on par. I can say without fail that the trip was truly amazing, and I imagine something I will appreciate more as time goes on.
So we started off in Kathmandu wherein we met our guide/tour leader/head motorcycle rider Rob. I'll call him the old grizzly because aside from his long wispy white hair and beard that gives him the assuring look of a battle tested veteran, he's actually been running motorcycle tours in this area of the world for the past 15 years or so.
Other than that there was only one other
rider in the group. I was a bit stunned at first, but pleased that we
would be such a small group. The other guy turned out to be a wonderful
and hilarious Aussie farmer named Graham, also looking for a little
adventure. He was riding solo, I had my friend Sarah on the back, and
that was it. Rob had a small crew with him that he uses on every tour
and including himself the crew outnumbered the actual paying customers
4:3 this time. Rob himself would be riding at the front of the group with his
Nepalese business partner, Gyan, pulling up the rear. Behind us all was
the support vehicle driven by Jit and his trusty side-kick Buddha (yes it's his actual name)
containing spare parts as well as six extra bikes for the group coming
in later to do the return leg back from Lhasa.
We officially took off on Monday April, 23rd, when we first became acquainted with our bikes. There were the classic British Army Royal Enfield 500cc bikes painted in, of course, army green. I say classic due to the style, but ours were actually manufactured in around 2000 and came equipped with all the proper tuning and features thanks to Rob and his staff. These bikes are the fascination of many riders over in Asia, and specifically the South Asian subcontinent where they were first introduced during the British colonial era.
Funny thing about the old style bike is that the gear pedal is on the right foot rather than left as most modern bikes (and what I'm used to riding) are now built. Additionally, switching gears requires an old school toe flick up and down as opposed to the modern heel to toe action (again that I'm accustomed to). Needless to say, I started to iron out the kinks in a quick 10 minute test ride before we actually hit the road out of Kathmandu and onward to Lhasa in two weeks time. I'm almost embarrassed to think how novice I felt driving out on the first day after looking back at the end of the trip, and growing extremely comfortable riding the Enfields,
Rather than overload you with details of the adventure, and also because I'm a bit exhausted after just landing back in Mumbai a couple hours ago, I'll resort to posting pictures and some captions to explain the whole trip. The map I attached in the previous entry gives you a good indication of the roads (or lack there of in some cases) we took. I'd like to note that the little stretch that juts out towards Mt. Everest may have been the most difficult part of the whole journey as we took a short-cut (so to speak) off the main road, through some frozen streams, rocky hills, and barren but stunning landscape. After a night at the base of the mountain we took the "main road" back to the highway, which in actuality was so poorly maintained I thought I was controlling a sledge-hammer for the five hours we spent to drive only 90km back to the highway. I'd like to add that the day before we were out on a quick joy ride during our "day-off" to acclimatize to the altitude, and Sarah and I were blind sided by a local Tibetan farmer on his piece of crap tractor. Needless to say neither of us was going very quickly as it happened in the middle of a village, and no one was hurt at all, but it certainly added to the whole feeling of adventure leading up to the Everest leg.
Again, there's just too much to write about from the riding, to the cultural sites, and generally experiencing the stark and stunning landscape from the foothills in Nepal to the vast Tibetan plateau. I won't do the trip justice by typing away so I hope the pictures provide some good detail.
After some long, cold, very cold, and tiring rides I made it back from Lhasa in one piece. It's certainly hard to articulate the whole journey after spending most of the past 14 days high in the Himalayas meandering through mountain passes and switchbacks that took us up over 15,000 feet. I thought living in Mumbai was sensory overload, but controlling a motorcycle and passenger over some very rugged terrain all the while glancing at some of the most stunning scenery imaginable was just about on par. I can say without fail that the trip was truly amazing, and I imagine something I will appreciate more as time goes on.
So we started off in Kathmandu wherein we met our guide/tour leader/head motorcycle rider Rob. I'll call him the old grizzly because aside from his long wispy white hair and beard that gives him the assuring look of a battle tested veteran, he's actually been running motorcycle tours in this area of the world for the past 15 years or so.
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| Our tour leader Rob |
We officially took off on Monday April, 23rd, when we first became acquainted with our bikes. There were the classic British Army Royal Enfield 500cc bikes painted in, of course, army green. I say classic due to the style, but ours were actually manufactured in around 2000 and came equipped with all the proper tuning and features thanks to Rob and his staff. These bikes are the fascination of many riders over in Asia, and specifically the South Asian subcontinent where they were first introduced during the British colonial era.
Funny thing about the old style bike is that the gear pedal is on the right foot rather than left as most modern bikes (and what I'm used to riding) are now built. Additionally, switching gears requires an old school toe flick up and down as opposed to the modern heel to toe action (again that I'm accustomed to). Needless to say, I started to iron out the kinks in a quick 10 minute test ride before we actually hit the road out of Kathmandu and onward to Lhasa in two weeks time. I'm almost embarrassed to think how novice I felt driving out on the first day after looking back at the end of the trip, and growing extremely comfortable riding the Enfields,
Rather than overload you with details of the adventure, and also because I'm a bit exhausted after just landing back in Mumbai a couple hours ago, I'll resort to posting pictures and some captions to explain the whole trip. The map I attached in the previous entry gives you a good indication of the roads (or lack there of in some cases) we took. I'd like to note that the little stretch that juts out towards Mt. Everest may have been the most difficult part of the whole journey as we took a short-cut (so to speak) off the main road, through some frozen streams, rocky hills, and barren but stunning landscape. After a night at the base of the mountain we took the "main road" back to the highway, which in actuality was so poorly maintained I thought I was controlling a sledge-hammer for the five hours we spent to drive only 90km back to the highway. I'd like to add that the day before we were out on a quick joy ride during our "day-off" to acclimatize to the altitude, and Sarah and I were blind sided by a local Tibetan farmer on his piece of crap tractor. Needless to say neither of us was going very quickly as it happened in the middle of a village, and no one was hurt at all, but it certainly added to the whole feeling of adventure leading up to the Everest leg.
Again, there's just too much to write about from the riding, to the cultural sites, and generally experiencing the stark and stunning landscape from the foothills in Nepal to the vast Tibetan plateau. I won't do the trip justice by typing away so I hope the pictures provide some good detail.
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| Grabbing a drink while checking out Kathmandu |
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| Birthday beer Everest style |
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| Walking with the locals |
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| And some more |
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| Public well |
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| Sarah and Graham at a Buddhist temple in Kathmandu |
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| Kathmandu backpacker district |
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| Family commute |
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| Fueling up before the first ride |
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| First look at the Enfields |
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| Graham getting used to his new wheels |
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| Sarah trying to figure out how to sit on the back |
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| Me hopping on for the first time |
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| Quick break after the first hour on the road |
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| Support truck and bikes after the first day |
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| Reflecting on the first ride up to the small city of Nagarkot |
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| Hillside accommodation |
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| Nagarkot valley |
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| More Everest beers |
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| Infamous duo in the city of Bhaktapur |
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| Bad ass |
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| Even more so |
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| Lazy dogs in Bhaktapur |
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| Local ceremony in Bhaktapur where young girls are "married to bells" |
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| Mother and daughter |
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| Learning the local trade |
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| A true spinster |
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| Father and daughter |
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| Tea break on the way to the border |
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| Local transport through the hills |
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| One of the guides, Gyan |
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| Graham taking in the river near the border |
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| Camping area complete with a dining hall |
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| Looks like VT |
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| Notice the Buddha head |
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| The "Laughing Buddha" of the group |
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| Pit stop |
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| Getting closer to the Tibet border |
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| Border gate separating Nepal and Tibet |
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| Just after crossing in to Tibet |
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| Trying out a change of drivers |
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| Quick nap while we wait for the support truck |
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| Some windy roads |
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| Hopping back on to start climbing over 10,000 ft |
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| Police check |
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| Parked at the hotel in Nylam, first town over the border |
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| PBR in Tibet...? |
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| En route to Tingri |
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| Top of the Tong La pass at 5120 meters |
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| Support vehicle chugging along |
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| Who looks more like a local? |
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| Top of Tong La pass |
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| Never ending prayer flags |
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| Quick lunch at a local residence |
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| Everest in the background |
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| Paved road |
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| Off-road |
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| After getting hit by a tractor |
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| The culprit |
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| Taking the goat out |
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| Local family |
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| Our meager accommodations in Tingri |
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| No heating in Tingri |
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| Beginning of the road to Everest |
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| Relaxin |
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| Still chugging along on the way to Everest |
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| Picnic before the last 30k to Everest base camp |
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| What's that in the distance? |
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| Too cliche? |
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| View from the "hotel" |
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| Our hotel at Everest (Rongbuk Monastery Guest House) |
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| Rongbuk Monastery (highest in the world) |
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| Call to prayer at Rongbuk |
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| Making dinner at monastery guest house |
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| Everest in the morning |
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| Guest house bathroom |
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| The road out |
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| Another 5000 high meter pass |
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| Switchbacks down |
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| Roadside monastery |
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| On the road to Shigatse (2nd biggest city in Tibet) |
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| Taking a peak at the Enfields |
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| White peace scarves before going in to the Tashi Lumpo Monastery |
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| Full view of the monastery and the hillside |
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| Getting ready to prostrate |
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| In action |
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| Tsampa mill (staple barley based meal of Tibet) |
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| Snacking on some roasted barley |
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| Dynamic duo |
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| Protection from the wind |
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| Long ride in to Gyantse |
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| Buddha at it again |
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| Pelkor Monastery in Gyantse |
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| Our guide Chengde |
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| The crew from left to right: Jit, Buddha, Gyan |
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| Getting ready for the Yak sizzler |
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| Laughing Buddha and his Yak |
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| On the way to Lhasa |
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| One last glacier pass before Lhasa |
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| Leaving the mountains behind |
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| Tibet Mastiffs |
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| A furry one |
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| Polata Palace, final destination |
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| The crew at after our final stop |
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| Made it safe and sound |
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| Chinese Army trying to control Tibetan independence |
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| Attempting to prostrate |
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| Back to where it all began in Kathmandu |
