Sunday, May 17, 2009

Day 69 - May 16 - Lahan to Kathmandu

May16 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

414 KMs Trip Meter 11714 KMs

Just getting to Kathmandu is the plan for today. Already getting bored of Mahendra highway. Where are the hills? Not so soon i guess. Cos All the way to Kathmandu is in relative plains. Nothing much but an Uneventful ride. At one point the road was blocked by some activists i guess. They had placed a log on the road. Vehicles had stopped on either side of the log. I just went off the road slowly crossed the log and rode on. No one stopped me! Prolly motorcycles are allowed to pass the blockades! Any way did not have the laxuary to wait out the protest.

Reached Hetauda by 11.45 and a cop tells me of two routes, one straight ahead through the mountains with roads not so good and the other a loop on the highway going to the west and then back east which was with bettor roads and longer. Thought of taking the shorter hilly road but it was blocked by logs etc, when i went on the footpath to cross it, i crazy looking guy talking in Nepali stopped and told to get back. No argument there, just took the longer route. Thickly populated areas are in plenty and very few stretches of road are free. All the while riding parallel to the Himalayan mountain range to the right.

Take a right at Bharatpur. Thought would be getting onto the hills soon. Kinda yes but not gaining much of altitude. The road was wide but in bad shape. Many sections of broken dusty roads and of the ones that were good, the road was mangled and disshaped due to melting tar. The Left side of the road was more so with valleys at the tire paths of the trucks, which induces more pressure on the road while climbing up. Second day in Nepal not at all pleasant ride. Where are the kool hill? i keep asking that. Take break for lunch some 50 kms from Kathmandu. As i start it rains or rather rain falls. Man never felt such huge rain drops! Could even see the shining huge water drops in the air! Yeah it was sunny too! After some rain riding it was dry nearing Kathmandu.

Chaos rules. Not a sweet lil hilly City as i imagined. Guess Gangtok has raised my expectations a lot. Lots of people and lot more. Dusty and busy roads. Asked around for Thamel and i seemed to only get into narrower and freakier roads. Got to Thamel area and found a nice and reasonable Hotel Yanki run by a Chinese couple. Nothing much in the day. Went to dinner in the near by big hotel and blew some money!

The hotel i stayed in Lahan. Really an oasis in desert!


The Lahan town...


Riding west on the Mahendra Raj Marg and to the right is the himalayan mountain range...


Asked what i could get in hurry and was told Badmash chura!! well kept patience and ordered Aloo paratha after this...


Heading east from Bharatpur towards Kathmandu...


I bumped into a sumo and my right pannier kinda went out of shape.. Three mild kicks and its kinda back to shape but not as good as before :(


Awesome roads!!


On the mountains but not much altitude...


White water rafting on the river...


In action...


More of them...


Pleasant hotel for lunch... by the river..








The welder busy fixing the broken engine guard!

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