Trek over, all that remained was to retrieve our bikes from Pokhara, cycle them to Kathmandu, and fly home.Travelling the main Pokhara-Kathmandu highway by bus hadn’t been much fun. Cycling it looked like our idea of hell. Buses and trucks zooming past at crazy speeds, their fatalistic drivers not overly bothered with paying much attention to the road. If we cycled this way how long would it take for an insignificant pair of cycle tourists to be flattened?
These dangerous odds along with the noise and roadside rubbish made it clear we needed to find a different route. And this proved easy enough to do. A couple of pointers from Sonam at Dawn ’til Dusk, followed by a few hours poring over satellite images on Google Earth and we were all set to go.
Though only a short hop, we were excited at the prospect of getting back in the saddle. Four months had been too long. Any trepidation about how our knees would hold up to the steep climbs faded as we left town and elation swept over us. The thrill of two-wheeled speed, so wonderfully liberating! No traffic, dirt roads, views of towering peaks in the Annapurna, Manaslu, Ganesh and Langtang Himals whenever we turned our heads north. Eating simply and well, sleeping on hard beds, chatting with friendly villagers, all under the watchful eye of the magnificent Himalaya. This was more like it. This is what adventures are made of!
As we freewheeled down into a smoggy Kathmandu Valley Haz’s camera slipped from her bike, never to be seen again. We didn’t let this spoil our mood for long. It had been a fabulous end to our Himalayan sojourn.
Please click to see our Pokhara to Kathmandu cycle photoset on Flickr.
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| Overlooking Phewa Lake, Pokhara, and the Annapurna Himal. While we trekked across Nepal our bikes were looked after by the friendly guys at Village Inn, – to be found just to the right of Neil’s head in this shot! |
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| Kids near Begnas Tal. They lived in a house at the top of a little pass, so we hung out with them for a bit while recovering from the climb. Great shirts! |
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| This bahini cooked up a mean chowmein for us in Sundar Bazaar. |
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| Carrying back up to the road after a cheeky shortcut over a pedestrian suspension bridge. |
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| Cycling in Gorkha, the Manaslu Himal in the background. This shot is typical of our 5 days from Pokhara to Kathmandu – great scenery, no traffic, friendly little villages. |
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| Recycling at its best. San Miguel ketchup, Tuborg chilli sauce. |
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| A gang of young terrors near Arughat. |
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| The last suspension bridge of our Nepal trip. (Don’t worry, Haz did dismount before mowing over the old grannies and school kids.) |
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| In the hills south of Ganesh Himal. Having enjoyed that section of our trek so much, it was great to return to the region on our bikes. |
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| Descending from the last pass into Kathmandu. This was on the only busy section of road on our route between Nepal’s two largest cities. |
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| Strike day in Kathmandu. A great opportunity to get out and take some photos without fear of being run over by insane taxi and micro drivers. |
For stats, please wait a while until we write up our Pokhara – Kathmandu route information notes.
Hey,your trip looks pretty epic.Wondering if you know if you can buy/rent bikes in Nepal or is it better to take your own.We are planning a trip for January 2015.Thanks.Aaron.
I would probably take your own as it will be reliable. There are bikes for hire in both Pokhara and Kathmandu however they tend to hire by the day. You could try asking Sonam at dawn til dusk in Thamel, KTM http://www.nepalbiking.com. He is always interested in trips like this and helped us put this route together. Good luck, Harriet
Hi,
I was wondering if you could upload your map? Or daily destinations? We are wanting to do the same ride but don’t know where to go to get off the highway! Or do you remember where you stayed the nights?
Hi!
Info here: https://pikesonbikes.com/routes/himalaya-biking/pokhara-kathmandu/
cheers
Neil
Hi Guys ! We are just approaching Pokhara in a day or two and have been thinking about this route, the thing is, we are travelling fully loaded with 35/40kg of stuff. Would you think its doable with a fully loaded bike ? are the roads endlessly bumpy and hard to ride with weight ?
Thanks !
p.s we love your book !!
Molly & Haydn – (cycleforlove.com)
Hi Haydn,
It would be pretty challenging in places fully loaded but we never like to say never. Why don’t you post your stuff to KTM? The Earthquake may have made this route a bit of a mess. I’d ask Dawn til Dusk what the route is like.
Let us know if you do it.
Best Wishes
Harriet
Hi Harriet !
Thanks for your advice ! We ended up cycling the main road until Gardo Khola and then turned off to miss the climb into Kathmandu on the main road, was tough on fully loaded bikes on the conditions but very beautiful and worth it as we hated the main road so much by this point ! We recommend doing this to anyone that wants to miss the last climb into Kathmandu as thats the hardest bit (we are told) its only another 400m to climb but its worth the views and peace and quite ! it does add an extra day or two which we had to factor as we wanted to meet friends (we climbed to the top which took the day and jumped in a mini van down the other side, which took two hours to get there late that evening)
We want to cycle your suggested route another time when we come back with a lighter set up !
Thanks again !