Rain, Mud, Cold – Upper Mustang tosses us a curve ball

September 25^th, 2026

Lo Manthang, Nepal

Woke with my alarm and got up to use the toilet.

Decided I was not interested in a cold shower, so just a quick wash of the head and face to help wake me up.

Looked outside and the clouds were covering everything, a white blanket spread across the land, with just a few distant ridges of the nearby mountains peeking through.

Oh, it is also still raining.

Went over to the restaurant after packing up some of the stuff, but not yet changed into my gear, not sure if we will depart on time or delay, see what guide thinks.

Watched the rain come down and also noted the small waterfalls coming off the roads along the steep walls holding up the road beds.

Could also see the rivulets of water running down the roads in a random pattern more reminiscent of a river delta.

Guide joined me and we waited for our breakfast while watching the weather.

Clouds were coming in and then out, but the rain stayed steady.

We decided that waiting might just bring worse weather, so we would hit the road a bit early actually, and our first challenge would be a river crossing a few miles up the road that has no bridge.

Depending on how full this was, and if we could safely cross it, would decide the rest of the day.

We started up the road going uphill still.

Road was the same dirt with imbedded rocks and gravel, but now was wet.  Large puddles sit at random, most shallow, but some can be a few inches deep.

Just as we saw from the restaurant, rivers of muddy water flowed down the road beds following the path of least resistance, and making it a fun challenge to ride without splattering water all over.

We would cross from one side of the road to the other every few feet it seems, trying to find the smoother, but still slightly graveled sections of the road.

The spots, mainly along the edges, where the gravel was no longer embedded, or buried deeper, could be a bit slick.  While the surface was solid, it had a layer of slime across the top that could make the wheels slide if you hit it just wrong.

To make things more interesting, my bike is using a basic street tire on the front, practically smooth with very little tread grooves.  So, it was sliding around pretty good if I did not watch my speed, the angle of turns, and the surface.

Then you have the sections of road that the large trucks have torn up.  Large ridges and bumps in the road, and in many cases the surface is a soupy mud.  The bikes will move well in a straight line, but trying to turn in this stuff is a puckering action.

We soon reached the river crossing.

The water comes rolling down a fair-sized water fall and then crosses the road and over the edge to continue its way down to the valley below.

The distance across was probably about 50 feet, and it was flowing pretty good, but the guide after a short pause went into and across so I just followed.

It was moving quick, but not really fast enough to cause issues with pushing the bike, and the depth was not more than about 6 inches in the middle, and thankfully the surface was rough stone, but mostly smoother from al the trucks crossing same area.

We then continued onward, crossing another small river later that was not as large, but similar flow and depth.

The rain was coming steady for the first hour, then slowed some.

We finally stopped in a village for a hot drink and while inside the coffee house the rain started coming much harder.

We waiting about 30 minutes, but with no signs of abatement, we decided to just push onward in the rain.

The road climbs and descends often in this area, and we reached nearly 4000 meters (about 13000 feet) at the pass.

Some great views along the way, when the clouds were not blocking the views.

Could see snow on some of the higher peaks around us, maybe 1000 meters more, hopefully that does not move down any.

The temperatures dropped down quite low, only a few degrees above freezing at one point, but then went back up a little from there. Guide saw between 2 and 7 degrees, which would be 30s and 40s F.

We stopped for another hot beverage for a while and then continued, needing only 1 hour left to reach the hotel.

We finally pulled into the village of Lo Manthang and after riding through its narrow roads, we arrived at the hotel.

It was still raining, but had dropped to a light rain at least.

Unloaded the bikes and set stuff aside, then used a hose to wash off the lower legs as I was covered in light mud.

We then went inside and got into the room right away.

It was very cold still, and no hot water today. (Solar water heater, and no sun now for 24 hours).

I took partial cold shower to wash face, head, feet, and hands.

Then I unpacked my street clothes, hoping they would be dry.

Yeah, so the bag I have everything in is NOT a water proof bag.  It has some resistance, but a good amount of water will soak through.   When I planned this trip, all the rides would have support vehicles to carry the bags, so did not worry, did not think that I might find a need to have it on the bike instead.

The stuff I had in the bag along the edges were damp, but thankfully most of the clothing was inside the other duffel bag which is inside this bag.  That other layer allowed the cold through, and some light dampness on stuff along the very edges, but nothing serious.

Dressed and then laid down in the bed for a bit.

I was exhausted from the technical riding, and the cold.

I was also feeling the altitude more.  We are at 3800 meters (12300 feet), so air is starting to thin a little and I could feel that in my breathing.

I needed to relax, let my body calm down, heart rate decrease, and then could move around slower and things should be good.

Also having a slight headache which is normal for the first few hours.

I ended up dozing off.  Probably 90 minutes went buy before I decided to wake up and go check on getting lunch.

Found the guide in the restaurant already, and he had ordered, but only a few minutes ago.

He grabbed me a menu and I decided to have something more familiar since things were less than great at the moment.

Ordered a pizza and a hot tea.

After eating, it was about 2:00PM.  We agreed to meet around 7:30 for dinner.

I was going to sit in the main atrium at the café tables and work on stuff, so returned to the room and sat on the bed for a bit to relax while food digested.

I was really freaking cold though, so pulled the covers up and then laid down to warm up, and fell asleep again.

Slept for about 2.5 hours, then woke to use the toilet and made myself stay up.

I gathered the laptop and all the stuff I would need and went down to the main floor café and sat at a table to work.

Uploaded all the footage from today to the laptop, then worked on a few things online.

I am getting sporadic and very limited service on my phone.  The hotel Wi-Fi is down due to the weather as well.

I soon gave up trying to do more as most of the apps would not work at all, and those that did work, would stop working at random.

I typed up the blog entries for last 2 days and then will try to get video finished tonight.

Finished up to the present and then went up to have dinner.

Had a nice bowl of mushroom soup and a bowl of spaghetti Bolognese.  Pretty good dinner.

I then returned to my room around 8:00 PM, and decided to just go to bed.

It was cold and no desk, so working on laptop is not easy to manage in bed, and was tired enough that reading would have just put me to sleep anyway.

Hoping tomorrow things lighten up weather wise?

Catch ya down the road.

 

The ancient land of Mustang

September 24^th, 2026

Samar Village, Nepal

Woke early to see if clouds were off the mountain peaks.  There was bit more visibility, but not much better than yesterday, just different peaks.

Laid in bed longer, then woke and got ready.  Geared up and then packed everything so I was nearly ready to go.

Went out and watched clouds and mountains again for a bit, then joined the guide for breakfast in the restaurant.

We then finished packing, loaded the bikes and hit the road.

Nice ride on winding, paved road up the valley, clouds reaching down the mountain sides to blanket them in white.

Rivers and waterfalls were still flowing well, and daily life was going on around us.

Passed a group of sheep being sheered, and other workers doing what they do each day.

As before, plenty of spots on the road where road works slow things down a bit, but not too bad, mainly the oncoming trucks and passenger vans that do not want to get into the rougher road on their side, so drive down the wrong side of the road.

We stopped for coffee in the village area of Marpha.  This small town has very narrow roads going through it that are only for bikes and people, no cars can fit down them.  Even the bikes were a bit tight in spots.

Had to stop twice to show permits as we left lower mustang and entered upper mustang.

The roads started to climb as well, up, then down, and then back up.

We stopped in Kagbeni for lunch and ate at a local place called YacDonalds.  Yeah, you see it too.  Even the logo was a Yak head with two columns forming a stylized M shape.

I had a Yak Burger, which was VERY good.

We sat for a bit, then got back on the road.

This is where the road became a much narrower and beat up track through the mountains.

We soon arrived at a large river and across this bridge starts a series of switchbacks that just goes up!  I counted roughly 25 sharp turns on the way up.

Views from the top were incredible though.

We then continued onward for a short distance and arrived in the very small village of Samar, built way on the mountain side (and road keeps going higher from here).

We stopped at the first of the 3 tea house hotels in town and just as the rain was starting.  It had been spitting on us for last few miles, and now there was a steady light misty rain coming down.

Parked the bikes and took bags inside.

We got into the room and unpacked, and changed.

Some nice views from the hotel of the surrounding area.

I took a partial shower as the water was not very warm, just washing face and head and hands and feet.

I then tried working in the room a bit, but was not easy holding laptop in my lap while laying in bed and I wanted to start editing a new video.

Internet was not working, so would not be able to upload, but at least get the work done.

I grabbed what I thought I would need and went over to the restaurant and sat there where I had access to a power outlet and some nice views out the window.

Worked for a bit there, and after awhile the guide found me there and since it was nearing 5:00 PM, we decided to have dinner.

Ordered our food and then sat and talked while I worked until food arrived.

We both had a Dal Bhat set, a traditional meal here in Nepal, especially in the mountain regions.

A pile of rice in the center, a few sauces, the chicken I ordered (chunks with the bone still in, not easy to eat) and several vegetable options around the large round tray.

I drank a coke, and regretted it.  Maybe it’s the altitude (we are at 3500 meters, or 11,400 feet), but I felt so bloated between that soda and I think the rice.

I stayed at the table till about 8:00 PM when the guide went to turn in and looked like the family running the place were about done with the nightly cleaning as well, so I returned to my room so they could secure the place up.

It is also still raining outside, hopefully it stops overnight, or roads could be interesting tomorrow.

I finished the last hour sitting in the bed, which was not easy, but got the visual components of the video done.  I will work on the audio tomorrow night.

At this point I put everything away and tucked myself into bed under the massive 4 inch thick blanket and fell asleep.

Catch ya down the road.

 

North into the land of Mustang

September, 23^rd, 2026

Kalopeni, Nepal

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I had fallen asleep really early and slept all evening and way into the night.

Upon waking up at 4:00 AM, I decide at that point I felt pretty good, so just stayed awake and worked on the blog entries you have read before this one.

Once done with those, I played online a bit, then as the sun started to come up, I went ahead and took a shower and got geared up.

I finished up all the packing that still needed done, then around 6:30 I went down for breakfast in the hotel restaurant.

I arrived and they were still setting up (which was odd as I thought I recalled the lady saying it started at 6?

However, they had a few things out, so sat and ate a few small things and had a fruit infused water till the finished putting the food out.

It was an odd breakfast lineup.  While they had a few pastries and bread to toast, and some fresh fruit, the hot stuff was samosas, potato wedges, a few local things I was not sure what they were, and pasta with marinara sauce!  Also, a think of chicken sausage and last thing put out was small pancakes.

As with most places, they had an omelet bar as well.

I was alone in the place for the first 30 minutes, then lots of people started to come in and eventually the guide arrived as well and joined me.

We finished up and he went out to get his gear and I went up to the room to use the toilet one last time, and grab all my stuff.

Checked out of the room and then went outside after the lobby full of people loaded onto the bus for their trekking trip.

Guide brought up both of the bikes and we strapped my bag on again, and I put the tank bag and camera on.

Guide then started loading up his bike and while that was going on another tourist approached and started to ask me where I had gotten the bike.

British from the accent, which he confirmed as we talked.

I explained my path to the bike trip and we started talking about riding in general and travel plans.

Turns out he works in same field that I just retired from, but plans to keep working a bit longer.

After 10 minutes or so we exchanged WhatsApp contacts and then he and his friend went off and the guide and I did our last checks and got onto the bikes.

We headed back to the main road and back tracked a bit to a north bound route.

We followed this till the fuel station, and then went north again till we reached a turn to take a small road up the mountain side.

This road was fun.  Very steep in places, and several areas of switchbacks going up, up, and still farther up.

We got some views of the valley below a few times, and even stopped at one point to look out over the edge of town to where you can see the peaks of Annapurna South and Machapuchare.

Sadly, they were covered by clouds, you could see just the top of Machapuchare, and only the sides of Annapurna.

We figured we might get better views later, so continued on the road.

As we went up more, the clouds moved down, and soon we could see nothing beyond the nearby edges of the cliff.  Just clouds.

Road kept going up and we soon reached the top, then started the long ride back down.

About half way down we stopped off for a coffee at a small roadside café that was just an old shipping container with some patios built onto the side.  Really cool concept and use of material.

I decided to have a coffee, a cappuccino, and it was really good.

Once done there, I used the toilet, and then we got on the bikes and headed down.

We eventually reached the bottom and soon joined back up with the main highway heading west.

We stayed on this for about and hour or so, and then turned off onto the road that would take us north and into the Mustang valley.

Not too long after the turn we pulled off to have lunch in a small village.

We parked and went up to the 2^nd floor dining area and I had a nice Chicken Biryani (other than having to pick the chicken off the bone, which was a bit messy).

Once we finished eating, the usual toilet break, and then we hit the road again.

Not too far after this we came upon a huge waterfall just off the side of the road, so stopped and walked up the short distance to get some good photos.

Then we headed back onto the road, which now was getting worse by the minute.

While the paved sections were pretty good, just the usual series of pot holes and uneven paving, there were many sections where the road turned to dirt/gravel, usually in areas of road works, or where landslides had been bypassed.

Many of these sections were also wet from the water coming off the hillsides, turning them in to large muddy obstacle courses.

Add in the car and truck traffic which we found on about half those sections and things get a bit crazy.

The trucks and cars move all over the road trying to find the best path, which even we do on the bikes, however, that makes it difficult for us to pass the cars and they are always changing direction.

But they also are barely moving while they do this, and we can keep up a pace 4 times faster if we can just get around them.

Made it through most of the spots with only a few wheel spins or slips, and in one section did have to tap my foot down to the ground to stop the bike from leaning too far, but did not have to walk the bike through anything.

I did manage to soak myself from the mid-thigh down when I had to just barrel through a huge water hole as the small van would not let me around.

We did get stopped a few times in the middle of the muddy sections waiting for a larger vehicle coming the other way.  We also got stopped once for some road work that was blocking the road in the early part of the ride, but once they loader picked up the last load of dirt, a few of us bikes snuck around the dump truck while he was being loaded to get a head start on all the cars.

Another time we got stopped part way up a rough muddy section of road under a rock over hang which was dripping water on us the whole time.

The road did have some nice paved sections though, but usually broken by rough sections every mile or so.  Some sections were small, few bike lengths, others could take 5-10 minutes to get through.

At roughly the half way point of our ride we stopped at another water fall, this one even larger, though not as steep, and was multiple cascades versus a single drop.

This was Rupse Waterfall.  It drops 300 meters (about 984 feet).  Was quite amazing, and according to the guide, it flows nicely year round and does not dry up like some falls will in mountain areas.

We then continued onward until we had to stop at the first checkpoint to enter Lower Mustang.  Guide took care of the permit stuff while I waited, and then we were back on the road.

Not long after, we arrived at our stay for the night in the Kalopani area.

We pulled into a nice gated parking area by a lodge/restaurant and parked.  Our rooms though are in the other building across the road.

We walked over and I got into my room on the 2^nd floor with some nice views of the mountains around us.  Sadly, the clouds were still coming down low, so could not quite see the peaks.

I got out of the riding gear and took a quick shower, then dressed and went down to sit with the guide who was waiting for his room to get cleaned.

Had a hot tea and then after he left I sat and played on the phone and kept an eye on the mountains.

Finally the clouds cleared briefly off Annapurna.

But the other too big peaks nearby stayed covered (Dhaulagiri and Nilgiri)

The guide went over to work on somethings with his bike and I went upstairs to change into my pants, as the temperature was dropping with the sun, and shorts were not doing it anymore.

Also put on my light jacket.

I grabbed my Kindle and went out on front of the room on the balcony/walkway and sat in the chair to read.

I am reading “Ghost Rider” by Neil Peart, the drummer for the rock band Rush.  He went on a long motorbike ride as a healing exercise after losing both his daughter and his wife in a single year.  (not to mention having his dog put down and his best friend arrested and jailed while he was on the ride).

While still in the middle, it was interesting to watch how he used the travel to keep mind off the tragedies and try to find himself again as he no longer felt he was the same person.

It will be interesting to see where he ends up by the end of his journey.

The guide finished his work on the bike and came up to ask me when we wanted dinner.

Figured we would go down about 6:00pm, and we spent the last few minutes checking out the large space behind the hotel which you can see from the 2^nd floor balcony.  They were having a festival tomorrow, but was all kinds of activity going on tonight setting up tents, chairs, and testing the sound system.  Dozens of people had come down to help out, some carrying flags and marching down the road.

At 6:00 we went down to the restaurant and I ordered my meal, just a plate of mo-mo’s and some mushroom soup with a soda to drink.

We then sat and talked while I waited and while I ate.

Just before 8:00 PM he went off to have his own dinner (not sure why he did not eat when I did, unless prefers eating later.)

We had already lined up the plans for tomorrow and I ordered my breakfast to be ready at 8:00 AM as well to speed things up.

We will depart again around 9 and only have about a 4 hour ride with several interesting stops along the way, and will enter Upper Mustang tomorrow as well.

I came back to my room then and sorted a few things, put some stuff on the charger and then uploaded the footage taking today to the laptop.

Then it was time to type up this blog entry.

I was going to upload this tonight, but the Wi-Fi is no longer working, so either the heavier rain outside has caused an issue, or they shut it off as some point.  Will just put it online later.

I will finish the night out reading as I am getting a bit tired and not feeling like doing any video work.

Catch ya down the road.

Riding time! Kathmandu to Pokhara

September 22^nd, 2026

Pokhara, Nepal

Woke at around 6:00 AM, alarm was set for 6:30, so just went ahead and took shower and got dressed.

Went up for breakfast and sat out on the patio again as cool morning air was refreshing.

Ate a bit smaller meal today since we will be on the bikes today, did not want to feel stuffed.

Came back down to the room and completed the packing, trying to fit everything into the single bag and the tank bag was a bit more challenging than I had hoped, but it all went in eventually.

Sat in the room for about 30 minutes then to relax and play around online, then grabbed the bags, checked over the room, then left and went down to the lobby.

Checked out of the room and paid the bill for the 1 night and the laundry (though when I looked at my email for the charge later that day, the amount seemed very low, so not sure what happened, but will sort it later if need).

I then waited in lobby for just a few minutes till the guide arrived, he had been bringing the bikes over to this hotel.

We went out and spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out a way to strap on the large bag and getting the tank bag attached (that posed some challenges as well, and while on, it’s not ideal).

Then mounted the camera and phone mounts on the handle bar as I forgot to bring the smaller mounting inserts to put it on the mirror stalk, but it should work okay where it’s at.

We then hit the road in Kathmandu.

Was a bit slow going in the central part of the city with the narrow roads and heavier traffic.

We stopped after about 5 minutes to fuel up my bike as it was nearly empty.

Then we got out of the city center and to the main highway and slowly made our way out of the valley.

Once we reached the valley edge the traffic decreased some, mainly due to a tunnel that bypasses the pass going over the mountain.

We went up and over, going at a slower pace due to some mechanical issue with the guide’s bike.  He will resolve that tonight, so hopefully we can keep up speed better in following days.

We stopped at the bottom of the pass so he could check the bike out, and we also could use the toilets.  I also grabbed a cold drink at the shop here as well.

But we still managed a fair rate until we came to the more deteriorated road sections.

This middle section of road is narrow, and older, and due to years of heavy traffic, constant landslides, and in a few spots the recent flooding along the Trishuli River, things were a mess.

Lots of road works to repair damage, cleanup debris, or a few spots where they were still working on widening or other improvements.

Then of course the broken down or stalled vehicles that always seem to pick these roads to fail.

This creates long lines of vehicles, mostly trucks and busses, to fight for that single lane left open to get by.

We spent a few hours going through this section, many times barely moving until we could squeeze the bike through between some vehicles and get around the stalled truck or very slow-moving vehicle.

We stopped briefly at another road side café, though just used the toilets and sat in the shade.  I guess the road was temporarily going to be closed ahead for some blasting, so we waited it out there instead of in the line of cars ahead.  We only spent about 15 minutes here before guide said we could continue.

A few times we even sat there waiting, though I did see spots we probably could have gotten through, and other bikes were using them, but perhaps the guide was concerned using his crippled bike in them, or was not sure if I would follow.  Probably lead all types of riders, so might error on the side of caution, though I was more than willing to push through and never felt in any serious risk.

We eventually turned off onto the road heading northwest toward Pokhara, and the road improved a bit here, and soon after it became a mostly divided 4 lane highway, though a few sections still came together, and in some the lines were not painted.

And like other places, trucks and busses just broke down or parked in one of the lanes, so still had some passing to do, but only had to deal with one direction of traffic, and it was not too heavy at this time.

A few spots we had to detour into the other lanes due to land slides or some kind of road works, though oddly the other lanes never came into ours.

We stopped for lunch at a road side café and took a rest.

Had a few bottles of water and some spicy chili chicken mo-mo’s.

After a few minutes resting and watching the two busses full of people that stopped to use toilets and buy drinks, we got back on the bikes and continued down the road.

Easy going from here till we reached the edges or Pokhara and the traffic increased by a factor of 5.

Mostly bikes, so was not stopping anything, but became a game of dodge-bike, trying to weave through the mass of bikes, each going a different direction it seemed.

Of course, still cars, busses, and trucks, but those were the easy things to get around usually. 

Had quite a few stop lights as well, something we did not see as often in Kathmandu,

We soon turned off the main road into the narrow side streets, and wound down a few to reach the hotel.

Parked up in the drive and went inside.

I checked in and the guide explained the location and a few things, and we setup plans for meeting tomorrow. (Guide lives here, so he will just go home tonight).

He took care of parking my bike before he left and I went up to the room on the 4^th floor.

View looked nice, but was still too hot to go sit on the balcony.

I took a cold shower (hot water was not doing too good) and put on street clothes and then sat down to work on uploading the footage taken today.

Once done, I checked a few online things and started to write the blogs.

I completed the previous days entry and started this one, but was suddenly very tired, and could not even keep eyes open.

I did not sleep very good last night, so thought perhaps a short nap would help, so laid down on the bed to do that, and would go out and explore later.

So I thought…..

Ended up crashing so hard I did not wake up till much later, and even then, only to use toilet.

Needless to say, I did not go explore, did not have dinner and did not finish this till 4:00 AM in the morning when I finally woke up and felt rested.

I will end this hear and put the rest of my super early morning in the next entry.

Catch ya down the road.

Work on stuff and make final ride plans

September 21^st, 2026

Kathmandu, Nepal

Woke around normal time today, showered, dressed and went up to the restaurant to have breakfast.

Nice meal, and place was a bit busy today, been really slow most of the mornings.

I returned to the room, gathered up the dirty clothes and put them in a bag.

I went downstairs to see if the hotel had laundry services, and then did, and they said a staff member would stop by to pick up the clothes.

I returned to the room and a few minutes later a guy showed up to grab them and said they should be ready this evening.

This will let nearly everything be clean before I head out on the bike trip, as there will likely be no chance of laundry (other than sink or river) till I get back to Kathmandu.

I then went out to buy some drinks, and the closer shops were still closed, so walked over to the one I used the other day and bought a lemonade and 2 cokes.

I also stopped in a trekking supply shop and found some straps that I hope will work for attaching the bags to the bike.  They cost me $20, so hope these will work.

Returned to the hotel after that.

As I was walking into the side alley the hotel sits on, I reached into my pocket to pull out the room key and the change from the shop slide out and hit the ground.

I heard it hit and stopped, and then suddenly 2 guys ran up and started picking it up and I walked back.

At first, I was not sure if it was mine or he had dropped it, but he then told me it was mine and I had already checked my pocket and found it was missing.

I collected it from him and then gave him the 10 rupees note as a tip.  Not really much, but something for being honest.

I then started working on videos.  I am hoping to keep putting up videos from this summer’s Arctic Ocean trip while I have time in the evenings.

The first step as always is to convert the 360 footage with the framing I want into something I can import into the editing software.  This takes a bit of time as you need to sort of watch the video and decide what camera angles you want.

While 85% of the time I will just use the forward-facing view, I do like to get a few rear facing shots of me riding.  And then there are the occasional scenic views, or interesting objects off to the side where I will want to change the camera angle.

After some time doing that, I was hungry, so decided to see if that sandwich shop across the road was less busy this time.

I gathered my stuff and left the hotel and walked over and it was empty, so was able to go in and order a sandwich. 

I wanted to have the meatball sandwich, but they did not have meatballs today.  So ended up getting a chicken salami sandwich instead.

The shop is literally just a hole in a wall, so no place to eat there, so have to get it to go.

Went back to the room and my key would not open the door!

Had to go back down and have them fix that.  Seems like the forgot to extend the key when the booked the extra night for me last night.

Got back to the room after fixing my key, then sat and ate the sandwich with a Coke I had bought earlier.

It was a pretty good sandwich, though could have used a bit less cucumber on it.

Once done, I started to work again on videos, but was suddenly really, really tired.

I set an alarm to wake me up a bit later and laid on the bed to relax, and as expected, I fell asleep.

Woke about an hour later, responded to some messages, but still no word on the meeting for the bike tour.

I decided to just play on the phone for a bit while I woke up and while doing that, I got the call that tour manager was here with the bike guide.

I went down to the lobby and found them both waiting.

We talked for a bit, then walked a few blocks over to another hotel where the bikes were currently parked, just to check them out.

We will be riding Royal Enfield Himalayan Scram 411’s on this ride.

The bikes are newer, so have the new instrument cluster, and are equipment with rear pannier racks, so that will hopefully make the attaching my bag easier.

We started the bikes and checked them over, then walked back over to the hotel.

I then went inside and sat down to think about the bag and how it would go on.

I then decided I was hungry enough to try having dinner, so went up to the restaurant and this time I sat outside as it was a bit cooler tonight.

I had a mushroom soup and some panner in tomato sauce with roti bread.

Oddly, I was the only person having dinner tonight, and it was only about 7:30 pm.

When done, I paid my bill and left.

Back in the room I sat down and was again overcome by exhaustion, so decided I better start packing and have everything ready tonight so I could go to be early and not worry about things in the morning.

Emptied out the bike gear that I would wear in the morning and then combined both bags into one and sorted things to fit better.

Put a few things on the charger tonight, shut down the laptop (which is why I am typing this the following day) and packed up everything I would not need in the morning.

I then set the alarm for 6:30 as we need to be in the lobby at 7:30 to load the bikes and get on the road.

I then killed the lights, and went to bed!

Till tomorrow.

                                                                        

Exploring Kathmandu

September 20^th, 2026

Kathmandu, Nepal

Woke today at 7:00am.  Moved from bed to the chair and still feel asleep again till 8:00am.

Took a shower and dressed and then went upstairs for breakfast.

After eating a decent breakfast, I went down to the room to start getting things ready for today.

Pulled out the 360 camera and verified card and battery were good, and put the spare batteries on charging to top them off.

I also made sure the infrared camera was had good batteries and put my phone on the charger to top it up as well.

Then we sat and played around online for a bit till I heard from the tour manager that my car and guide would be at the hotel at 10:15.

I went downstairs at 10:00 to sit in the lobby.  Few other people sitting around.  The tour manager arrived and started to talk with one of the guys sitting nearby, he was the guide.

The car arrived a bit later and we got in and departed the hotel parking lot to drive to the first of four destinations today.

The traffic was a bit crazy already, and the narrow roads make getting around fun.  Was a slightly larger electric SUV as well, so bit tight in spots, but nice newer car with good AC, which we needed as the temperature was getting up there today, and air was a bit humid due to moisture in the surrounding hills.

We made our way west and started going up the hill side to reach the first stop of the day.

The Swayambhunath Temple was located up on a hill top overlooking the Kathmandu city and valley.

This very important Buddhist site dates back to at least the 3^rd century BCE, and is venerated by several Buddhist faiths, especially among the Tibetan Buddhists.

The main draw is the large Stupa, but several smaller stupas are located on the site, as well as temples and shrines.

There are a few families that stay in the area as monks and caretakers, though this is about half the original number that used to be onsite before the site was badly damaged in earthquakes over the last few decades.

Much has been restored and work continues on smaller areas of the site still.

There artisanship in some of the carvings and sculpture is amazing.

Parts of the structure still date back to 2000 years ago, but much of the site has been rebuilt in recent times as part of the restoration from the earthquake damage.

The site has several community dogs around it, and they pretty much just lay around all day.

Also contains a fair number of monkeys on the site, which are fun to watch as they climb sections of buildings, trees, and walls.   They have a swimming pool that was build just for them and some of the monkeys will climb up to nearby walls and roofs and then jump to the water 15-20 feet below.

Several vendors around the site selling simple trinkets that are connected with Buddhism in some way, or just unique art pieces.  Looked at a few cool statues, but no room to buy stuff like that.

I did find one spot selling the small collection of coins.  Found 2 sets, one with more recent coins, other much older.  As coins are not used much in daily life, and almost never see the Paisa (sub coin under the Rupee) coins, I thought this might be cool way to add some to my collection.

Vendor really tried to make out that these coins were really old, like 200+ years.   I doubted that (I later looked up a few and did find some going back about 150 years, so they are old), but still inquired about price.

He originally gave me price for each set which was way more than I was going to pay, then dropped price as a package deal, but still bit more than I wanted to give.

I offered about 60% of his asking price, and he really did not want to do that, so I then checked my wallet and offered a bit more, mainly as that was all I had on me in US cash since I was nearly out of local Rupee at this point.

He finally accepted the dollar offer, if I tossed in a few more rupee, which I agreed to.

All in I gave $46 for 36 coins, most in decent condition.  The exchange value is of course way below that, but from a collection standpoint I probably paid a fair market value based on some searching I did later in the day.

Shortly after I bought them, I met up with the guide again (He had let me wander around on my own for a bit after we had gone over the history and usage of the complex).

We exited back out the way we came, lots of steps and hilly roads, though we drove most of the way up, there is another route up that has 340+ steps to reach the same place.

We met up with the car and driver and left to reach our next destination a short distance away.

We pulled up and exited the car on the side of the road, then walked over and into the Hanumandhoka Durbar Square (also known as Kathmandu Durbar Square).

This complex of buildings includes many old temples put up by noted families and much of the former royal palace and administration offices.

Nepal was a monarchy for many centuries until events in 2001 started a slow dissolution of that type of government.

A member of the royal family went on a spree and killed much of the royal family.  One of the surviving members took the throne, but in 2008 abdicated the throne and the government changed in to a republic of elected officials.

The complex is now being restored and converted into a museum, though much work still needs to be completed.

Much of the palace is more recent in construction, a large part only being built in the early 1900s, but other sections date back to the late 1700s.

While walking around, we viewed some details on many of the temples, saw the insides of the former state courtyards, walked through a small section of the palace open to the public, and also entered the Kumari Ghar which is next to the old palace.

The Kumari Ghar is palace residence of the Living Goddess Kumari.  She is represented by a female child, chosen at a very young age from specific families from specific religion to serve as the Living Goddess until she reaches the age of puberty, at which time she retires the role and a new child is chosen.

Her duties include special appearances at festivals and religious functions.  On certain days, the goddess will appear in the window above the palace courtyard and visitors below can honor her presence.

We were there during the time of this appearance, so waited in the courtyard (which was very hot and stuffy as no breeze could blow through it, and packed with people) for a few minutes until the announcement of the appearance was given.

Then on the 3^rd floor of the building, a small girl, probably 4 years old, stood in formal attire at the window, staring mostly off into space, though I did see her look down briefly.  She appears only for about 30 seconds, while those below go quiet and put hands together in prayer, then many will start clapping as she departs.

On this day, a large group of school children were present and they were then led into the building, where I believe they get to meet or at least have a photo taken with the Goddess.  This ability is only for locals; no foreigners are allowed to go inside the building.

Once the appearance was over, people had to filter out the small narrow doorway, so the guide and I held back and bit and discussed the details on the architecture of the building until much of the crowd had dispersed.

When we finished seeing the rest of the complex, we met up with the car and driver and headed across town to the next stop, which is also where we will stop for lunch.

After a 20 minute drive, we arrived at the location of the Boudhanath Stupa.

This is one of the largest spherical stupas in the world, and one of the more important sites for the Tibetan Buddhist faith.

It is believed to have been built in the 5^th century, but could be older, and has been renovated and changed some over the centuries.

The large round structure is said to contain important relics inside, and is surrounded by a wall of buildings containing monasteries, shops and upper floor cafes and restaurants.

It was one of these places we stopped to eat at, located on the rooftop of the 4 story building.

This location gave a great spot to see the Stupa from a more elevated viewpoint.

I took a seat and ordered my lunch, the guide went elsewhere, not sure it he ate on his own, or went to a different place, as he seemed to know several people on the way in, so might have gone to spend some time with another local in the area.

I ordered Chicken Mo-Mos (steamed chicken dumplings with sauce), Dal Makhani (lentils and spice sauce) and had it served on rice.  Also tried a stuffed Naan bread (stuffed with cottage cheese).  Just had a coke and some water to drink.

As happened the other night, the portions were way larger than I expected, so ended up eating too much, and did not even finish the Naan.

When done, I paid my bill (2000 rupee, or about $13) and we left to go walk around the perimeter of the Stupa.  We talked about the history of the place, and its place in Tibetan Buddhist faith, and some about the surrounding town as well.

We then walked over to a nearby street to wait for the car.  Guide actually headed off and has me wait on the side of the road for a bit, and after about 5 minutes he returned and the car shortly after that arrived.

We quickly got into the car as he had to block traffic to stop and pick us up, and then headed over to the next, and final stop for the day.

We reached the Pashupatinath Temple after a few minutes and were dropped off along the road outside.

We walked a few blocks to reach the main entrance and then walked among the outer temple buildings to the river.

This temple complex covers 246 hectares and has hundreds of mini temples surrounding the main temple, which dates back to at least the 5^th century.

It is considered one of the holiest pilgrimage sites within the Hindu faith.

One of the more interesting aspects was the cremation ceremonies taking place along the river.

As in India, Nepal uses cremation as the main method of treating the body after a person’s death.

The body is burned on a special platform and when done washed into the river, which (in this case the Bagmati River, which does eventually join the Ganges in India).

There were several fires burning while we were there, and two more funeral ceremonies were just getting started with the deceased being still on the bamboo frame sitting on the side of the platform while the family gathered for the various rituals.

My guide explained how the whole process worked, the ceremonies, now various family members will follow certain things in the follow year after, the costs, and special handling that occur leading up to the fire itself.

I then had some time to wander among the nearby small temples and structures on the hillside, including a lot of steps.

There were lots of lazy dogs and active monkeys around this site as well.

Once we were done, we walked out along the river to meet the car.

At this point we then headed back into town and the hotel.

At the hotel I tipped the guide a small amount as I was nearly out of rupee, and then went up to my room to cool off and relax, my feet, legs, and back were a bit sore now.

I worked on a few things until the tour manager contacted me to meet up and discuss the next few days points.

He arrived at the hotel a bit later and we went up to the rooftop bar to have a drink and quickly go over things.

The guide for the bike ride will arrive sometime later in the day tomorrow and we will then get to go over the ride details and check out the bike as well.

We then talked about maybe doing a shorter trip tomorrow morning as well, but I was not sure yet if I wanted to go out again, or stay in the room.

I do need to check with hotel to see if they have laundry service and get my stuff cleaned so I can have a full set of clothing for the ride.

I will call him in the late morning if I decide too.

Once we finished talking, I went down to the room to grab my passport so I could go get some more local currency.

I also stopped at the front desk and extended my stay another day, since my original stay only included the days before the Tibet tour was to start, but as that was moved, those nights where cancelled.

As I am not leaving till Tuesday, I need a hotel for Monday night, so just as well stay where I am.

Once that was done, I then left to go check the rates at a few local money exchange shops as I had noticed today the shops along the places we visited were paying a bit more today.

I walked down the same street I saw the other day and the numbers were higher, but bit less than the shops in the other parts of town, but I did find the last shop was only .10 rupee per dollar less, so close enough.

I exchanged another $200, and then walked down to use the ATM as I wanted to see which was better option.

I pulled 10000 rupees from the ATM, paying a 500 rupee atm fee.

I then returned to the room to sort out the funds, and then did some checks and calculations and with the 100 rupee equivalent that my own bank also charged me, I was losing 600 rupees to the ATM, but doing the math, I only lost 200-300 rupee at the money exchange shops, so looks like the better option for now.

Once done with that, I then uploaded all the footage from today, and got things sorted, and also put batteries on the charger and the cell phone.

I am still feeling full from lunch, so going to just skip eating dinner tonight.

Now that I have this blog entry finished, I will get it uploaded and then either go to bed, or work on converting more 360 footage from the Arctic trip so I can get more videos done.

Catch ya down the road.

 

Planning for Nepal

September 19^th, 2026

Kathmandu, Nepal

Woke today at 8:00AM and got showered and dressed.

Went up to 5^th floor to the restaurant for the included breakfast and met up with Avo again.

Nice place with a good sized indoor seating area, and a smaller outdoor patio, which is where the omelet guy was working to build your omelet of choice.

We talked about various things while eating and then he left to pack, but will return when done.

While waiting, Ganesh, a local partner who will help me with some trip planning arrived, and then Avo came back soon after.

We discussed various ideas, and settled on a possible plan and then Ganesh made several calls to try and work on the logistics to get something going in a few days’ time.

Avo left again so he could get prepared for his departure at noon, he has to fly out and head to another country to start some scouting for a future ride to be offered there.

I stayed with Ganesh till we had all the details worked out for the bike trip and a day trip around the city for tomorrow.

Once done, I went back to the room and started writing the blog for the previous travel days, then when he messaged me, I went down to the lobby to say goodbye Avo and talk a bit with Ganesh before he left

Back to the room to finish the blog and upload it, and then played around online a bit.

By this time, I was getting hungry, so gathered my stuff and left the hotel to walk around the local area.

I had seen an interesting sandwich shop just a block away on Google Maps, but when I walked by, it was a small take out only shop, and quite busy, so decided to find something else to eat.

I walked a bit down the road, looked at some art from a local, nice stuff, but not anything I need anymore.

Turned down a small alleyway to check out some T-shirts. Guy was friendly, but kept talking about how he had not had any business today.

I found a cool looking shirt and when I asked the price, he asked me what I wanted to pay as I was his first customer in a while.  Without thinking I said out loud that I would probably pay X for the shirt in the states, so he agreed to that price, probably twice what he would have asked for…doh!

He then did not give me any change (small amount owed), instead giving me a small Nepal Flag patch, but as that was actually something cool, I was happy with it.  And the price paid was not bad, just did not take advantage of my location and get it cheap. 😊

I bought the shirt as I will probably need a spare anyway, I usually pack 1 less so I have room to buy a shirt if need along the route, though this time the shirt is not really related to my trip, but still cool.

I then walked back toward the hotel, then around the corner to check out other places along the road.

The area is mostly hotels, small food shops, and huge amount of retail, selling all kinds of things.  Lots of travel agents as well.

I browsed a few book/map stores, thought about buying a paper map of the area we will ride, but probably not needed since I have the guide.

Stopped at a small shop to buy a coke and then wandered a bit more.  Checked out most of the money exchange places, the rate was pretty close among them all, varied by only about .8, so not a huge difference.  I will probably get more money tomorrow, though might try the ATM to see what its rate is.

I went back to room to drop off the shirt and coke (bought it for later), then walked back over to a restaurant around the corner I had seen.

Kathmandu Burgers.  Looked good, familiar food, with a local twist.

Had the special, which was two patties, one ham, one chicken, both breaded it appeared, toppings and on a toasted bun.  Had some fries and a coke with that.

Was a good meal, and cost just over $5 for it all.

Sat outside and watched the traffic while I ate.

Quite hectic at times, narrow one lane roads.  The cars and bikes mostly are one way, but do see some bikes going other direction, and rickshaws and pedestrians going both.  You just walk on edge of road, no real sidewalk, occasionally a small patio in front of shops, but those are only short sections.

Had a few people trying to get my attention from street, some kid begging for food I think, another guy either wanting, or asking if I wanted something to smoke, I believe, and a few that I just ignored and did not even look at.

A few women, all with a single child, sitting on road begging as well.  Makes you wonder if this is real mothers in need, or just all part of some group to get money out of tourists.

As I had little local currency, I am not going to be “donating” anything today anyway, so ignored them.

After lunch I returned to the hotel, checked out the window display of shop near hotel that sells knives and such.  They had some really cool looking khukuri blades, but not something I have room for, and travelling around with it would make things complicated.

Back in the room I answered a few messages, then scrolled online for a bit.

My lower back was hurting, so I laid down on the bed to stretch it out, and withing moment I must have zonked out.

I woke up 4 hours later!

I was not super hungry, but needed some food, so walked upstairs to check out the dinner options at the restaurant.

Got seated, looked over the menu and decided to order what I thought would be a small starter, and a main course.

The starter, chicken mo-mo’s, was about twice what I thought it would be, but the small dumplings were really good, and had 3 sauces to work with as well.

The main course was a chicken dish.  It came out with pasta and veggies, all sizzling on a very hot plate, putting off steam!

Very good though, but now I have had more food than I should have.

I only drank water to help though.

Then they asked about desert, and like an idiot, I asked to see what they had.  Ended up getting a brownie with ice cream.  Should not have eaten that much extra, and wasn’t really that good either, not bad, just not great.

Once done, I thought they might bring me a check, but instead asked if I wanted coffee or tea.

I decided to get a nice chai with milk to finish off the night.  Was okay, but liked the stuff in India better.

I then got up and walked to counter to pay for my dinner.  I went ahead and paid now instead of charging to room since I am still not quite sure how the room is setup, do not want it getting billed to the tour company since they booked the nights and paid for them for me.

I then came back to the room to work on stuff.

Got the payment in for the bike ride trip, so good to go there.  Still working with other tour company to get final payments for a trip I will do in a few weeks, needed an updated invoice for some missing options.

I tried on the shirt I bought earlier, which was largest size he had.  Sadly, it is a bit snug across the chest and definitely over my fat gut.  Shoulders and arms are good, so perhaps as I lose some weight it will fit better.  Will need to be careful with washing, as it’s a 100% cotton, so will probably shrink.

Tomorrow I will do a tour of the city, checking out at least 4 main sites of local significance.  This will be by car with a driver/guide.  I will pay the guy cash tomorrow for that trip as it is smaller amount I have funds on hand for.

Will meet with the local tour guy again tomorrow I think when I pay him, so can get some final questions answered, and will meet again on Monday with the bikes and guide to figure things out before we leave on Tuesday morning.

Now that I have this typed and ready to go, will get it online and then probably go to bed since I need to be up a bit earlier tomorrow.

Or I might start editing the next episode of the Arctic trip instead, depends how tired I fell in the next 30 minutes.

Catch ya down the road.