Motorcycle Trekking - Getting past the road damage

September 30^th, 2026

Marpha, Nepal

Woke early today.

Put on shoes and went outside to get some fresh air on the front patio. A few of the guides and the hotel staff were moving about, but none of the other guests.

Took a few photos and just sat there getting some Zen time.

Eventually people started to move about, more of the guides were hanging out up on the road side and a few other guests went out for walks or taking photos.

I went up with the guides; sun was shining there and was much warmer.

My guide asked to use the charging cable again for his phone on the motorbikes, so went into get it.

We ran on his bike for about 10-15 minutes.  While that was going on, two of the Chinese guests were going on about the bikes and asked to take photos, and a bit later after we moved away, I saw them both posing with the bikes.

We then moved the phone over to my bike and ran it as well to charge phone, and both bikes were not warmed up and ready to ride.

Went in for breakfast and the French group was already eating, and the Chinese group was starting to arrive. 

My food came out soon after and I quickly ate and then went to the room to change into my gear.

Then sat around in various places playing on the phone till we were ready to leave.  We wanted to leave about 9:00AM, but think we got out by around 8:30AM.

All the other groups were also getting ready to leave.

All of us were going to use the alternate way of bypassing the road damage, the village trail.

Those in cars would just hike down the hill and get a different car at the bottom.

We had the extra challenge of moving the bikes down the trail, which was something that we knew could be done, but most doing it were using smaller, lighter bikes.

We got on our bikes right after the French group left, and passed them almost immediately.

The road was a bit better this time as the tractor had cleared a few of the areas and about 2 dozen trucks had gone down the road the day before, so the worst sections were somewhat flattened and we could follow in tire tracks.

Most of the thick wet mud was now damp hard mud, still soft and bit slick, but not going to get stuck in it.

We reached the village of Chele right before the road damage and guide asked around and the work had not even started yet.  They were still waiting on the dump trucks that were needed to haul the gravel up from the river to fill in the washed out sections.

So, we were going to have to move the bikes down the hiking trail.

We rode over into the villages narrow dirt paths and stopped at the top of the hill.

Guide hiked down a bit to check things out and was pretty sure we could do it, but would need help as the bikes would be too heavy to handle alone or even with the two of us.

He went off to find some help, and was gone for probably 30 minutes.

I stayed with the bikes, getting strange looks from the locals going about their business in the same area or passing through.  Passed time with a few photos and just staring at the bikes.

The French group hiked down around this time, and 20 minutes later the Chinese group came and hiked down.

They would have cars pick them up at the bottom to continue on to the Jomson Airport or the next town they were to visit.

Guide brought me a bottle of water as I was thinking I would need it after helping move the bikes.

Eventually the help gathered.

They took guides bike first.

One smaller guy got on the bike, and two (the guide being one) grabbed the bike from the back and they coasted it down the hill.  Several others followed along to help when needed.

I stayed up top with my bike and the bags (we removed all the bags and gear to make bikes lighter.)

When it was my bikes turn, the same guys took it and guide said to wait and he would be back to get the bags.

However, shortly after they went down (I filmed the first segment and the walked back to the bags) one of the drivers that had been with the French group grabbed two of the bags, another guy grabbed another, so I grabbed what was left and we all hiked down the hill.

Figured no point I making my guide hike back up again just for the bags.

We reached the bottom just after they did with the bike and we all stood around a bit while they talked, drank water, and rested.

The guys that helped went back up for another bike, which we watched them bring down, and then it was time for us to get on the bikes and go.

We rode just a short distance to a large, somewhat technical water crossing.

Guide went first and bike got stuck on a rock and he stalled in the middle, then was just spinning wheel when trying to go.

I parked and went over to help, wading into the 6-12 inch deep, quite cold water.  Yeah, my boots are finally wearing out, water got in almost immediately.

We spent a few minutes trying to dislodge the bike from the large rocks and get it up the slightly steep bank.

Finally got it up and he took the bike (it was running and he was operating it while walking on one side, me on the other) up the road a bit to park.

I walked back, now missing my water bottle that had fell out of my pocket and washed away, and got on my bike.

I started the bike and line up, but waited as the guide was in the water moving some rocks around to clear a better path.

Once he finished, I eased the bike to the edge and the drove into the water and crossed.

It was rough, and still found a few rocks, but reached the far bank without getting stuck, then powered up the bank, but slightly off center, so took a rougher route around his parked bike to reach smoother road.

We then got going again.

Rest of the road was rough, some parts washed away, but paths made over the remains.

Many of the slides on the road across the bridge were still there, but tracks had been made over them, so we could get across.  It was bumpy, and still a few muddy spots, but not too bad.

We eventually reached another washed crossing.  Looks like we were just crossing the stream bed as the original bridge was gone.

This area was made up of very loose stones and running, muddy water.

I made the mistake of following the guide in too close, and when his bike slipped for a second and he slowed down, I had to stop to avoid hitting him.

He continued okay, but now I had to get going, and after just a few feet my back tire was stuck and spinning.

He came over to give me a push, and the bike got going, but then lost traction and killed the engine.

Got it going and was able to hit the last section and bounce out of the water.

After this the road was mostly just avoiding fallen rocks, which in many places covered our lane, making us use the oncoming lane instead.

Thankfully there was not too much traffic.

Some sections of mud slide to ride over, and at one point we had to divert onto a path next to the road as the main road was covered in a sheet of thick mud.

Not sure if this area had been used as something else as the trail was well worn, but very rough.

We stopped twice on our way to check out of the permit zones, which we had overstayed by two days, but thankfully guide had already been in contact and the authorities were aware of the situation and reasons why.

We reached Kagbeni and went into town to eat at YacDonalds again.

At this point, my stomach issues were getting quite bad and had to spend a bit of time in the restroom, only to find the toilet would not flush!!!

I did what I could, but then told the person running the place about the issue, and he indicated the toilet had a water leak and water was shut off, he said he would fix later and just locked that bathroom.  Kind of embarrassing, but also a bit annoyed, if the toilet did not work, why was it not locked before someone used it.

After lunch we made our way out of town, some very rough sections of road, and had to wait for a tractor blocking the road while they dumped off a load of rocks.

We then found the highway again and shortly after this the pavement returned.

Still, plenty of loose rock and dirt on the road in sections, but made the rest of it much nicer.

We passed through Jomson as the guide wanted to stay in a different place until we knew what we were going to do as it had the parking needed to leave the bikes if it comes to that.

This section of road had some very beat up areas, though think this was more from lack of maintenance than the recent flooding and rains.

We soon reached the small town of Marpha, which we had stopped in on the way up for coffee.

This was the village with the very narrow roads that no cars could use.

We meandered our way through the small lanes and found the same café/hotel we had stopped at before.

Guide said we would stay here tonight.

So got my room, got out of the dusty gear and wet boots and then took a hot shower.

Dressed and laid out a few things to dry in the window I opened and then wandered out to see if the guide was around, but he had moved the bikes somewhere and then went off to do something, I guess.

I went back to the room to look over the calendar.

Today should have been my return to Kathmandu and the end of the trip.  We now are at least one or two days from being done.

Our problem still remains lack of information.  Internet is still out for the region, so no Wifi in the hotels, and for last 24 hours now, all cell service has stopped working.

We need to find out if the road wash out near Tatopani has been fixed, or at least graded down enough to allow vehicles to pass or not.

If yes, we can ride out tomorrow to Pokhara and then back to Kathmandu the following day.

If no, then we will likely need to leave bikes and fly out, but not sure if that will be a single day or two days of flying.  There are only a handful of flights out of Jomson each day due to high winds that come up in the early afternoon. (Flights are on smaller 2 engine prop planes).

I ended up falling asleep while I was thinking, or so I assume, I just recall waking up and 2 hours were gone.

Went out and found the guide in the café talking with another, so joined them, and soon the other guy left.

We talked a bit about current issues, then hotel asked if we could get dinner order in as they were expecting to lose power in the next hour.

Seems that the main power is down here, but a smaller hydro power plant nearby does provide some power, but it rotates it around the various villages.

We ordered something that could be cooked on the gas stove, just in case, and glad we did as the power dropped about 15 minutes later.

At our dinner (we both had the spaghetti, though they chicken had to be replaced with yak, the chicken they had was no longer good, and other was frozen still).

Once we finished dinner, we talked about various things for a while, then I grabbed the laptop to get this typed up.

They have already closed up the café and think things are winding down.  We are the only guests here right now, most staying here have already moved north, and all access to the region has been closed off now due to the current situation.

Will head back to room soon and upload footage, then probably read a bit and go to bed.

Catch ya down the road.