But then the morning came and we discovered that they had taken a liking to my riding boots. We were most upset. After 5 months and 30,000 kms with 50% of it camping, this was the first thing we have had stolen. Crossed the border from India and the changes were immediate. The border people at customs and imigration were far more relaxed. The road was in good condition, there seemed to be much more color and the streets were cleaner. We rode around town to find a hotel where we could park the bike.

We had to leave the bike in the street initially because the car park wasn't open till 7pm and it was a bit disappointing to walk around town and come back to the hotel to find someone sitting on the bike. I gave him an earful and he was most apologetic and I explained that if he asked me I would allow him to sit on the bike but if the bike fell over because we were not there and something was damaged that could not be replaced it would or could prematurely end our trip. Well he became my new best friend and became even more apologetic.
It was nice later we sat down and had a nice chat about the differences between the Nepalese, the Indians and Europeans. It was a pretty deep conversation about different ideals and ways of living.
It is part of what I enjoy most about traveling.

Next we headed up the road toward Taplejun. Information about the road was telling us it was a good road all the way around the loop and others were telling us it was only sealed as far as Phidim and was very poor after that. We decided to give it a go and turn back at Phidim if necessary.
We left the hotel at 10ish and headed up the road. It was a good road and quite beautiful as it went through the rolling hills and the tea plantations. The first surprise was we came across 2 Aussies riding a royal Enfeild around Nepal and India. They were a young couple from Mission beach in Queensland. They had ridden up towards Taplejun but the clutch had gone on the bike so they were limping back to India to get it fixed. It was so nice to talk to a couple of Aussies. They had set up the bike pretty well with a back pack either side and lots of stuff hanging of the back. This was the 3rd clutch they had replaced in 3 months. They were pretty relaxed about it, the last one had only cost 700rupees and the whole bike had only cost $1000 Aussie dollars. I think if I was traveling in India again I would seriously consider riding a local bike. I am sick of the attention the foreign bike attracts.

Anyway after saying seeya to them we headed up the road. The scenery was great all the way, the road was so tight that we were mostly in first and second gear. The land here is all terraced. Acres and acres of land that would be unworkable. The crops here are tea, rice, corn, some sort of squash, and every piece of land that isn't a sheer drop was in agricultural use. There are houses and villages dotted everywhere the eye can see. We encountered 2 days here with cloud and fog but every valley was in full agricultural use. After riding for 6 hours we got to :Phidim and the road deteriorated so much that we were unable and unwilling to continue. So we turned around and headed back. Then it started to rain, as it does when we are looking for a campsite. We found a really nice spot just of the road about 20kms from Ilam. After setting up camp ( our first real camp since Turkey) we cooked tea and then went to bed exhausted. Bron was woken at about 1am with some blokes talking outside the tent. As we are used to people fiddling with our stuff we thought that they had probably just been looking at the tents reflectors or something. (Bron didn't wake me up and I am surprised I slept through it all). But then the morning came and we discovered that they had taken a liking to my riding boots. We were most upset. After 5 months and 30,000 kms with 50% of it camping, this was the first thing we have had stolen.

We went to the local police and reported them stolen but knew that the chances of them being found was pretty well nil. After 2 days, 300kms without getting out of 3rdgear riding in my sandals we headed back down to the flat lands and along the main road towards Kathmandu.It was nice to be in top gear even though we were only doing 80kmh. We stopped about 4.30 pm at Lahan for the night in a so-so hotel with a very so-so town around it. Bron and I did our normal walk around town after settling into the hotel and it was like we were from another planet. Most places we have been we get a few funny looks but generally people are really friendly and inquisitive. In this town it was hard to get a smile from anyone, even when we went to purchase things from a shop we were treated with disdain. This has really surprised me as from what I understand Nepal's main income is from tourism and even though this town wouldn't see many tourists I presumed that the attitude would be a little different. That is the problem with expectations I suppose.

We chose the back road to Kathmandu as we were told this was far more scenic even though it would take longer. It was a lovely road (mostly) but very tight (first and second gear again). We stayed at a lovely little village not too far from Kathmandu so we could get in there early in the afternoon. The scenery and architecture throughout the scenic road was great. The little villages and stone buildings were really beautiful.

We headed towards Kathmandu the next day. I needed to replace my boots as I dont like riding in my sandals and we wanted to get there to check out bike shipping from there. The choice we need to make at this stage is whether to send the bike home from Kathmandu/Nepal or whether to head back into India, head to Delhi (at the end of Commonwealth games) and send from there.
Getting into Kathmandu/Thamel was relatively simple. The last part of the road was probably the worst road we have ridden on, littered with deep ruts, holes, rocks and broken down trucks.

The other hazards were trucks and buses constantly on the wrong side of the road trying to miss rough bits on their side. It seemed of no concern that they were going through a blind corner, and no problem to them that there was something coming the other way, they just kept on their route. I gave up trying to get around them and whenever one of them was heading my way on my side of the road, I just chose to stop the bike and let them go around me rather than risk life and limb trying to get out of their way.
We got into Thamel nice and early (afternoon) and found a nice hotel with secure parking. This city is madness. It is probably the most congested crazy traffic city we have been to. Totally not what we were expecting( there goes those expectations again).

Thamel is a "tourist" area but about the only place around with nice well priced hotels. The constant badgering for taxi's, rickshaws, weed, tiger balm and other wonderful delights people are trying to sell you gets a bit tough at times here and they don't seem to get that you don't want some of their products at times. They chase you down the street into their shops, out of their shops into someone else's shop, it can be hard work at times.
We spent a few days in Kathmandu and found the bloke that lots of people from Horizons send their bike to Bangkok and beyond with. We have chosen to send the bike home from Kathmandu in a couple of weeks after seeing a few more things in Nepal. After sending the bike home we are doing a 8 day trip to Tibet then fly to Kuala Lumpar.

From Kathmandu we leave the frenzied city and head towards Chitwan national Park for a look around. The run down to Chitwan is pretty easy, once we got past the road of the century the rest of the trip was pretty much a breeze. The police did stop us at a checkpoint at one stage and told us that we had been involved in a smash with a minivan. After complaining loudly to the policeman that we had not had a incident with a minivan and if we had we would be worse of and if he would care to observe that the bike has not got a dent or graze on it he did relent and let us go. It took 15 minutes and some assertiveness but we left not sure if it was a scam or whether some idiot in a minivan on the wrong side had swerved back onto his own side of the road and damaged his vehicle. Leaves me with a bit of a bad taste as I said to the policeman " if I stopped and reported everyone who tried to push us of the road, or pulled out in front of us we would not get anywhere because it happens every 5 minutes with these crazy drivers".

It was a nice relief to get to Chitwan, the place we stayed was right on the river and the area/town has a lovely feel to it. After a nice restful night the next day we did our dugout canoe ride down the river, then the 3 hour walk through the national park. We only saw a croc, a couple of monkeys, insects and birds, no tigers or rhinos. We saw lots of elephant grass, plants and trees.It was good to look around the national park. Then in the afternoon we went to the elephant breeding center, where there were twin baby elephants. The evening was filled with the native dancing then another nice quiet sleep.

The next day the 2 hour elephant ride with our first look at a rhino with its calf We also saw birds, jungle fowl, 2 types of deer, a mongoose, monkeys creepy crawlies, this was our highlight of Chitwan. It was wonderful riding on such a beautiful animals back and feeling the sway at every step. The forest from the elephants back was great and I was amazed how quiet it was walking through the forest. We watched the elephant being washed in the river, up until a month ago tourists could help but a drunk American drowned and so now it is banned. The rest of the day was nice restful, Bron went shopping in town and finally bought an elephant.

The ride from Chitwan to Pokhara was a nice easy ride. Only 160kms for the day with some excitement at the end to see the massive Himalayas behind the clouds for the first time.

Pokhara

Again we stayed in the tourist area as that is where the good hotels are. The lake here is quite picturesque and the tourist area isn't quite as pushy as it is in Kathmandu.
The adventurous streak came out in Bron and I today, I have always wanted to go paragliding and I though it was worth getting a price here coz it may be heaps cheaper than in OZ. The price was fantastic so we decided to have a go. We booked in for the next morning as that is when the mountains are most visible, an early morning 4 wheel drive trip up the mountain was the start of this little adventure. I think this part was a bit difficult as we were tossed around a bit then after going up 1880metres to the drop of point we set of for our para glide.
Well we didn't figure in the motion sickness and the rapid altitude change and the effects that has on the body. Even though it was really fantastic to fly with the eagles (literally) we both were feeling a little worse for wear (Bron expressing those effects with a technicolor yawn) So we loved this little adventure but not the effects on our body.

While we were in Pokhara we met an Austrian riding a BMW R100 around India/Nepal then onto Thailand and Australia and a Korean riding pushbike for the past 10 years around the world.
We spent another day we walked into town and the time here was nice and relaxing.

Back to Kathmandu Crazy highway went to Bhandipur on way back lovely original Nepalese village.

Roadblock into Kathmandu.
Easily the worst stretch of road, lined with trucks and cars at a complete standstill for kilometers.
There was just enough room to squeeze the bike through between the trucks but it was bloody hard work for kilometer after kilometer wrestling the bike through the shitty road and the shitty conditions. My body really felt spent by the time we reached Kathmandu and the bike felt worse for wear. The clutch really felt like it had had a workout and the thematic fan had been running pretty well constantly. Part of me wa relieved that the riding part of the trip was over, but I think that it was just a result of the roads in Nepal and Kathmandu in particular and their appalling state as well as the drivers/riders and their appalling driving/riding.

The first priority was to organise the bike.
Eagle eyes had organised for the bloke to build the crate and he asked me if I would like to assist with the design and make sure I was happy with the outcome. As Australia, Norway, Europe and America will not let wooden crates (maybe only the ones made in Nepal) into their country the crate had to be made from steel. There was no extra charge and the outcome was great. It took a bit of discussion with the builder and some fancy drawings but it was great to work together with the guys to help them get a good light but strong design for ongoing use when they send bikes.

Getting the crate done also gave me more of a chance to look around the suburbs of Kathmandu
This opened my eyes to how the people live here. Roads that I would think twice about taking my 4 wheel drive down are what they use day to day when they are not on the main roads. The squalor the rubbish the dust was everywhere. But I found that getting away from the tourist area also showed me that the people were far friendlier and far more helpful, less inclined to want to rip me of than in and around Thamel. It was so good that my eyes were opened to this as I was getting a bit jaded by the constant harassment by the people who use the tourists as someone who they can take money from.

We did the big Everest flight or mountain flight one morning from Kathmandu. It was wonderful and so different to see the mountain range that we had ridden next to for the past few days from the air. The scenery was great and the pilot flew quite close to the mountains, well worth the trip.

The people of Kathmandu/Nepal.
As I said earlier, I was getting somewhat jaded by the "Nepalese". It seemed like about 80% of the men sit around all day and do nothing. The women work pretty hard most of the time and the 20% of men that are doing something are working under unbelievable loads. Either doing manual labour that I have been amazed at (as in the loads they carry) or they work 7 days a week from dawn to dusk. |I was fortunate to meet a couple of the 20% of men and a couple of the women.

Kul is a travel agent in Kathmandu and I found him to be an honest hard working caring young man. The men and women that work with and for him were also really nice and this showed his leadership qualities. He took Bron and I (and some others) out to lunch and discussed some of the difficulties facing Nepal and he had a wonderful understanding of the issues that needed facing. I found it really rewarding to spend time with him and I enjoyed his company immensely.
The other men I spent time with were the 2 blokes from Eagle Eye shipping (Jeewan and his brother).
They are the 2 blokes that are shipping the bike back to Australia. These two blokes were great, I could not have asked for more from them. The people they dealt with ( crate builder and customs officials) were really helpful and professional. In my short experience this was not the norm in Nepal.

Most of the time with everything we dealt with it is a wonder anything gets done the way they operate. But Kul and Eagle eye were different. Just wish they were running the country or training others on how to operate. The guys from Eagle eye invited me into their home on the way back from the crate workshop and their families were lovely. The house overlooked Kathmandu you could see the whole valley from where they lived. It goes to show what honest hard working people can do even in a place like Nepal.

The countryside is Nepal's saving grace overall. The scenery everywhere you go is amazing. Always there is the backdrop of the Himalayas. The tropical lowlands are as beautiful as anywhere we saw in India.

Weather
Generally the whole time we were in Nepal it was hot and humid. We didn't expect it to be so tropical and even in Pokhara it was still pretty warm most of the time. We hardly had any rain, just a few little showers to keep the dust down.

Food
We ate Buffalo, MoMos, and best of all in Pokhara we noticed on the menu Banana fritters. There was no ice cream with them but I sneaked down to the shop nearby while they were cooking and brought some and they were the best Banana fritters we have ever had. Most restaurants had a range of Nepalese, Indian and western food so the choice and price was generally really good.

Next stop Tibet.