A member of the local Classic bike club and I are doing a Nepal ride starting Delhi on 25 March and returning on 10/11 April. (you'll need 3 weeks)

I've done rides with I AM ADVENTURE to Leh in 2015 and Spiti valley in 2018 and know enough to now do an unsupported ride.

Rental HIMALAYANS are R1250 per day and we are spending about the same on hotels so it's not an expensive
trip in comparison to the organised ride prices.

Qualifications - agreeable nature and sense of ADVENTURE.

Special invitation extended to Dai (and he can tell you what a ride like this is)

	date	trip day	ride	from	to	distance
F	22nd							Leave SYD or BNE .
S	23rd	1		Delhi				Arr Delhi 10.30pm on 22/3
S	24th	2		Delhi				p/up bikes
M	25th	3	1	Delhi	Tanakpur	342
T	26th	4	2	Tanakpur	Nepalganj	234
W	27th	5	3	Nepalganj	Butwal	249		fuel? chai -at Chaulahi,
T	28th	6	4	Butwal	at Pokhara	166		(111kms East of Kohalpur)
F	29th	7	5	Pokhara	at Pokhara
S	30th	8	6	Pokhara	at Pokhara
S	31st	9	7	Pokhara	Kathmandu	204
M	1-Apr	10	8	Kathmandu	at Kathmandu			Go to Bhakitpur and Nagerkot,
T	2nd	11	9	Kathmandu	at Kathmandu				and Phulchoki
W	3rd	12	10	Kathmandu	at Kathmandu
T	4th	13	11	Kathmandu	at Kathmandu
F	5th	14	12	Kathmandu	Butwal	280
S	6th	15	13	Butwal	Bardia	276
S	7th	16	14	Bardia	at Bardia
M	8th	17	15	Bardia	Tanakpur	200
T	9th	18	16	Tanakpur	Delhi	342
W	10th	19		Delhi	at Delhi			return bikes
T	11th	20			at Delhi
F	12th	21
					total	2293	kms
					18 days bike hire'

What do you ride in Nepal?  A couple of times when I was in Nepal I'd rent a 250 or 450 and have my trekking guide ride on the back to show me the way around the Kathmandu Valley and out into the countryside.

I do remember that riding the Kathmandu roundabouts at rush hour was a hoot, especially the time a cow decided to join in.

We'll be riding the 410cc Himalayans for the whole trip and I was pleasantly surprised the last time I got one, how good they were. Rather than fly in and hire bikes locally, I'd rather get known good bikes from a guy in Delhi and be able to go to other places like the BARDIA National park on the way in. The downside is that the initial day from Delhi to the Nepalese border is pretty exhausting - even though it's only 342 kms. It's all to do with the idiot drivers you are in close proximity to.

If there are guides to accompany us, then we may use them. Nepal is far more relaxed than the Indian flat stuff so this isn't a hard ride (like going to Leh).

Honestly- this is the opportunity of a lifetime.

 - Escape the cold weather
 - Ride with the nicest people 
 - You won't do it cheaper than this
-  All the organizing, a bike and hotels done for you.

If I had the spare money I'd be severely tempted. Actually, I'd be more than tempted as Elizabeth just asked me if I want to go. Dammit, dammit, dammit.

The Himalayan is a good bike for that trip, with one proviso. If it's the home-market carbureted model, you'll need to rev the nuts off it above about 8000 feet. I'm 5' 10" and I found it had an almost perfect handlebars-to-footpegs ratio when standing on the pegs. Just don't repeat my trick; I still can't figure out how I managed to scrape the crashbars on a right-hander...

One question Dave - where did you go in the Spiti valley? We stopped in Nako, Kaza, Nabo, Chandrataal, Kee Monastery and Komic.

Re: Indian drivers.  Has anyone ever figured out how they determine right of way?   My theory is that it's done through telepathic intimidation.

Point-Seven-five wrote:Re: Indian drivers.  Has anyone ever figured out how they determine right of way?   My theory is that it's done through telepathic intimidation.

When I was in Nepal right of way was determined by a combination of vehicle mass and horn volume/frequency of use.  I learned very quickly not to sit in the front row of buses since most had EXTREMELY loud horns that were liberally applied.

Point-Seven-five wrote:Re: Indian drivers.  Has anyone ever figured out how they determine right of way?   My theory is that it's done through telepathic intimidation.

I spent 5 weeks there in 1996 and left without really figuring out which side of the road you were supposed to drive/ride on.

RicK G wrote:I spent 5 weeks there in 1996 and left without really figuring out which side of the road you were supposed to drive/ride on.

The bit where the space is. I've got a couple of beaut photos of five vehicles line abreast on a two-lane highway. Needless to say, there warn't no space for a bike there.

RicK G wrote:

Point-Seven-five wrote:Re: Indian drivers.  Has anyone ever figured out how they determine right of way?   My theory is that it's done through telepathic intimidation.

I spent 5 weeks there in 1996 and left without really figuring out which side of the road you were supposed to drive/ride on.

I spent 3 weeks there in 1987.  We hired a cab driver/concierge for all the time we were in Bombay.  All the while he was driving(actually zig-zagging through traffic) he was pointing at stuff and telling us all about what we were passing.  I can't recall him stopping for anything until we got to our destination. 

And now that you mention it, I'm not sure what side of the road you're supposed to drive on either.

Yes. They are shite drivers and display no driving "discipline" - a dose of which would mean that everyone would get there a lot faster and less aggressively.

Dai,
We went to Sangla ( TR and SE off the NH22) and stayed at a very upmarket 'tent camp', intending to go up the steep climb to Chitkul but it was too wet.
Then Kalpa, on to Tabo, but I got a flat on the climb up to Chango and had to spend hours at a little dhabba waiting for the support vehicle to fix the puncture and bring the bike up.
Kaza, and out to Kye monastery and Komic and Kibber.
On the way back went SW down the valley to Mud.

Went off on my own to do Shimla and Mussoorie.

Have done a ride report/blog but didn't complete it because I lost photos of Chicham bridge.

If anyone wants to read it, i'll complete it and post.

All Indian domestic Himalayans are injected and mine was too.
Carb models still being sold in AUS. $6900AUD ride away so good value.

'Up market' is a good way of describing a lot of those campsites. We stayed in the Kinner campsite at Sangla, rather than Orchard (?) just up the road. Chicham Bridge was still under construction when we went through - just a couple of huge concrete pillars. I've just done a Google on it and although the bridge is spectacular, it does rather take away some of the fun of the low road.

Shame you missed Chhitkul. The road itself isn't as bad as it's made out to be, unless you decide to have a close encounter with the drop into the Baspa River. I still get a mild dose of the shudders even today when I think how close I got to doing just that. I'd been straightlining some of the shallower bends when I decided I'd had enough of that and started following the road again. The next bend had a large chunk missing on the river side and it wasn't visible until you were almost on top of it...

So you went through Pooh as well as Mud? I'd love to see your report as it seems we've covered quite a lot of the same route. For any new members interested, here's my report from two years ago:

www.simpilot.net/~india/index.html