During last summer I was looking for inspiration to do a long term mountain biking trip that would be challenging but pretty risk free at the same time. I had a time frame of three weeks in November so I started to look into possibilities when quickly my eye fell on a flight to Kathmandu. Nepal ticked off all the boxes I was looking for in my next trip, so without too much overthinking slightly nervous I booked the flights.
5 months later I found myself in an empty airport in Chengdu trying to get some sleep while a Chinese vending machine kept repeating the same phrase over and over in my ear. When I take off my sleeping mask my senses are confused by the brightness outside. All the Chinese people that were on the first leg of the flight are meanwhile gone. I look around and see people from all over the world waiting for their flight to the capital of adventure. Seeing how they are equipped makes me doubt my own gear. I left my front door the day before with nothing more than what would fit in my 38 liter backpack. It seemed like the only advice that stuck with me from people back home is that I better pack light.
The last leg, another 3 hour flight from Chengdu to Kathmandu went by in no time, thanks in part to a friendly Chinese couple next to me who seemed very concerned about informing me on the Chinese food that I was being served. Once landed it still took a while to obtain the necessary papers to enter the country. When in the possibility of obtaining a visa in your home country I would highly recommend doing so. As I walked out of the airport it had just gotten dark over Kathmandu and traffic rush hour was at its peak moment. The smell, the abundance of taxi drivers each trying to grab your attention and the impressions on the way to my guest house overwhelmed me. Moments after arriving I laid down and went into a long deep sleep.
The next morning I got up and started walking around Thamel and had breakfast at a place nearby. I was treated like a king. What struck me was the incredible politeness of the waiter. As I’m not used to getting serviced quite like this back at home it even made me feel a little uncomfortable. Later on I would learn that this was no exception and that kindness and friendliness are just generally a big part of Nepali culture. After breakfast I walked through the city towards Swayambhunath. I can’t stress enough how pleasantly overwhelmed I was feeling this morning. As this is the first time I was experiencing a culture so different from my own I was feeling truly inspired and happy to be able to do this.
Fast forward two days I was more than ever ready to start my adventure. I had obtained the necessary permits, made my way to Pokhara and picked up my rental bike. Being nervous about making my way safely out of Pokhara I had meticulously planned a gps route avoiding busy traffic. Once out of the city the Himalaya’s started to appear, excited about my first views on the mountains I had fantasized so much about I cycled into the unknown. I made my way to Besisahar through the real Nepal, unpaved roads, constructions, rice fields and tiny villages full of people kindly greeting you with “Namaste!”. When after hours of riding more and more landslides started to appear on the trail and after having a flat in the back it started to be clear that reaching Besisahar on the first day would be hard. I asked a local and he made clear that I definitely wouldn’t make it before dark. He called a friend of him higher uphill who was running a guest house to warn that I was coming. I was the only guest that night. The wife made delicious dal bhat and their younger boy kept me company.
The night to come wasn’t my best night of sleep and the fact that this first day was already harder than what I expected made me feel not too confident about the rest of the trip. Nevertheless, I continued to enjoy the scenery as I made my way to Besisahar. Once arrived in Besisahar I ran into a guy loading his pick up truck. I asked him if he knew anyone who was going to Chame that day. “Me!”, he said. At the time it seemed like the best idea to build in some buffer time and take a jeep up higher into the mountains. After all, every organized tour that I had read about at home skipped this part. And so I did, I wrapped up the biking for that day and threw my bike in the back of the jeep. Crammed with 5 other Nepali’s and the driver we took off for a 6 hour jeep ride next to the steepest cliffs. I started talking to the guy next to me who turned out to be a Nepalese police officer and former Gurkha soldier deployed in Sudan. Proudly he showed me pictures from his mission in the Sahara, his wife, his children … We turned out to be the same age. The guest house the jeep driver recommended me was the fanciest place yet. The temperatures that night dropped that night way beyond zero and I slept like a rose.
Waking up the next day I immediately saw one thing was missing from the gear that I kept on the bed next to my own. My helmet … Luckily the guest house owner had the phone number of the jeep driver. He had spent the night further up the trail and was coming by again later that morning. After waiting for the helmet I could now start on the real Annapurna Circuit. What followed that day was a great trail with barely any jeeps. I felt like everything I had been planning and looking forward to was finally coming together. I reached the village of Upper Mustang in the early afternoon and felt extremely content. It was the combination of the temple of Upper Mustang, the first sight of Annapurna II glooming behind the clouds and the altitude that made me feel like right there and then was where I had to be at that moment. One of those rare moments that I have only experienced a few times in my life and that I really needed.
The next day I would enjoy more fantastic trails all the way to Manang. The weather turned bad and the big amount of groups gathering in this town made me feel lonely for the first on the trip. Not for long though, since that night I could count on the ever present solo American traveler who quit his job to see the world. We talked about the world, life and travelling.
I woke up the next day with a clear blue sky and excellent views on the Annapurna II. I had planned to leave the bike for a day and take a hike to the nearby Ice Lake in order to acclimatize. And so I did, I got up early and reached the lake in a snow-covered landscape at 4500 meter as the first for that day. The silence and the beauty of the mountains is out of this world. The lack of oxygen was really sensible at this point. I reached Manang back by noon with a pretty bad headache. I decide that night to try yak meat and head to bed early in order to recover well.
Worried about my rear tire I leave Manang and start following the first signs of Thorong La Pass. Slowed down by the lack of oxygen I bike where I can and push where I can’t. I ride some of the greatest single trails that I have ever done in my life. Looking back I might have rushed it a little, being worried about not knowing what is ahead. I reach the tiny village of Ledar and see some other mountain bikers. I hesitate on whether to continue for Thorong Phedi. After all, it’s still early and the amount of distance I covered is not that big. Going higher however would risk me suffering from the altitude and the friendliness of the other mountain bikers make me decide to stay. They invited me to join them the next day towards Thorong Phedi and cross the pass together. I am so incredibly thankful to have met these guys as without them the trip simply wouldn’t have been the same.
From Ledar we continued towards Thorong High Camp at almost 5000 meters altitude. I walk around the camp, excited and nervous at the same time about what is about to come. The fatigue at this point, altitude and cold made me feel not all too well. Slowly the sun sets and we warm ourselves up one last time at the only stove in High Camp before we get in our sleeping bags.
Due to heavy winds it is recommended to get up before dawn and start a hike towards Thorong La Pass. Then, after a very physically demanding climb, pushing the bike the entire time the emotional release when reaching the pass is wonderful. The section after the pass is a brutal descent all the way to the holy site of Muktinath. From there on we headed for a climb that hurt like no other towards Lubra pass. It was well worth it however. The descend towards Kagbeni exceeds everything that I have experienced on a bike ever before in my life.
From Kagbeni we follow the road partly and have lunch in a village called Marpha. Our bodies are tired and the trail is rough. As one of the guys had to catch a bus at the end of the Circuit we were restricted in time. The day was a perfect example of a type two fun day. We found our way in the river bedding, through forests and rode our bikes on trails that were meant for hikers. We reached Kalopani by night and had a delicious dinner knowing that the end of our adventure was nearing.
From here on we pretty much followed the jeep track down to Beni which is surprisingly tiring given that it is nothing but downhill. Fortunately the roads were wet and therefore not too dusty. The roads are extremely bumpy which makes that biking down goes faster than the local mini buses who find themselves also on these jeep tracks. Once in Beni we easily found a jeep driver willing to take us back to Pokhara.
Once back in Pokhara we enjoyed food and relaxing. We went for a final loop around Phewa Lake and climbed to the Peace Pagoda which I found highly enjoyable without backpack and luggage being strapped to the bike. At the Pagoda we ran into a 15 year old Tibetan boy who shared our passion for biking. He followed us on the - quite challenging - downhill track down back into Pokhara. The boy turned down our offer to take him for lunch since his parents had a restaurant downtown. When asking if we could have lunch there the boy happily showed us the way to his house where we were able to explore Tibetan kitchen.
