nepal

Kelly Irving leaves the trekkers in their tracks and braves an epic motorcycle adventure through Nepal.
Photography by Kelly Irving

Ready to ride in the Himalayas.

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get in the know The Royal Enfield was originally made in a factory that made rifles and weapons for the RAF; motto: Made like a gun, goes like a bullet.

get in the know Nepal is home to over 20,000 Tibetans, many of whom fled Tibet after the 1959 invasion by Chinas Peoples Liberation Army.

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hen its red you stop; when its green, you go, explains my driver, Sunil, when I ask him about Nepals road rules. He revs the motorbikes engine and I jolt backwards, clutching his leather jacket, as we pull into a stream of zigzagging tuk-tuks and two-wheel vehicles. Trucks and cars and bikes and buses and motorcycles scream towards us, along with an orchestra of horns and incessant beeping. Were not driving an airplane, you know, he says, stroking the fuel tank like hes taming a tiger. This is just a little bike. The first five minutes spent playing chicken with traffic in Nepal bursts any romantic bubble or Long Way Round fantasies you may have about crossing the country on the back of a motorbike. Reality check: its scary and loud, and the only wind in your hair is the dirty black plumes of smoke being emitted from every diesel and two-stroke engine that you pass. For the next 11 days, Ill be circumnavigating this tiny mountainous nation, taking in a range of hand-picked highlights, with a new tour company called Himalayan Motorcycle Adventures. With experienced local guides in the drivers seats, and a support vehicle carrying most of our stuff, this trip gives intrepid travellers an in-your-face authentic experience of some of the globes most famous landmarks. We slalom along the four-lane highway, dodging the potholes and wandering animals that litter our route out of Kathmandu. Buffalos walk blindly into the road and goats bolt from side alleys. A truck passes closely and we swerve to avoid making a fresh corpse out of a cow. You get fined if you hit one of those, hollers Sunil from somewhere under his helmet, purple cap and Ray-Bans. As we ride into a winding, narrow laneway, a vehicle ahead of us hits its brakes hard and one of my six companions, John, a guy from Sydney whos riding solo, veers to the left to miss it, landing sideways in a ditch. Although hes not hurt, its a reminder that this is not your regular out-of-town excursion. The risks of ultimate freedom are real. The excitement can come at a cost.

A local villager weighed down with a heavy load.

in an arc are just there for decoration. Then I shuffle close to the edge, raise my arms level with my shoulders, dive forward and let the silence swallow me. The next morning, the rush in my body has subsided to a gentle buzz, and a heavy downfall of rain has brushed the valleys with a glossy sheen. We wave goodbye to our camp and say hello again to our choice of steed the Royal Enfield Bullet.

Babas being babas at Kathmandus Pashupatinath Temple.

The Himalayan Motorcycle Adventures gang.

towering pines and burnt orange spring hues make it easy for me to forget where I am until a woman walks by heaving half a tree and a hamper of stones strapped to her forehead.
Back on track, we finally replace big tokes of CO2 with large lungfuls of alpine air. The iconic emerald fields come into view, little huts the colour of dried biscuits spread out on the hillside. Pewter-grey boulders pepper the side of a rushing river that we follow all the way to our first official pit stop. The Last Resort is exactly that the final place to get your kicks before hitting the Tibet border. Located three hours away from Nepals crowded capital, its a stunning spot with comfortable safaristyle tents set up along the waters edge, and numerous hair-raising activities. Here you can run river rapids or go canyoning, mountain biking or hiking. Try canyon swinging, do a forest ropes course or brave one of the worlds highest bungee jumps (160 metres). As if to encourage or deter visitors from actually attempting the leap, the only thing connecting the road to the actual town and tents is the bungee bridge itself. Walking slowly towards the platform, my palms like ice and my guts in a mess, I pass pintsized men and women lugging baskets of rocks, bags of cement and a variety of vegetables. How many times have you done this? I ask the guy who is now shackling my feet. You crazy? he laughs. Never. See how high this is? I pray the multicoloured Tibetan flags stretched overhead
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A symbol of British and Indian manufacturing pride, the Enfield is one of the worlds oldest motorcycle brands still in production. The Indian police and army once used them to patrol the countrys borders, considering it the most suitable bike for the job thanks to its super-cushy seat. As we bounce along the road a painful 12km avalanche of rocks and pebbles (the Nepalese version of gravel), towards the border town of Kodari tall, leafy trees give way to glorious Himalayan mountains, leathery faces grow rounder and pink cheeks more plump. On arrival we shuffle through hordes of Sherpas and people with packages containing undetected contraband (Im told beer hidden underneath sleeping babies is popular) to the Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge, the link between Nepal and Tibet. On the far side of the thick white line in the middle of the crossing are 20 or so stone-faced Chinese guards in perfectly pressed attire, standing in front of a penitentiary-like compound. On the Nepalese side, there are a couple of guys milling about in shabby uniforms, next to a landslide of rubbish and a truck depot. A young man suddenly appears, waving a large umbrella at me (odd, seeing as the midday sun is cranking and theres not a rain
get in the know Only 21 Nepalese women have ever summited Everest. get in the know Milk Baba, a Nepalese sadhu who has undertaken many penances, spent 25 years living on just two litres of milk a day. ISSUE #37 get lost #53

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Nearly there.

cloud in sight). More guys arrive, all wildly yelling, pointing their brollies at my hands and looking very unhappy. It occurs to me that its the camera Im holding that is causing the ruckus. After several failed attempts to quell their excitement, and to avoid getting arrested for being a spy, we leave for Nagarkot, a one-night-stand type of town that counts Mount Everest among its nearest neighbours. Sometimes Nagarkot boasts spectacular sunrises and glimpses of the worlds tallest peak other times the clouds close in and youre left to do the walk of shame back to your hotel. Unfortunately, the latter is the case for us this morning, though the iridescent sky behind the outline of the Himalayan peaks, and the sight of tiny villages on the hilltops still make the trip worthwhile. Over the next two days, we rattle along the often-hazardous roads with the rumble of the four-stroke, 500cc engine as our soundtrack. Sometimes we ride for three hours; sometimes we ride for seven. Sometimes the road is good; sometimes its non-existent. Often, the towering pines and burnt-orange spring hues make it easy for me to forget where I am until a woman walks by heaving half a tree and a hamper of stones strapped to her forehead. Every hour or so we stop to drink tea, stretch our legs, play carrom board (a table-hockey-like game) with the locals and admire the views. Its time well spent getting to know my companions better, including Junesh, our tour leader, whose knee-length dreads make him look like a mishmash of Bob Marley and Lord Shiva, and 23-year-old Sunil, the owner of the back Ive been hugging for the past few days.

On day six, I discover that the best place to be with heat exhaustion is anywhere but on the back of a motorcycle in Nepal.
Somewhere between wandering the cobbled streets of Bhaktapur with babas on bikes and monks in the latest Nikes, and elephant trekking and dodging horse-drawn carts in Chitwan National Park, I actually begin to believe theres method in all the madness on the roads. I now dont blink when we turn into oncoming traffic and Ive perfected a new, seated yoga pose. On day six, I discover that the best place to be with heat exhaustion is anywhere but on the back of a motorcycle in Nepal. My brain rattles around in my skull, my kidneys jar every time we hit a pothole, Ive developed a two-pack-a-day habit from all the fumes and I can no longer feel my bum. Sunil affectionately pats my leg every so often, either to check Im OK or to check Im still there. Eventually I retire to the comfort of the support vehicle, where I sleep off my highway hangover much to the dismay of my driver, Arjun. I am 54, he says, touching his nose. Can you believe it? I look 25. Because I drink a jug of tea to clear the head every morning and then 30 minutes jumping up and down. You could not possibly look this good! The peaceful, pilgrim-rich town of Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, comes at just the right time. After a little temple sightseeing, quiet reflection and rest, Im ready to hit the highway again. My wife, she vomit on this road, Arjun attempts to reassure me the next morning about the 200km drive ahead (our longest yet). More than 100 times. Up and down, and round and round, always twisting, always vomiting. Though the road is, indeed, very twisty, the fresh oxygen, pretty valleys dotted with hot-pink rhododendrons, which make me think
get in the know At Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, where Hindu cremations are public, wives were once burned alive along with their husbands bodies. get in the know It is forbidden to climb Machapuchare, Shivas sacred mountain. The only attempt was in 1957, but the summit wasnt reached.

Junesh walks the bungee bridge - the only bridge that connects The Last Resort to the nearest town.

At Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, cremations are a very public event.

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EXPERIENCE
Nepal

EXTRAORDINARY

Dodging vehicles on Nepals winding mountain roads.

CHINA

NEPAL
of Provence in France, and near-vertical 3000-metre slopes are plenty to keep me enthused. Eight hours later, we ride with black faces, totally beat, into Pokhara where we are met with a 20-motorcycle-long and four-bikedeep queue at the petrol station the sign that a fuel strike is on the cards (a recurring crisis here). With locals forbidden to drive the following day, unless they want to risk the police confiscating their keys, we find ourselves a bit stuck. Fortunately, Pokhara is not a bad place to hang out for couple of days. Situated next to the beautiful Phewa Lake, the town marks the finish line for the Annapurna Circuit trek and is the start of a dozen or so more hikes, rafting trips and paragliding tours. As Asias answer to Queenstown, New Zealand, it is the perfect place to drink a few well-earned Everest beers and take in the spectacular 8000-metre frosty tops of Annapurna, Annapurna II and Machapuchare, or the Fish Tail, from the air. Though, as I find out, when you catch a good spin-worthy wind and mountain view during your paraglide then you then land at the Feel Great Restaurant not actually feeling all that great. With our last days on the Enfield and in Nepal drawing to a close, and with the strike having emptied the streets, we ride effortlessly to our final destination: Royal
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Beach Camp. A kayak clinic and rafting retreat with tents and thatched huts set up on a sandy beach next to the sea-green Trisuli River, this place is outdoor living at its very best. Theres a distinct change of pace here. Days disappear in a haze, with afternoons spent battling icy water in rafts and evenings lost while gorging on momos (steamed dumplings) and sucking back beers in the open-air beach cabana. Bonded by dust, drama and the driving experience of the past two weeks, we recap the highs and the lows. Over 11 days, weve ridden more than 2000km on dirt roads, potholed roads and no roads. During this time Ive seen just two speed zones, one working indicator and zero street signs; suffered everything from bruises and blisters to sunstroke, exhaust poisoning and dehydration; upset a posse of umbrella-waving border guards, thrown myself off a bridge and been paragliding in the Himalayas. As someone who also spent his fair share of time doing things tough with a bunch of bikers once said: Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and wellpreserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: Wow what a ride! Im with you, Hunter S. Thompson.

POKHARA KODARI KATHMANDU LUMBINI

BUTAN

THERE IS MORE TO NEPAL THAN EVEREST ISLAND PEAK

21 DAYS EX KATHMANDU
Trek to the heart of the Khumbu, follow the expedition route to Everest Base Camp, make an ascent of Kala Pattar for close up views of Everest.
OUR PRICE from

NEPAL ADVENTURE
10 DAYS EX KATHMANDU
From the colours and magic of Kathmandus markets to the serenity of Himalayan trails, this trip o ers an intriguing blend of well-paced excursions.
OUR PRICE from

EVEREST BASE CAMP

15 DAYS EX KATHMANDU
Take on the adventure of a lifetime trekking to reach Everest Base Camp. First conquered in 1953, Everest is the ultimate goal for mountaineers.
OUR PRICE from

INDIA BANGLADESH

3499*

1249*

1475*

GET PLANNING
Get There
AirAsia flies from Melbourne, Gold Coast, Sydney and Perth to Kathmandu via Kuala Lumpur four times a week. Prices start from AU$780 return. www.airasia.com

QUOTE SKU 2322365

QUOTE SKU 2322521

QUOTE SKU 2183394

HIMALAYAN FAMILY ADVENTURE

12 DAYS EX KATHMANDU
OUR PRICE from

MERA PEAK EXPEDITION

*
22 DAYS EX KATHMANDU
OUR PRICE from

WALKING ANNAPURNA
$

Tour There
The best way to see the beauty of Nepal is on a motorbike like a local. Himalayan Motorcycle Adventures offers Royal Enfield tours of eight days, 11 days or 22 days, with accommodation and most meals and activities (like rafting) included. You can ride your own bike (an international licence is a must) or hire a driver so you can take a back seat and enjoy the ride. All tours start and end in Kathmandu, take in all the major sights, plus a lot of sights tourists never see. The 11-day tour costs AU$3540. Next trips depart September. You can also add a trek. www.himalayanmotorcycleadventures.com

Theres no better feeling than reaching the end of an Annapurna trek as a family, take home memories to last a lifetime.

1599

QUOTE SKU 2629155

Escape the busy trails leading to Everest Base Camp, and explore a littleused pass into the sparselyinhabited Hinku Valley.

4519

5 DAYS EX POKHAHA

OUR PRICE from

QUOTE SKU 2322359

Hike through the Annapurnas, one of the most naturally beautiful and remote regions on the planet.

745*

QUOTE SKU 2502882

The heart of the Himalaya range, Nepal is a truly spectacular destination. Whether exploring the busy backstreets of Kathmandu, absorbing the colourful atmosphere at the temples, or craning your neck to see where the mountains brush the sky, visiting Nepal is a unique experience. Our Adventure Travel Experts can take care of your entire Nepal holiday booking... ights, insurance, transfers, visas, rail passes, blah de blah blah. Anything you need. Except for maybe packing your bag. You might need to tackle that one on your lonesome....

Call 1300 309 057 Go to myadventurestore.com

Visit in store at: NSW Paddington Newtown Westeld Sydney ACT Civic, Canberra QLD Paddington New Farm WA Perth CBD VIC Melbourne CBD Hawthorn Carlton Prahran
*Conditions & travel restrictions apply. Advertised price does not include airfare. Prices correct as at 12 June 2013 & subject to availability. Speci c travel dates apply. LIC NO: QLD 2TA6026, WA 9TA1452, VIC 32835, NSW 3238685, ACT 18800670.

get in the know The first motorcycle was developed by German engineer Gottlieb Daimler in 1885.