Another Nepal thread
 

There seems to be plenty Annapurna / Muktinath tours on the go at the moment so I might as well share our story of my wife and I on our recent trip around Nepal. For the first time ever we did it as an organised tour, Royal Enfield 500’s (Fuel injected) . We had a guide a mechanic and our gear was stowed in a back up car. I quickly realised that the guided tour thing wasn’t one of our best ideas, our Indian guide was knowledgeable but managed to get lost a few times ( I can do that without paying someone else to do it for me) The accommodation was generally good but in the Himalayas off the beaten track very basic which is what we expected. The tour had 12 of us, 11 guys and my wife so it was a bit of a pissing competition at times and that and the guide being a tad random meant we put our safety in a riskier place than i would have liked normally. That said it was a great experience and certainly an adventure.
As always pictures tell the story better. We left from Khathmandu and rode to the Chitwan national park, then to Tansen and Pokhara before going up into the Himalayas to Muktinath (where Buda was born allegedly) returning to Pokhara and back to Khathmandu via a different route. The difficulty level was billed as demanding and they weren’t exaggerating. Food was curry of some shape or form most of the time which wears down my western digestion system quickly (and my ass!) . I’ll let the photos do the talking.

We spent two weeks on the road, arrived back at the end of May and unless you want a real challenge thats the touring season over until October due to the rainy season

Khathmandu, crazy driving, polluted and interesting



https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S73pvaM8m.../s1600/b19.jpg
Peace
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9m6F0E_4j.../s1600/a02.jpg
Fi still smiling after escape from Khathmandu
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tEceoDfYT.../s1600/a08.jpg
Helping the locals carry a load
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xUlanL6v3.../s1600/a24.jpg
Fuel pump replacement on my bike then on a French bike 5 minutes later!
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ovwJs5bNQ.../s1600/a08.jpg
Some of this
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yUMKs1EO3.../s1600/a01.jpg
Some of that
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H643ON_m3.../s1600/a03.jpg
Barren the higher you get
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8mgXgJI9K.../s1600/a09.jpg
At Muktinath 3700M
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-722V6y0dX.../s1600/a11.jpg
The end of a hard day!
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6YWbxg5Ha.../s1600/a17.jpg

Nice one, thanks for the photos!

Keep it coming!! Fi you are a Trooper! Post some of the videos too. Sara

Am I correct in thinking there is no circular Annapurna route that is motorable?

Lovely stuff - brings back fond memories!


Mark - we assessed the option for a full circular route, but everything indicated that it was impossible. However, some locals indicated otherwise...

Great photos. Love that place! Cant believe how clear Kathmandu looks in your photo. I know what you mean about polution in KTM my face was black with filth after a few hours riding, but the coughing was the worst bit for me.

Brings back fond memories for me too ! My wife and I went there in 2015 Aug - Sept after the big earth quakes. I wonder how things look now? We saw so much distruction in the villages above KTM with very little sign of help. But the people were so happy to see us, but sadly at that time we were pretty much the only tourist we saw in that area. We left Nepal having been deeply touched by everyone we met. A special place.

Not much has changed since the earthquakes, still rebuilding and the poverty is tangible. Corruption and attitude is why i think it'll be decades before Nepal see's any improvements.
Scenery is "different" and with the exception of the high peaks a bit washed out colourwise in my opinion.
Interesting place to do a tour and if your tight for vacation then its certainly different enough to be a real adventure.

I made a couple of Vid's for anyone thats interested

https://youtu.be/OV-1QEUhFVA



https://youtu.be/llrSfrqCgUI