Ride A Motorcycle Around The Annapurna Circuit In Nepal
 

Does anyone know if its possible to ride a motorcycle around the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal? I mean ride completely around clockwise or counter-clockwise. Not ride clockwise from Pohkara till Muktinath or counter clockwise from Pokhara to Manang. I know people have done that. It's the Muktinath-Manang section that I'm interested in. You need to cross the Thorong La pass and I'm told that's covered with snow all year around. The only way to cross it is to trek on foot.

Any information or pointers to people with information will be greatly appreciated.

Thorong La is not covered with snow all year. I've walked it, and the path was entirely snow-free, as is normal during the season (±November). However, there is certainly some degree of threat of bad weather or snow cover throughout the year. I'd also be concerned about the altitude, were I riding quickly rather than walking slowly over the course of a week or two.

I have no idea whether the higher section can be ridden, either legally or otherwise. The thought does depress me: if Thorong La, then why not Everest Basecamp, or Mustang, or....? But then again, I'm not Nepalese, and not reliant on porters and mule trains for food and consumer goods.

Thanks for the info. Indeed, I did come across one image on the Thorong La Wikipedia page that showed the tea house at the pass not covered in snow. Just about every other image I've see has snow all over the place.

I have a Nepalese friend who rides his motorcycle from Katmandu to Lo Manthang in Upper Mustang every year. I plan on joining him in Feb 2017. However, being an international tourist, I will need to pay a 500 USD fee for the permit to enter Upper Mustang.

A we walked the Annapurna round a couple of years ago around early Sept. Very little snow on the pass. However, the trail is steep and very slippery. No way I would take a bike up there if it is even legal. There are a few stretches in the lower elevation where it should be ok.

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Couple of comments:

The height of trekking season is October/November in fall and April/May in spring. You mentioned February, the high mountain passes are typically locked in late winter snowpack awaiting the spring melt.

I can't speak for Annapurna specifically, but the high altitude trekking trails are technically possible to "ride". Some riding has been done on mountain bikes. I met some people in 1989 on the Everest Base Camp trek who smuggled their mountain bikes into the park.

Having said that, nowadays mountain bikes really aren't allowed these days for a number of reason including the fact that portions are not ride able and you have to hike a bike, the trails are hiking trails and not built for withstanding the erosion from bikes, it is crowded and some of the trails are narrow so safety is an issue, and I'm sure the trails are much more crowded these days and the thousands of hikers probably would prefer to not share the trail with bikes.

So in short, it is perhaps doable at the right time of year (if trail conditions even allow), but it is not recommended from the perspective of respecting thetrails for their intended use, respecting your fellow trail users, and respecting the natural environment. There are plenty of riding trails where biking is a great way to get around, I'm not sure all sections of one of the most popular hiking trails in the world is the best place take a motorbike.

I rode to Manang in April 2013 and to Mukyinath in Nov 2012. Trail condition were fine and dry on both routes.. Take a good sleeping bag as it's cold in the tea houses at night. Bikes struggled to start in the morning (no kick-start on my drz400) so parked in a sunny spot for morning. You may get wet going through the streams and waterfalls on the Manang side so take change of clothing for evenings.

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