Day 2 started with an annoying wake up at 5am for me. Angry birds started squawking bang on 5am, which were impossible to sleep through. Mike however was relatively undisturbed with his earplugs in (something he would be thankful for later in the trip as well).
After a shower (warm for once) and a buffet breakfast (not the best) at the hotel we decided to get our bikes out of their bags and get them fixed up and ready for cycling. Ox arrived and we chatted whilst putting the bikes together. We quickly discovered that Mikes rear mech hanger had been bent in transit, which meant he couldn't get the back wheel on properly. Ox made a call to Saroj who cycled down from the shop with a part to fix up the bike. This was useful as he needed to reattach the stem and suspension, which was looking like a bit of a chore. Saroj explained that he was 'an excellent mechanic' so took over fix up duties. Mike also had a brand new saddle bag, which neither he or the bike mechanic could fit, and it was decided to just put it in the rucksack and sort it out later (this is known as saddle-bag-fail!)
We also at this time met Gerard for the first time. G (g-man, g-force) as he came to be known, was on one of many cycling holidays that he'd been on over the last year and had more planned in the future (Marocco last, Armenia next).
Once initial repairs had been carried out we took a quick cycle down to Ox's shop (bikingfirst.com) to grab a quick drink (non-alcoholic), pump up tires and carry out final maintenance to Mikes bike. At the shop we met the #1 MTB rider in Nepal, and found out that Saroj was #9 best in Nepal. Also Ox claimed he was #10, but we were a little dubious! Ox explained a little about the route we would go out riding today and also what we were doing tomorrow (a tample tour (no that isn't a typo)).
After G finished his tea we set off on what turned out to be a fairly aggressive first ride with Saroj. It was an eye-opening experience to cycle through Katmandhu. As stated on the first day, the sheer magnitude of obstacles you need to overcome/be aware of is staggering. However like with many things after a little bit of practice you get used to it. A slow 5-7km to get out of the city and towards the hills (anything below 2000m is a hill in nepal). Once we hit the off-road we started to climb up and away from the city. Saroj (pronounced Saroz (or as Mike called him Shiraz)) set a fairly brutal pace on the uphills which left G and Mike struggling a little, especially as they weren't used to off-road riding. At the top we paused and took a couple of pictures, before beginning the descent. This was mainly off-road but drivable, which then descended into single track technical. The best part was a thin path about a foot in width which we cycled along the top of, before heading back towards the dusty streets of Katmandhu!
Predictably the one place I would get a puncture was when rolling gently down a street that didn't have any pot holes or bumps. As we stopped and flipped the bike over, a crowd started to gather around to see what was going on. This mainly consisted off small kids who were intrigued by the up to date bikes that we all had. Saroj quickly changed the tyre (he insisted on doing it) and we dispersed the fast becoming unruly crowd and set off back to the shop. Total ride distance was ~25km.
We took a short ride back to the hotel after dropping off Saroj and decided to take a quick nap before meeting up with everyone else at 7pm.
Up at 18:30 and a quick shower, Mike and I, came down to the lobby area and found the rest of our group and Ox already there. Introductions were made and it was a pleasure to meet the rest of the group, which are, in no particular order, Judy & Scott, James, and Michael, that crazy Dane!
Ox got us all a beer and while we were enjoying sipping that, he presented us all with a map of Nepal, a phrase book and our itenarary. We learnt the general greeting of 'Namaste' which can basically mean hello, goodbye, welcome, how are you etc... which we would hear thousands of times over the next couple of weeks from all sorts of people.
We then set off for dinner at the 'Northfield Cafe' where we sat and got aquainted with eachother and found out interesting things about the trip. It turned out that I knew some people that Scott & Judy knew and also that James lived round the corner and cycled with the same club as me. Michael - that crazy Dane, had been to Nepal quite a few times before and had also been on a red spokes tour as well (in Tibet). We also learned more about what G had been doing, his recent cycling trip to Marocco and also some of his other exploits (end to end being one of them).
The restaurant was quite nice, with a large outdoor area, and a strange Nepali band playing odd music and a wierd dancing man (no one paid them much attention). The food was adequate but nothing to write home about but did the job of sating our appetites.
After dinner, all of the gang except Mike and I went off to bed as they had, had long days (flying) so wanted an early night. We were also scheduled to start riding around 9am the following morning. Mike and I went to find a good bar and stumbled across a place that does shisha, which we thought would be a nice end to the evening. The place was quite busy as there was a Nepali band playing western music (Oasis, GnR's etc..) so we sat down next to a couple of guys we thought were Indian. It turned out these two were Neapli software developers so having the professions that Mike and I have we quickly stumbled across common ground.
Yuvraj, became quite animated when he found out how much we were paying for drinks as it turned out this was about 3 times the amount that they were paying. So he ordered the rest of the drinks for us at the locals price.
We didn't stay for too long, and decided to head back around 23:30 as we would be up early tomorrow morning. Day 2 over. Bring on day 3!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Day 1 (Wed 23rd / Thur 24th March) - Airport arrival, flight, stopover, flight, meet Ox!
Finally the day arrived where Mike and I would be off on a biking holiday to Nepal. It had been a long time coming and had been booked in 2010 so both of us were chomping at the bit to get going. We had managed to book a good flight time of 20:50 which meant that we didn't need to take an extra day off work. I worked my normal day and Mike worked from home. 16:30 came and I said my goodbyes to people at work after a torrid couple of days (pre/post release fire-fighting) and got a cab home to grab a quick steak before I left and say goodbye to Alex (my gf) before jumping in an addison lee to paddington to get the heathrow express. Mike meanwhile was grabbing a lift to heathrow via car and arrived around 18:30, I arrived 15 minutes later. Due to the bike bags, we were able to use the first class check in which, speeded things along nicely. The weigh-in came at 32kg for Mike's bike bag and 27kg for mine, both within the ample 35kg that Jet airways allows.
After a quick scrum with security we put our belts back on and set about trying to find somewhere to eat. Amazingly we found a really decent bar/restaurant at Terminal 4 called 'The Bridge Cafe' which serves excellent burgers and a decent pint for a very reasonable price. If you happen to go to T4 anytime in the near future, I'd recommend it if you're hungry!
After a good chat and a sizeable chunk of meat Mike noticed that our flight was boarding (50minutes early), so we grabbed our bags and took a brisk walk to the gate. As always there was nothing to worry about and the flight took off at 20:50 in any case.
Neither Mike or myself had flown Jet airways before so we didn't know what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised when there was more than enough leg room and the seats were very comfy. A film later and we decided to stretch the legs and grab some drinks in the vestibule area. We were asked to sit down after about an hour and having numerous questions from other passengers about where the toilets were. Really people, use your eyes, they toilet signs are illuminated at each end and the middle of the aircraft!!!!
The rest of the flight went by without incident, except a grumpy old man in front of Mike who was complaining about him kicking the back of his seat. He later apologised and admitted he was tired and showing off, but claimed he had just had a back operation. We were a little dubious of the fact that he was flying to Nepal (to do what? sit by the lake?!?).
We arrived in Delhi for a quick stopover (<1 hour). Mike was very impressed when he saw they had cricket nets in the airport (definitely having a go on the way back was the call). Our flight was boarding as soon as we walked off the plane so we jumped on board and waited while reems more people arrived. Luckily no one took the exit seats so we gladly accepted the hostesses offer to sit there.
Flying into Katmandhu has to be one of the most scenic and impressive landscapes in the world. The mountains that are viewable while still at 30,000ft are quite incredible to say the least. This hugely wetted our appetite for what was to come!
Arriving in Katmandhu was a bit of a fiasco. Instead of giving us forms on the plane, everyone had to huddle round a collection of small tables to fill in visa entry forms. Also we didn't know that we had to have 2 photo's and $40 US. Sensibly we thought, changing over some pounds to rupees to pay the visa entry would be ok, but were told it had to be in USD (pesky yanks!). So we then had to go back and change our rupees to USD's (probably losing a few via the exchange rates). 350 rupees (3 pounds) for the passport photos and straight to the front of the queue and we were finally ready to collect our bags.
We set about finding our driver who was holding a Red Spokes sign and for the first time met our guide Ox! Little did we know at that point what good friends we would become with him and the rest of his team. Driving through Katmandhu from the airport is an experience in itself. Crazy drivers, boneshakers, shake rattle and rolls, stealths, pedestrians, random wandering cows, dogs, buff etc.. you would not want to drive through that at rush hour (which was when we arrived)!
We arrived at the Nirvana Garden hotel which was a quaint little place near the heart of Thamel. On arrival we were given flowery necklaces (more akin to Hawaii) and some odd tasting liquid (still no idea what this was). Ox explained a little about what was happening and Mike and I got tucked into a couple of Everests (beer in case you're wondering). When done, we grabbed a quick shower and went to the end of the street where we found Everest steak house (my favourite, and Nepals favourite!). We ate under candlelight as we quickly found out Nepal has scheduled power cuts for 16 hours a day.
After our feed we went to find a bar called Tom & Jerry's and watched some cricket. We met some Danes who were intersted in learning the rules. Trying to explain cricket to someone who has been drinking and isn't English is not something either of us want to repeat again. It was however extremely amusing. Whilst watching India v Australia, some aussie girls asked us who we were supporting, both replying India, they got upset and didn't talk to us again (no loss there). As we were leaving the bar we met a Nepali guy who looked like Spike Lee (we didn't think we'd see him everytime we left the hotel from now on). We grabbed some street food and went to bed. A great first day of the holiday was over!
After a quick scrum with security we put our belts back on and set about trying to find somewhere to eat. Amazingly we found a really decent bar/restaurant at Terminal 4 called 'The Bridge Cafe' which serves excellent burgers and a decent pint for a very reasonable price. If you happen to go to T4 anytime in the near future, I'd recommend it if you're hungry!
After a good chat and a sizeable chunk of meat Mike noticed that our flight was boarding (50minutes early), so we grabbed our bags and took a brisk walk to the gate. As always there was nothing to worry about and the flight took off at 20:50 in any case.
Neither Mike or myself had flown Jet airways before so we didn't know what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised when there was more than enough leg room and the seats were very comfy. A film later and we decided to stretch the legs and grab some drinks in the vestibule area. We were asked to sit down after about an hour and having numerous questions from other passengers about where the toilets were. Really people, use your eyes, they toilet signs are illuminated at each end and the middle of the aircraft!!!!
The rest of the flight went by without incident, except a grumpy old man in front of Mike who was complaining about him kicking the back of his seat. He later apologised and admitted he was tired and showing off, but claimed he had just had a back operation. We were a little dubious of the fact that he was flying to Nepal (to do what? sit by the lake?!?).
We arrived in Delhi for a quick stopover (<1 hour). Mike was very impressed when he saw they had cricket nets in the airport (definitely having a go on the way back was the call). Our flight was boarding as soon as we walked off the plane so we jumped on board and waited while reems more people arrived. Luckily no one took the exit seats so we gladly accepted the hostesses offer to sit there.
Flying into Katmandhu has to be one of the most scenic and impressive landscapes in the world. The mountains that are viewable while still at 30,000ft are quite incredible to say the least. This hugely wetted our appetite for what was to come!
Arriving in Katmandhu was a bit of a fiasco. Instead of giving us forms on the plane, everyone had to huddle round a collection of small tables to fill in visa entry forms. Also we didn't know that we had to have 2 photo's and $40 US. Sensibly we thought, changing over some pounds to rupees to pay the visa entry would be ok, but were told it had to be in USD (pesky yanks!). So we then had to go back and change our rupees to USD's (probably losing a few via the exchange rates). 350 rupees (3 pounds) for the passport photos and straight to the front of the queue and we were finally ready to collect our bags.
We set about finding our driver who was holding a Red Spokes sign and for the first time met our guide Ox! Little did we know at that point what good friends we would become with him and the rest of his team. Driving through Katmandhu from the airport is an experience in itself. Crazy drivers, boneshakers, shake rattle and rolls, stealths, pedestrians, random wandering cows, dogs, buff etc.. you would not want to drive through that at rush hour (which was when we arrived)!
We arrived at the Nirvana Garden hotel which was a quaint little place near the heart of Thamel. On arrival we were given flowery necklaces (more akin to Hawaii) and some odd tasting liquid (still no idea what this was). Ox explained a little about what was happening and Mike and I got tucked into a couple of Everests (beer in case you're wondering). When done, we grabbed a quick shower and went to the end of the street where we found Everest steak house (my favourite, and Nepals favourite!). We ate under candlelight as we quickly found out Nepal has scheduled power cuts for 16 hours a day.
After our feed we went to find a bar called Tom & Jerry's and watched some cricket. We met some Danes who were intersted in learning the rules. Trying to explain cricket to someone who has been drinking and isn't English is not something either of us want to repeat again. It was however extremely amusing. Whilst watching India v Australia, some aussie girls asked us who we were supporting, both replying India, they got upset and didn't talk to us again (no loss there). As we were leaving the bar we met a Nepali guy who looked like Spike Lee (we didn't think we'd see him everytime we left the hotel from now on). We grabbed some street food and went to bed. A great first day of the holiday was over!
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