Adventures here and there
After a leisurely breakfast in my homestay, a short, gentle uphill ride took me northeast towards the the sprawling Kathmandu outskirts to the temple of Budanilkanth. The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu, a Hindu deity (buda meaning ‘old’ in Nepali), but despite that there is a carving of Buddha on the forehead of the... Continue Reading →
The thunder was rumbling and the clouds were closing in as we made our way up towards Gosaikunda Lake. We stopped for a much-needed lunch break at the one and only lodge in Laurebina and took shelter from the looming weather. The dining hall of the lodge offered little respite as the winds picked up... Continue Reading →
My friends and I chose to go trekking in the Langtang region of Nepal, an area that was badly affected by the 2015 earthquake. After a significant reduction in visitor numbers in the season following the earthquake this seemed like a perfect area in which to give some tourist support rather than the over-subscribed Everest... Continue Reading →
It was a beautiful, peaceful evening over Begnas Tal as we putt-putted our way down to the lakeshore on DB Sir’s scooter. The peace being shattered momentarily as creaks emanated from the scooter and DB Sir asked me how much I weighed… The Nepalese are not shy. DB Sir (named for his profession as a... Continue Reading →
We had finished our trek in Dhap, a small village comprising a house, a lodge and a shop. Dhap is located along the road from Salleri to Okaldunga, the main road for access to Solukhumbu and for those trekkers heading to Everest Base Camp who opt out of taking the short, yet perilous, flight to... Continue Reading →
I set out from Kathmandu having been given instructions to get to Chahabil Chowk by 5am to catch a Jeep to Paplu and from there to ask for directions to Loding, in Solukhumbu. My friend’s cousin was getting married and due to being busy elsewhere (cycling here) I had to make my own way to... Continue Reading →
As so often seems to be the case, I found myself killing time in Kathmandu. Even for me there are only so many cappuccinos I can drink while pretending to plan my future. Instead I decided to visit my friends near Pokhara, and what better way to get there than by bicycle. I had cycled... Continue Reading →
Having left Swayambunath at around 8am we arrived in Hetauda at 8:30pm, hot, tired and dusty, having lost several cyclists to accidents in the dark. Day one of the Tour de’ Lumbini had finally finished… A friend of mine had roped me into joining the Tour de’ Lumbini, a 4-day, 360km cycle rally, from Kathmandu... Continue Reading →
Early on in my days of cycle touring across India I was given some advice about cycling on Indian roads by a local Punjabi in Hoshiarpur: There are laws, but nobody follows them. There are rules, but nobody knows what they are. Take your own path. In Nepal, the same principles apply. The roads are... Continue Reading →
The car picked us up from the hotel at a respectable 7:30am. This was already a novelty – private transport in something other than a clapped-out, rickety, old, 1980s Ford Fiesta. We drove through a maze of steep, narrow residential streets making our way out of the Kathmandu Valley to the main Prithivi Highway. After... Continue Reading →
Maha Shivaratri or “Great Night of Shiva” is an annual Hindu celebration dedicated to the god Shiva, destroyer of evil, unusually solemn with all night prayers dedicated to overcoming darkness in life. In Nepal hundreds of thousands of pilgrims flock to Pashputinath. Pashputhinath, sitting on the banks of the Bagmati River, is one of the... Continue Reading →
The Jalori Pass is an infamous pass in Himachal Pradesh, in north-west India, between the Beas and Sutlej river valleys. It seemed like a good idea to attempt it with my fully laden touring bike, Reggie, while I was cycling my circuitous route from Amritsar to Kathmandu. I set out from a lovely, little town... Continue Reading →
I find myself sitting in the same café in Thamel, the tourist district in Kathmandu, nearly a year after I was last here having a phone call with my manager back in UK finding out that I’d just lost my job. I’d been travelling in India and Nepal for six months and was not looking... Continue Reading →
I’m not sure which was the hardest bit initially – asking my boss for a six months holiday, deciding what to pack for a six months holiday involving cycling and trekking in temperatures from -11°C to 43°C, or the logistics of transporting all my gear from my flat in London to a hotel up a... Continue Reading →
I was in India and hadn’t yet been on a local train. India is famous for it’s railways; I couldn’t not take a train. The 800-kilometre journey from Varanasi to Delhi seemed like the place to start. The troubles started as soon as I tried to book a ticket. There’s a fairly elaborate procedure for... Continue Reading →
Travels with Reggie 
You must be logged in to post a comment.