from tomorrow on I’ll walk around this mountain range…

• The song ´Resham Phiriri´is THE Nepali Folksong. Heard and played everywhere, nearly everybody know how to play and sing that song.  Played to the sound of the Sarangi.

• The titlesong of the 1976 Bollywood movie Khabi Khabi starring all time idol Amitabh Bachchan aka Big B.

• A big song in Nepal, recently. About the usual conflict between woman and men.

• Another old is gold song from the 1985 movie Ram Teri Ganga Maili. The typical story about boy and girl and their unlucky relationship.

• Last but not least here is a Nepali movie I really like! Kagbeni released in 2008. A movie about friendship, love and mystic. Here is part1 of 14, the other parts can be found on youtube too

to be continued…

I took an overnight bus from Pokhara to the border, quite a routine affair, practice Buddhist patience squeezed in a seat designed for Asian shortness and not for legs like mine (actually I am not that tall but in comparison to the locals I am). Arrived in Karkabhitta early in the morning surprisingly fast, despite the puncture we had along the way (safety first, one tire had a whole as big as a human fist in it and they changed it wisely). Quickly made it to the border post for check out of Nepal. The Immigration officer was obviously very unhappy about my overstay and demand very rudely an excuse, I told him some alibis (punctures, strike, unreliable public transport blablabla) which satisfied him or he was simply to lazy to do all the paperwork which is necessary for cases like that, even he didn´t fine me for that (which I was expecting and also prepared for, as it is an offense against the law without question). Lucky bastard I am. Nearly missed the well hidden Indian immigration, which was a very quick affair done by the most friendly Indian official I have ever met. Later followed the only road leading away from the border and into the state of Westbengal. I wasn´t exactly sure what to do, going direct to Darjeeling or have a rest day to recover from the bus trip. Decision was made after I missed the turnoff to Mirik, along a minor road up to Darjeeling. So I ended up in Siliguri, a typical dusty, crowded, chaotic town in India. Got a room for a good rate and enjoyed Hollywood propaganda on HBO (watched some movies in a row, some CIA commercial, another about genderism and one about the importance about having a mobile phone which can track you down wherever you are) . The night was ok but got fast remembered that India is a country of inconsideration while other guests made noise like a wildgone school class on vacation. Wanted to leave the plains as fast a possible but decided to go to Sikkim first instead of Darjeeling just to avoid that I´ll get stuck there as it happened many times to me, wasting time in a convenient place. So I ended up on the Highway for the first part of the day and reached the first mountains soon. It was a steady up and down and the Teesta bridge was reached fast, actually I wanted to stay here the night but it was still early and I went further to Rangpo, the gateway into the small Himalayan state Sikkim. In Rangpo itself the first thing to do was to get an Inner Line Permit (ILP), Sikkim is a sensitive area caused to the closeness to chinese occupied Tibet. To get the ILP it’s rather a routine thing and issued very quickly and actually wanted to check for a hotel there. Somehow I found myself out-of-town and to Singtam the next town was only 10km away so I went on. Suddenly strong wind appeared and big branches of trees fallen down next to me gave me a kick to pedal much faster to get out of danger, before the heavy rain began I was in Singtam bazaar road confronted to find a place for the night. Why all bars and restaurants call themselves hotels is a big myth to me and it was not so easy to find a real hotel suited for accommodation. A conversation I had while looking for a room:

Me: Hello, do you have a room?

Girl: no we don´t have rooms at all.

Me: Ok, but you have a sign that says here is a hotel.

Girl: Oh, yes we are a restaurant.

Still didn’t get it…

Finally got one in a real hotel, a nice one and HBO was already there…

My hopes from the afternoon became true as rain in the mountains mostly cleans the hazy sky and a blue one greeted me in the morning. The view was nice and lifted my mood a little bit, as the first feeling of Sikkim was not a pleasant one for me. Also it was time to gain some altitude. The road went high and higher following countless of hairpins and the views down the valley were nice if one can ignore all that constructions which are going on there: Waterpowerplants and distilleries for the nation seems to be the parole here. In the distance my planned destination could be seen already but it was still a long and sweaty day, all uphill while the road winds into every hidden corner of the mountain range. Two boys accompanied me on their way home from school for some 5km or so and they had not big trouble to walk next to me the whole time and after all it was a funny conversation as they didn´t ask the tons of same questions which every Indian has in store whenever meeting a foreigner and they also kept the barking dogs at distance. The climb went long and longer and I  drown myself in endless litres of any kind of soft drinks in so-called fair price shops. The last 10k´s was such a mess and I was more than happy to reach Ravangla (aka Rabongla) in the afternoon. This day was an ascent of more than 1800m in less than 40km, if this will be every day maybe suicide will be a better way to life. Ravangla is a small town which not much to do, I searched a telephone shop got sent from one shop to another and ended in an Internetplace where I sent some mails instead of doing phone calls. No telephone but internet, strange, but what to do.

to be continued…

Everybody warns me about the weather over there, it seems to be cold but not as that cold as this forecast is telling and actually I worry the brutal steep roads more than some chilly days:

to be continued…

Arriving in Kagbeni was a pleasure, we checked in into the ´the Green Kitchen Guest House´ (a little posh but we got a special offer because one of the children is in that school TY sister is working for). We checked out the hostel (were the schoolkids and her sister stay) got filled with black tea and biscuits by the cook and enjoyed the familiar atmosphere.

Strolling around Kagbeni is like time travel, of course there are many Lodges, Guest Houses and a so called German Bakery of course (a German bakery can be found in almost every Himalayan place in Nepal and India were even tiny tourism occurs, but mostly has nothing common with genuine German baked items), but there are still corners were local people follow their daily routines which did not changed over centuries, apart from that trekking circus of neat clean Gore- Tex. This is a very Tibetan influenced place and also the gateway to Upper Mustang (officially only allowed to enter with a special permit). We passed the days with strolling around the scenic surroundings, searching for fossils on the river (we found some), visiting the old monastery, watching locals preparing their fields for winter or picnicking and munching the delicious and famous Mustang-apples which are growing here (though it was not easy to get some, as harvest season was already over).

The other day we went up to Muktinkath, one of the holiest places in Nepal for both Hindus and Buddhists. It is said that Guru Ringpoche, also known as Padmasambhava, the founder of Tibetan Buddhism meditated here on his way to Tibet. There are 108 water-taps were holy water is pouring out and we collected a dip of every tap of it, drunk a sip and washed our heads in some ritual order with that ice cold water. Nearby is an old small monastery which shelters a spring and a natural gas source, where a flame is permanently burning. TY was fascinating by that natural event and could not stop to watch that ever burning fire. Here the five elements are found in its purest form, fire, water, sky, earth and air (I would also add ice, as outside some water got frozen and even here TY could barely contain her enthusiasm about it, as she grew up in subtropical climate and natural frozen water was rarely seen there). We strolled around, hung up some prayer flags, enjoyed the unique scenery once more and chatted with some nuns selling religious items and souvenirs. This area has its special atmosphere, nor to say a spiritual one (the famous saying about the Himalaya: ´surely the Gods live here, this is no place for men´ would fits). After we went back to Ranipauwa, the nearby village which is nothing more than an ugly and dirty collection of Guest Houses, Restaurants and Shops. We took a jeep back down to Kagbeni.

The way back home to Pokhara was a more or less unspectacular thing. A jeep to Jomson were we stayed the night, and caught a bus early next morning. The bus was filled with porters (why we always get buses were I am the only foreigner in it is quite a mystery) of some expedition and there was hardly space for my bike on the roof. Somehow we managed some for my vehicle and tied it carefully, yet not carefully enough. At the first stop I went out of the bus and realized that some electrical wires which are low taut over the road in many places must teared the ropes it was tied with. Now the cycle was hanging upside down nearly falling down from the luggage carrier. The young conductor obviously could not handle the situation- a shouting, quite furious tourist (me) who complained about his indifference which suddenly disappeared after I told him the cost of my bike, then he got quite nervous and did not know what to do. One helpful porter got some climbing rope and we tied it once more and from now it was fine. The bus trip was a shaken not stirred affair, filled with all time classics of Nepali music and funny drunken Nepalis on their way home after a hard job in the mountains. Later on we also got eyewitness of corruption in its ridiculous way. Along the way we got stopped at a police check post and our go on was refused for no reason. I watched the situation and it was clear that this was a planed act of boredom or something else from the officers (need to mention again, this bus was filled with locals, I was the only tourist, a tourist- bus scarcely would stopped to keep the illusion of a clean corruption free country). The police demand was 7000Rs (approx. 70Euro) , phone calls were done and the stuff still refused to pay that high price as it was clear that no receipt would be handed out. The passengers waited for a solution at a small restaurant behind the check point and all over sudden we got moving again. It turned out that the ´fine´in the end was only 200Rs (2Euro) and the police were waiting for our bus because one officer took this bus the day before and had to pay the regular passenger fee as everybody else, that was the reason we got held. If this would not be that annoying, the arrogance of people in uniforms, it would be very funny. The rest was straightforward, we arrived at Beni took a Taxi to Pokhara and in the late evening we were back home in our daily routine.

Since I heard about the road connects Nepal middle-hills with Mustang, mostly follows the route of the Annapurna circuit in parts I had the idea of cycle up there. Recently I heard about more and more cyclist doing this ride and this time I was eager enough to do so, since my sister in law is working up there in a school there was also more a reason to do so. It turned out to one of the shortest, hardest, nicest and most expensive trip I have done so far

Equipped with the ACAP permit and the useless nonsense TIMS- Card, after breakfast, a last shave from my local barber and father in laws mobile in my pocket (for give them some peace in mind) I set off but not before I recognized that my speedometer was not working anymore (I removed it quickly with my pliers), headed towards the Baglung Highway. Getting out of Pokhara was some kind of an hassle, insane traffic and the heat gave me the rest. The first km´s were very hard and not interesting at all. I had a small break sipped tea and munched some biscuits before the first big climb to Naudana began, followed some switchbacks and got overrun by many of tourist buses were posh people got pampered with air-con while I got burned by that damned hot sun, the positive with that improving weather (the weeks before it was pouring as hell and was abnormal cold) was that the mountains showed their full pride. The climb went further up to a small village called Kande, which was not an easy affair, but slowly I got used again to ride a fully loaded bike and the pleasure rises more and more (the first few hours felt like I rode a bicycle for the first time). I got a hit-back while some breaks always someone appeared and begged for anything and nothing (not those usual child’s asking for ´oneruppeonepenonesweet´), I got really pissed about that habit to see foreigner as an walking ATM or salvation army member (why shall I give a drunken man forcing me to buy him a soft drink for nothing? It was around noon and he was obviously full of raksi, a local liqueur, probably left his wife and kids working on the field while he invest the little income in raksi, hoping for some alms from stupid tourists. I just ignored that idiot finished my drink and left). After Kande the road started a long descent which gave me fast progress.Suddenly the Annapurna Range opens another view and the second summit of Macchapuchare could be seen, which gave him his nickname `Fishtail Mountain`. The road lead further through faceless dirty typical Nepali road-towns were youngsters with motorbikes posing around, tested their few English swearwords and showed their middle-finger on me for no reason (those bad behavior is more than a phenomenon in country’s like this, mostly excused with low perspectives for the youth, which might be true but there´s also a big piece of stupidity and boasting included, which has nothing to do with having opportunities or not). Finally I reached Baglung but not before I had to finish a last long climb to the center of town. I checked into a cheap charmless hotel and called it a day.

Next day I started early, backtracking down to the turn off to Beni where the road to Mustang and the real adventure began. The scenery changed fast, the ugly square houses seen everywhere swapped to old style homes built of rocks with nice balcony’s and granite roofs, settled between rice paddies or forests along the Kali Gandaki River, that’s rural Nepal I love, here the world might be still OK (of course it is not, the people still have their problems and sorrows than allover the planet). Kids shouted a friendly `Hallo´ or ´Namaste´ in my direction and I could see true happiness in their faces when I waved back. While small breaks people approached me caused of pure curiosity not because of expecting something more than a small chat. Suddenly a taxi was driving next to me and I heard someone shouting out my name `Chris, Chris´, it was TY on her way up, we decided to go up separately as I was too fixed on that idea of cycling so she was taking the public transport. In Beni we had a small encounter on the bus station and made an appointment to meet in one or two days in Kagbeni. I struggled my way through but enjoyed the surrounding mountain scenery a lot. I got a little bit worried since I realized that something went strange on my front tire. I found out that the rapid fastener went open (how that happened, don´t know), I closed it but there was still a wobble and a strange feeling while using the front break, stopped and detected that the cone-screws (which hold the whole piece together) in the front hub went very loose, ´Shit, big Shit´, I thought. So I had a closer look, one side was totally loose and the screws fell almost out when I removed the wheel. What to do, stop the trip was not an option, thought about to ride till the hub will fall apart (not the best idea but giving up or backtracking was not really what I wanted to do). I tightened the screws with the pliers of my multitool and it turned out to be fine. The turning was not that smooth and perfect but the wobble disappeared and it was OK, so rock on. The road got worse and worse and turned really nasty with long passages almost unrideable with a loaded bike than mine, pushing was easier than cycling in some parts. Since Tatopani, were ´the road´ links to the famous Annapurna circuit the prices for food became ridiculous high, this is reasoned of difficult supplies delivery in that mountain area, but nowadays I think it is a huge rip off, ´the road´makes the access a lot easier and nothing need to be carry up by human power anymore, so I think it is bullshit and only caused by greed to keep the prices that high (yes the road is bad, really bad but even with jeeps it is not easy but still cheaper and easier than with loads of porters). Had a late lunch at Dana where I had a nice chat with a South African trekker (he told that he was wondering why not much people do this by bike because walking in parts on that dusty road means no fun for him and I told him about the Annapurna Base Camp he was heading for which I have done three years before). My plan was to stay in the next village overnight, but that was on the other side of the river and it would be nearly impossible to get there with a bicycle, so I went further to Ghasa a couple of kilometer more. A few km seems not much but on that road means hard work. Actually this road is not worth to be called a road, it really was in some parts more than a bitch of a road (but still was lucky, it was dry season, got some reports of cyclists done it in raining season and would not change with them), but it was fine, I was here of free will and I was not in a competition, there were only me, my bike and the bitch. In Ghasa I stopped at the first lodge and was more than happy to give me a well deserved rest.

Strengthened with a good rest the same procedure as the day before started again. But I was optimistic because I have been told that after Kalopani some 10km further the road was improving. A steep climb (from Tatopani to Lete the road ascents almost 1500m in around 20km) through forest took me up to Lete which offers superb views of the Dhaulagiri. Just after the Kali Gandaki opens and showed his broad river bed, passing through a small gap between the Dhaulagiri and Annapurna- Niligiri Range. Progress got much faster compared to before as the road became much better. The villages, inhabited mostly of Tharkali people became more and more simple. The whole area changed fast and cubicle white washed clay houses appeared more and more (this architecture is typically for Tibetan influenced areas). This is what I was coming for, the forests get fewer and the scenery changed into an almost dessert one surrounded by snow-capped mountains. In the far on mountains small white chortens were see able, Tibetan Buddhist stupas, could be seen and here and there the famous ´Om Mani Padme Hum´ Mantra was written in huge colorful letters on rock formations or Mani walls (walls decorated with stones carved mantras on it) waited next to the road for clockwise circulation by devotees. Another upside was the frequently back-wind, as the dry and cold high-plateau of Tibet is soaking the hot air from the humid and hot subcontinent like a vacuum cleaner through the world deepest gorge which the Kali Gandaki grinds through the Himalaya over centuries and millenniums, so I passed village by village unfamiliar fast. After a lunch in Marpha, also called the apple capital of Mustang I decided to give it a try to reach Kagbeni that same evening. I passed Jomsom, where my permit got checked another time, and left this surprisingly unpleasant town fast, still following the river in unreal beautiful barren landscape. The road follows the riverbed and like this the road was like, leading over rocks and stones. After a while Kagbeni could be seen in the distant and the last settlement of Eklebathi was passed fast. Somehow I managed to get the wrong way, left the road and followed the footpath which looked easier for me, but the way got really narrow as it was impossible to cycle on it safely, pushing was much safer on that less than 50cm broad fragile path with the bustling river deep to my left. The last section before joining the jeep-road again was a steep steep hauling affair on loose gravel where I drag my bike with the last power. I arrived in nice still ancient looking Kagbeni, met TY and her sister and was satisfied with that very short but also very nice ride…