First time mountain biking and the bike is still alive!

After Bandipur I got stuck in Kathmandu, by my own choice. I went to Astrex for indoor climbing a few times, otherwise just hanged out in the town watching life go by. And it was also Nepalese new year in the weekend. Welcome 2070! Party, party. I went to Purple Haze with a few friends, some local bands were playing and we got quite wasted. But I did wake up in my own room and not in some random roof top. Well done Pia!

After that bash I took it easy for a few days and then went to Nagarkot (a new place!!!) with mountain bikes together with Chitra. My first time mountain biking! The start in Kathmandu was quite chaotic, that was really extreme sports. And the way to Bhaktapur is a highway, biking on that one is like a suicide. I don't really wanna do that again...

Look mom, white t-shirt & a helmet!!!

From Bhaktapur we took a small road towards Changu Narayan, and started going up up up. Up for hours. Really steep at some points. In Changu Narayan I did some shopping, as if my bag wasn’t heavy enough. But there’s always space for a huge mask…

Can I have the biggest one in the shop please?

Yes I can!

From Changu Narayan we took a small dirt road through a forest towards Nagarkot. And saw a snake crossing the street. Is that good luck or bad luck?

After the forest part it was time to go up again, the last 9 km to Nagarkot. After a few km it started to rain, one more kilometer and it turned to a thunderstorm and we had to make a break. Only a few minutes later huge hails were smashing down to the street and there was a accident just in front of us. 2 cars run into eatch others and a truck almost run down the hill.  Luckily we weren’t biking next to them…

Well sized hails.

Nagarkot is all about the view. But this time there wasn’t any, too foggy all the time. I still woke up at 6 am for the sunrise just in case the mountains would be visible but no luck L So back to bed for a few hours and then we started to bike uphill again. 4 really steep kilometers to a viewpoint before it was all downhill! The first time of my life…. A lot of fun, but also more work than I thought. It’s for sure not just sitting on the bike… 

Nagarkot in the morning. Imagine mountains to the background.

Beware of the forest! 

 

2 Babus.

It was great to be out of busy Kathmandu for a few days. And the ktm valley is just absolutely gorgeous.

After coming back to ktm I only had one full day left L I went to Kirtipur (another new place!!!), a small town near ktm with a friend and our faces ended up in a student film. They were filming how women are cooking typical Newari food and we had to eat & comment. I hate being in front of cameras but at least I got to try some food for free J 

Sunset from hotel roof top.

Yes yes very nice, is this a nepalese pizza?

What do you mean my room a mess?

Then it was flight time again, now to Istanbul for a long weekend with Tanja!!! Canim Cigerim, here we come! J

It’s all about climbing. Good to be back in Nepal.

This is my 4^th time in this amazing country. I don’t really know why but the place, people and of course climbing just make me to come back here twice a year. This time I only have 2 weeks. Better than nothing.

My plan as always is to see at least one new place while I’m here. Well, not happened yet and I’ve been here now already for a week. So that’s the plan for the upcoming week, though I’m not too sure it’ll happen even then. Or maybe I just go to a new bar, that counts too!

The first week was all about climbing and meeting friends. I arrived here from Sumatra with sleepy eyes and got my old room back at Sweet Dreams. Feels like coming home J The next day I forced Babu to go “indoor” (indoor style walls but it’s outdoors) climbing with me at Astrex. Funny how fast you start to suck at climbing, a break of 6 weeks made me struggle badly at 6b routes on top rope. Shame on me. But that was just warm up. The next day I jumped to a minibus and went to Bimal Nagar with Dhurba.

I just love that place. Amazing wall next to a river, great multi-pitches for a shitty climber like me and if you’re lucky and the day is clear, at the top you’ll get rewarded by a breath taking view of the Himalayan range.

Climbing with Dhurba is fantastic, he wakes up early, is fast & reliable and there’s good laughs. We climbed 2,5 days in the Bimal Nagar main wall, did 4 multi-pitches and loads of short routes. We tried to finish one multi-pitch in one hour, including coming down. We made it up in one hour but the only option to fit coming down to the hour would have been jumping. Pfff... Next time...

Dhurba trying out a new route, 7a+ 

On the 3^rd day we moved on to a new route near the Siddha Cave in the hills between Bimal Nagar and Bandipur. That was my 4^th day of climbing and I really started to feel it everywhere. Especially as I haven’t done any kind of sporty activities in the last month. Diving & beer drinking don’t really keep u fit… Anyways, the new route was quite demanding and to be honest I was quite happy it was only 2 pitches.

Afterwards we hiked up to Bandipur with all the equipment. That was a long & steep 1,5 h trek with the heavy bags. I stayed there 2 nights just relaxing and enjoying the silence. And silence it for sure was, as electricity was off every evening, I finished my book in a day and the laptop broke so I couldn’t even watch a movie. So after 2 nights I jumped to bus again and came back to KTM to find a macbook doctor and yes, I found a good one! Baby works again J

Bandipur

Next weekend is Nepalese new year so that’ll be a bash I hope. Other plan is to see a the new place, hopefully go to Nagarkot or Hattiban for some more climbing and otherwise just hang in Kathmandu. 

Back in Nepal

There's some countries I like, some I dislike and some I absolutely adore. And the one I can easily call the best place on earth is Nepal. So I had to go back, again. 2nd time this year, 3rd time in total. And I'm already planning a trip for next year...

Now I only had 3,5 weeks and I also had to work during the time but it's still better than nothing. The country is pure magic. Like a drug. You just have to get more and more. 

Monkey temple

I had loads of plans but I ended up changing them basically all the time. I spent lots of time in dusty Kathmandu. I love the city. It's dirty, polluted and full of people. But there's something I can't really put my finger on. It's just amazing. And there are my favorite places & people of course. 

Checking out Patan with little brother.

I went to Patan with Babu, to monkey temple a few times, strolled around the town and went to see a gig at durbar square. A french pop/rock band played in the square, the music was terrible but otherwise a nice idea... Next time Slayer, please.

I did loads of climbing, 3 days in Bimal Nagar, climbed some short routes and 2 multi-pitches. I went twice to Hattiban and also a few times climbing indoors in Kathmandu. Nice way to spend the day. And to get rid of the hang overs.

Hattiban

After a week in Kathmandu I checked out what Sauhara (Chitwan national park) hast to offer. Last time I was there I stayed inside the park, this time I had to save a bit money and I took a bus to the main village near the national park entrance. Worth it. There was an injured rhino baby hanging around in the museum premises. CUTIE!!! The poor baby got attacked by a tiger but survived and is now taken care by humans. 

This time probably the coolest new place I went to was Bandipur, a small and cosy town on the hills about 2 h from Pokhara. That place is so pretty. I didn't really do anything there, one day I climbed to a hindu temple on a hill and spent the whole day reading a book and watching the amazing scenery. Evenings are beer time and luckily I had nice neighbors in the homestay to share a few bottles with. 

My last trip out of Kathmandu was to Manakamana again with Babu. Best company I can have! Thanx to swiss engineers there's a cable car running up to the mountain where's a famous hindu temple of goddess Manakamana. Go there, make a wish and wait for it to come true. I made three wishes, didn't sacrifice any goats or chickens but I'm still confident that I just have to wait for them to come true. Right?

Nail polish party. Not my hand.

Now I'm back home but only until December 20th. I'm staying one week in Philippines before I fly again to Borneo for some diving. I've got 2 weeks planned, two weeks unplanned. Can't wait...