After I’m back in Nepal, I stayed almost a week in Kathmandu, waiting patiently for the weather to become stable again. Its been raining sometimes but the clouds seem moving away slowly, listening carefully while the nature is trying to communicate with me telling me to take a few days of rest before embarking the journey into the world highest mountain, Mt Everest. Without wasting time while in Kathmandu, I arranged the trekking permit to enter the Everest Basecamp with the help of the Sherpas. I also got my bicycle repaired and make sure everything is good before I start pedalling towards Solukhumbu, the Everest region.

getting my black bull ready in Kathmandu

The first 2 hours riding out of Kathmandu was hell. It was very dusty and I was battling against the super heavy and chaotic traffic. I was hoping that the ride will slowly gets better the further I rode away from the capital of Nepal but the traffic was heavy all the way. Cars, bikes, buses and trucks were honking all the time, my ears were so painful. Im not used to this anymore, the last time when I rode in super busy road like this was probably in Urumqi in China many years ago. Not long after I left the city, the first climb started… then another. It always feels difficult on the first day… after months I didnt cycle with fully loaded bicycle. After only 65km on the first day, I was exhausted like a fish.

leaving Kashikhanda

finally some greens after few hours ride out of Kathmandu

the road snakes along the river all the way

On the second day, it was easy for the first 40km. The last 25km, I had to go through 3 big climbs. I did well on the first one, which was the hardest one. I took 2 breaks on the second climb and on the 3rd, I took many breaks… hehe. Nepalis in the countryside are very friendly. Jeep drivers were waving at me, bikers showing thumbs up to me wishing me luck on my journey ahead and school kids at the roadside were cheering at me. It feels good. I met a few Nepalis along my way who speak fluent Malay, which makes it easy for me to communicate with them. I was riding along the river with the views of paddy fields most of the time. After the end of the second day, I reached and took a rest in a small village called Khurkot. Upon reaching Khurkot while sipping a cup of tea, I was joined by another solo cyclist from Costa Rica. He was also heading west and have been on the road since the last 4 years. We had a chat for a few minutes before he continued to cycle a little further.

the view along the way

half way through the climb

after the first climb

Allan, the cyclist from Costa Rica

The third day was the hardest of all. It was only 62km to get me to another small village called Ghurmi but it took me 10 hours of hell riding. The road was never flat, it was hilly all the way. After a tough climb, the road immediately goes steep downhill before the next climb started again and it continues all the way to Ghurmi. Of all the 62km towards Ghurmi from Khurkot, the road was paved in probably less than 20km… the rest were all dirt narrow road with big stones everywhere. There were so many river crossing and the weather was way too hot, forcing me to take many rests in between whenever I found shade.

trying to catch up my breath under the shade

taking a rest under the shade

After some 10 hours of battle on the road, I finally reached Ghurmi, a small village on the hill, with so many pigs on the road. It was already quite dark when I reached Ghurmi, I had no energy left so I was pushing my bicycle slowly while looking for a place to sleep in Ghurmi. I finally found a cheap room to sleep there with the help of a local Nepali who speaks Malay. It was a basic room in an old house without any shower room or a toilet. So the local took me to a place where I could have a bath. There were no bathroom anywhere so I had no choice but to take a bath outside in the open. I needed a bath badly anyway since I smelled much worst than a donkey, so I just took a bath in the open realizing local women were staring me.

a few kilometers before Ghurmi

mostly muddy road towards Ghurmi

Ghurmi village