Today Things Got Real

Today, things got real. We did a 30 miles up into the hills and returned mid day to Pokhara. I had thought that it would be a breeze given that I do more than than on my road bike most Saturdays and Sundays. Well, not so fast.

We left the hotel at 8 a.m. After stopping to buy me a water bottle (yet another thing that i forgot to bring), we headed out of town on the busy road north. For and hour plus we fought the heavy traffic. The motorcycles, scooters, trucks, cars and assorted jury rigged vehicles all jockeyed for the same space without much respect for who should be in the left or right lanes. Navigating through this was us, trying to predict driver behavior in an entirely unpredictable setting.

Around 9:15 we turned off of the main tarmac road onto dirt path and spent most of the next two hours tackling a steep incline. In total we biked for five hours and climbed 3,300 feet. On a mountain bike, it's the uphills that test your fitness and the downhills that challenge your courage. I found the ascent to be manageable. The descent was uneven, rocky, jarring, bone rattling terror. At least for me it was. The others blasted down over the boulders, roots and rocks. Their years of experience made this a dream thrill ride for them.

After a particularly frightening stretch, we came to a rest for a banana and water. Then Promod announces "Now we are entering a very technical section". 'Technical' is one of those mountain biking euphemisms. Translation; scary as crap - steeper, narrower, bigger and sharper rocks - you get the picture.

I emerged from the technical section well after the rest with lots of humility and with a flat tire. Silly me. I didn't know to hang my butt off the back of the seat to lessen the risk of going over the handle bars but also to take my weight off of rear wheel. Thankfully, Promod replaced the tube in a jiff and we were back on our way.

We pulled back into town by way of my bus incident yesterday, stop at a restaurant to order lunch, zipped back to the hotel for shower and then returned for a relaxing lakeside respite. I had a Greek salad. Tim offered me a glass of his water. It was a glorious spot to regain my equilibrium and to slowly nature my confidence for tomorrow. Because tomorrow, it starts for real.

After lunch the others returned to the hotel for some rest and relaxation. I went in search of an ATM that would recognize my six digit PIN. For whatever reason, most of the machines around town cap out at five digits. I finally found a place towards the end of town. I withdrew the daily max 10,000 rupees. Since there was an fun lakeside, bohemian looking coffee shop next door, decided to go in, use the wifi and maybe chat with a few people. With little notice, a violent storm, somewhat like the one in Kathmandu on Sunday, came whiping across across the lake; intense winds, hail and torrential rain. I captured the beginning of it on time-lapse video. A bunch of people crowed around. Time lapse was alien to them.

The storm lasted nearly an hour. I whiled the time talking with a German and a Brit. The German was there for a meditation retreat. The Englishman was in search of an adventure. He seemed to like the sound of our mountain biking. He said that he will research it and maybe give it a go.

As I was sitting there I remembered that I had left a bunch of clothes on my hotel balcony. The rain was so heavy it made little sense for me to rush back. Instead I pondered a bit. First, I was grateful that I hadn't convinced the shop owner to let me paraglide at this very moment. Second, i wondered whether the hotel would have some plastic garbage bags that I could put my wet clothing in for tomorrow's travel.

As I made my way back in the rain, I stopped into a couple of shops; first to look at sunglasses and then to check out some bike shorts. I could use another pair. I came away empty-handed. Nothing caught my fancy.

After picking up my laundry at the Busy Bee, a cold drinks - beauty spa - massage parlor- room for rent - laundry place across from our hotel (maybe I should open one of these in Boston), I returned to my room. From the courtyard I could not see my clothes on the balcony. I wondered whether the intense winds had blown them away. Low and behold, when I entered my room, there they were. The staff had graciously brought them in. They were all dry. What a nice touch. I had wondered whether my karma would be lost after the old lady incident at the airport. Apparently not. Phew.

Tonight is our last night in a hotel. Tomorrow morning we start our seven day bike journey to Kathmandu. We will be riding jeep roads, "technical" single track and a little bit of tarmac, camping along the way.

You can see our route for today in the adjacent map.


If there are any wired villages in route, I will try to blog. If not, I'll do so next Wednesday in Kathmandu.

Have a great week everyone.
-g.


Sent from George's iPhone