I want to leave early today because I have a long drive ahead of me. In terms of navigation, it will be a piece of cake, because there is only one road, 200 km long, through the mountains from Pokhara to Kathmandu. That is also a disadvantage because there are regular landslides or other blockages on the road and then you have to wait until the blockage is cleared. The many buses on this route have an average travel time of 8 to 10 hours.
It is barely light when I get up at 7:00 am and I immediately start packing my things. An hour later I'm having breakfast in my motorcycle gear because it's cold. Just under 10 degrees, but luckily the sun is already doing its best to change that. The sky is clear blue and when I drive out of the city the white peaks of the Himalayas are clearly visible on the horizon.
Many buses also leave for the capital Kathmandu around this time and that immediately makes it busy. The road in the city is already bad, asphalt is missing in many places and it is very foggy in the mountains. The first two gears of the engine are actually enough for me because driving fast is just not possible.
It is extremely dusty on the road and in many places the sand is sprayed to prevent this. That makes it even more precarious because the yellow clay soil becomes slippery, I notice when I can just keep the bike upright in a slide.
While I am enjoying the view on a bridge along the way, I hear young people on a much older bridge a little further on and they wave me to come over. They are young Nepalese who also make a multi-day tour by motorcycle. One by one they want to sit on my bike to take pictures and we exchange some experiences and social media data.
The nature is beautiful and I enjoy this last motorbike ride in Nepal. I would have preferred to drive longer in Nepal, but in a few days my motorcycle will be packed in a wooden crate to fly to Kuala Lumpur by air freight. Fortunately, there is also a lot to see in Kathmandu.
When I arrive there after a 7.5 hour drive, the number of people in the city is overwhelming. On and along the roads a lot of young people and a lot of hectic traffic. Fortunately, with much less hooting than in India. The guesthouse is well hidden in a slightly quieter area, next to a beautiful monastery.
This is where the first half of my journey ends in terms of time and feeling. Traveling further by land is not possible because Myanmar and China have still closed their borders. That's why I'm flying to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia on February 3 with my motorcycle to continue with the second half there, six months after leaving home. I'm really looking forward to it because great adventures are waiting for me again!
