363 spectacular kilometers on the back of a motorbike

Now there's a blog-post title to make my mother nervous!

Rabi's adventure company had organised a Valentine's weekend motorbike ride, from Kathmandu to Narayangarh via Daman and Hetauda on the way and Malekhu on the way back.  I was invited to join, originall on the assumption that I'd go along for the ride in the back-up car.  However, once we were out of the city, I was offered the opportunity to ride pillion with one of the tour leaders and didn't hesitate to say yes.  After that, there was no looking back and I stayed on the bike until just befpre we went back in Kathmandu the next day.

In terns of most excellent gap year adventures, the trip is right up there.  Everything about it was breathtaking.  The road was full of twists and turns and every one revealed something spectacular or fascinating to look at.  Needless to say, the scenery was incredible.  I'll never forget my first view of the Himalayas, the snow-capped peaks seeming to rise out of nowhere.  The number of different types of scenery we passed was almost too much to take in, from mountains to pine forests, terraced valleys to lush Terai flatlands.  The best voews were from Daman, where the relatively gentle colours of the mountains and trees were offset by the bright red rhododendrons, the national flower of Nepal.

It's hard to imagine ever getting tired of views like that, but what really made the trip interesting were the people we passed along the way.  On the first day, we took a back road that is dotted with houses and villages that seem impossibly far from anywhere else.  I was always surprised to see people walking along the road, knowing that it would take hours for them to get anywhere in either direction - such sightings, however, were relatively common, be they men and women carrying heavy loads or groups of school children (it is not uncommon for children in Nepal to walk four hours in each direction to get to and from school).  I love the fact that wherever you are in the world, a smile and a wave is enough to form a connection, however fleeting, with anyone.  And then there were the animals - cows, goats, dogs (all of which are totally mangy), and even a few monkeys - adding to the sense of chaos.  As well as the the quiet villages, we also passed through a few bustling towns - colourful, noisy, dirty places.  I'm still at that stage where everything is new, exciting and fascinating.  

As well as everything there was to see, there was, of course, also the thrill of riding on the bike.  It took me a little while to get used to - suffice to say that these were not the smoothest, straightest roads in the world.  Once I got my balance, however, and realised that Dursin, who was riding the bike, was a perfectly safe rider, it became totally exhilarating - all the excitement of being on a bike without any of the pressure of driving it on such unforgiving roads.  There's nothing quite like the feeling of speeding along, arms outstretched, feeling the wind in your hair (metaphorically speaking as I was wearing a helmet, incidentally the only one of hundreds of pillion riders I ever saw doing so).  And on top of that, there was also the fun of being with the group, all total motorbike enthusiasts and just really nice guys.  Since they work for Rabi,and I'm often in the office, I'm sure I'll be seeing much more of them.

So, a fantastic couple of days.  I've been sore ever since (sitting on that bike for so many hours, I discovered muscles in my upper legs I never knew I had), but it was totally worth it.