Central Nepal

Monkey Temple

The Hipsters have found a new place to settle.  Think Boulder, Colorado circa 2000 but moved about 12,000 mile away, and instead of dread locks and shadow dancing to the Grateful Dead, Pokara is linen shirts, pajama pants, man buns, beard oil and Mojitos.  An actual line from an over heard conversation was, "man...I am really feeling the meditation working, my chakras are really freeing up, I am so much the better for it.."  So, if your chakras are out in need of alignment, Pokhara is the place for you.  Now mind you, I am not making fun of the people who come here to have that done...really I am not... honestly...oh fuck it, yes I am, it is weird, not in a bad way, but not in a good way either.

Even though the parental funded hipsters out number locals, Pokhara is very cool and has become an adventure base for helicopter touring, bungee jumping, long trekking, climbing mountains that aren't named Everest, paragliding, rafting, etc. etc etc. The tourism part of the City is clean, affordable, and a nice place to visit, and I had a very nice time there.  The locals, like most of of the residents of Nepal, are just awesome.  Again, I was invited to dinners, outings and motorcycle runs.  I never asked, and they invited, never expecting anything in return.  Just great people.

Some of the locals took me for a very cool ride through the mountains

After Pokhara, I headed over to Kathmandu, the namesake of an old Bob Seeger song and apparently the hash capital of south east Asia.  I walked around my hotel and was approached no less than 11 times during my 20 minute stroll.  The Nepalese who told me that Kathmandu was dirty and not the best their wonderful Country has to offer, were correct.  Unless you want some of the aforementioned hash, or some top quality North Face knock-offs (they are quite good), Kathmandu has little to offer.  Mind you I did not feel unsafe at anytime, I just could not recommend the location for people on a time-constrained vacation.  That being said, if your in the area, spend a day or day and a half...but not two.



My final thoughts on Nepal are the people are great, the place is beautiful, and the roads flat out suck.  That being said, I highly recommend it if you are the outdoorsy type.  Well, I am off to give India a second try and I hope the experience will be better than before. 

Weird Fact:

Ducati motorcycles have been banned from Kathmandu.  The government indicates that it is due to their noise, but the locals feel it has more to do with financial considerations.  I kind of believe in the locals position as the noise issue makes no sense.  The ban only applies to Ducati, and the City is quite loud already, but I will let the individuals make up their minds on that one.

Trip summary

Leg Distance: 290 mi (467 km)

Total Distance Traveled by Motorcycle: 29,935 mi (48,283 km) 

Countries/Territories Visited: USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Transnistria, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China (for 20 seconds), India, Nepal