After my wife and I completed our tour of the Alps in 2017, we were chomping at the bit to add another adventure to our motorcycle touring portfolio. The question was, where and when? Sometimes when you’re looking for a new adventure, it just shows up!

It was March of 2019, and we had landed in Croatia for our next tour of duty, and then, the entire world shut down. It was two and a half long years before I would get a text from my good friend Jeff Cole who was living in Thailand at the time. The note read, “Hey Mike, are you going on the Giant Loop ride to Nepal?”

He proceeded to tell me about the ride and sent me a link to the website that had all of the details. I must admit, riding a motorcycle through Nepal had never even entered my mind. Jenn and I combed through all of the information about the expedition and decided that we were in. Now we just needed to figure out how much it would cost?

The Giant Loop Far Xplorer expedition includes nine days of riding, Royal Enfield motorcycle rental, all meals, hotels/camps, food, and support. The expensive part was airfare, which we won’t discuss here because it’s a moving target. Our flight itinerary would have us leaving Bend, flying to Seattle, then Doha, Qatar, and on to Kathmandu, Nepal. The expedition was booked for November 19th through December 5th, 2022. Actual riding dates would be November 23rd to the 1st of December.

Over the next several months, Jenn was busy learning about Nepal, and I was looking into the right gear for the ride. It was supposed to be mostly warm, with lows in the 30s to 50s at the higher elevations of our ride route. Nepal is basically on the same latitude as Baja. The rainy season in Nepal is during the summer, so there wasn’t a real concern about getting wet, but we needed to have gear that would be water-repellant with venting for those warmer days. We gathered all of the suggested items in the travel guide, got our vaccinations, and were ready for our new adventure to begin.

Harold and Michelle (Mr. and Mrs. Giant Loop) were also going to join the expedition. Harold and I have been friends for almost 10 years. He’s one of the first people I met when I came to Bend in early 2013. He and his wife Michelle are passionate about the outdoors and riding on two wheels.

Our General Itinerary

Nov 22 – Day in Kathmandu with a visit to Bhaktapur Durbar Square

Nov 23 – Transition to the starting point at Naubise – first night in the safari lodge in Sauraha (Chitwan Nat Park)

Nov 24 – First camp in Dedegaun in the Palpa District on the Kali Gandaki River

Nov 25 – Second camp in Ridi (soccer pitch) after a coffee stop in Tansen, a former kingdom

Nov 26 – My favorite camp in the Syanjia District, Honey Hill as we call it.

Nov 27 – This was our big push to the lodge at Kalopani in the Mustang

Nov 28 and 29 – Two nights camping in the tea house at Boksikola

Nov 30 – We arrived at my other favorite hilltop camp at Giplang

Dec 1 – We rolled into the Bar Peepal Resort in Pokhara!

Expedition Highlights

From Christophe Noel-our expedition leader.

“The highpoint village we walked through was Jharkot. The great little village of white stone with the monastery is Marpha. Yak Donalds is in Kagbeni. Those are the notable spots in the Mustang. The big peaks were Dhaulagiri (26,975) and Annapurna I (26,500 ft). 7th and 10th tallest peaks in the world.

By my count, we passed through 11 of the 77 districts of Nepal. I suspect we interacted with at least 9 unique peoples, castes, and ethnic groups, including Newar (Susan), Chettri, Brahmin, Tamang, Takali, Gurung, Magar, Tharu (safari guide), Rai (our support team), Pun, Sherpa, Bote, and Kami. 

There are 37 types of forests in Nepal, and I believe we visited 11 of those spanning four of the five climate zones from tropical to subtropical, temperate, and subalpine at Jharkot.”

Time to fly! It’s 4:30 AM, November 19th, and we are hustling to get our gear staged in the garage while we wait for our Uber ride to take us to the airport. 48 hours, 4 planes, 18 hours of total layovers, and we touch down in Kathmandu, Nepal. Let the adventure begin!

Our shuttle to the hotel in Kathmandu was one of the wildest rides I’ve ever taken in a vehicle and a sign of things to come. We made it to the hotel just before dark to find our expedition leader Christophe and a few other members of our group enjoying a cold beverage in the lounge. The first night was all about settling in and trying to get a good night’s sleep. Our schedule for the next day in Kathmandu was to hitch a ride into town and tour one of the oldest parts of the city.

Christophe had arranged for his good friend Susan to show us around the historical parts of Kathmandu. Susan was born and raised in Nepal and spoke fluent English. I understand that she has also done some work for the History Channel.

We ventured deep into the city to visit a 400-year-old part of town reserved for royalty. The monarchy was riddled with drama that eventually lead to a massacre that wiped out most of the royal family. On May 28, 2008, the newly elected Constituent Assembly declared Nepal, a Federal Democratic Republic, abolishing the 240-year-old monarchy. Nepal today has a President as Head of State and a Prime Minister heading the Government.

It’s Tuesday, November 22, and we are headed two hours out of town to the West and up into the foothills just outside of Kathmandu to pick up the motorcycles. We arrived at a lodge high up on a bench overlooking the valley below. It’s a beautiful sight to behold, with lush green valleys and the snow-capped Himalayas in the background. We unpack our riding gear and daily necessities, mount our Giant Loop travel luggage to our motorcycle, then prepare for departure.

Christophe chose this location as a starting point so we could acclimate to riding in Nepal, which is much different than riding in the States. For one thing, you ride on the LH side of the road, but it’s important to learn how the flow of traffic works in Nepal. Horns are not a signal of aggression here. They’re used primarily as a “get noticed” alert. It says I’m here; please see me.

What to understand about riding/driving in Nepal is that you trust others for your basic welfare. There are little to no traffic lights or signs, even at major intersections, which include roundabouts. The key to success is getting a wheel ahead of the next rider/driver. When you do this, the drivers around you are responsible for yielding and looking out for your safety. It’s truly a thing of beauty to behold. It was difficult to get my head wrapped around this, but after the first day, I was gliding along in synch with my Nepali motorists-friends.

After a 50-mile ride to the SW corner of Nepal, near the border of India, we arrived at our destination for the night. The hotel was located near the Chitwan National Park. Christophe had arranged for dinner outside near a roaring fire. We were right on the edge of the nature preserve and could hear elephants trumpeting in the distance. The next morning we went out for a safari and saw rhinoceros, elephants, wild boars, crocodiles, and many species of birds.

After our safari, we were on the road heading North up into the Mustang Valley area. The next several days were spent chugging along mostly dirt roads heading up in elevation. Christophe explained that there are three types of roads in Nepal, on-road, off-road, and on-off-road, meaning pavement with potholes the size of cars. Most nights while traveling in the backcountry, we stayed in tents that our support team had pitched before our arrival each day. Travel was slow and technical, with a mixture of rain ruts, loose rock, and an occasional river crossing. We passed small mountain towns that grew fruits and vegetables and high mountain farms that raised sheep, goats, and buffalo. The Nepali people are very resourceful, growing most of their food; they import very little, with the exception of rice.

Our Royal Enfield motorcycles held up well, with the exception of some wheel bearing failures and mufflers falling off; they proved to be strong as mules. The 350 Classic I was riding put a big smile on my face around every turn. It didn’t seem to matter what condition the road threw at us; the little bike just kept chugging up, around, over, and through anything we encountered. The only condition I had difficulty with was mud; the tires were made for the street with a solid rib down the middle; this allowed the rear end of the bike to try and pass the front almost every time I hit a wet spot. I did the Fred Flintstone several times but, fortunately, never went down.

Jenn had a few close calls, once while trying to pass a car that sped up and moved over on her. She came face to face with another rider, and they both went down, but no one was hurt. A few dollars in reparation, and we were back on our way. Jenn had to ride with me for a few miles until the mechanics could find a place to weld her footpeg back on.

Once we arrived in the village of Marpha, we were able to visit our first Buddhist temple. The people of the village are largely Tibetan and live a simple, peaceful life. Children are Nepal’s greatest gift and are treated as such. I originally came for the adventure of riding a motorcycle through the mountains of Nepal, but I quickly fell in love with the people, the food, and their way of life. I will be forever changed by their welcoming nature, infectious smiles, and resourcefulness.

We spent a few more days exploring the Mustang Valley and visited some beautiful local farms, mountain villages, and temples that were sacred and off-limits to the general public. In fact, we were each one of just 20 visitors in total that were allowed into this particular temple. I’m not even at liberty to discuss what we saw inside. Let’s just say the contents were several hundred years old. If word ever got out, the temple could be robbed. Our guide Christophe had donated several hours of service to the community there.

At our final camp, just NW of Pokhara, we were greeted by a couple dozen students and their English teacher. From the minute we arrived at camp, we were drawn into a celebration of dance and laughter that was unlike anything we have ever experienced. The children were all dancing in a circle, hands in the air, smiles on every face; they pulled us to the middle and danced all around us. The energy level was so great that I felt like I was floating on air as I moved around their inner circle. This went on for several hours until a feast to suit a king was prepared for all to enjoy.

That night our support team consisting of our chef, his son Suman, our mechanic Ravdam, and our support truck driver threw a party around the woodstove that would rival anything I have ever been a part of. The libations were flowing, and the music was provided by our incredible support team. They were playing traditional Nepali instruments; it was raw, live, and exciting to hear and see. They really know how to live life to the fullest every day in Nepal.

Our final day on the bikes would see us travel back down the mountain with 4,000 feet of descent into Pokhara, where we saw hand gliders catching thermals rising to the clouds in a ballet of flight. Up and down, we went while traveling along a spine high atop a mountain ridge with spectacular views of the valley below. Our trip was coming to a close, and a bit of sadness started to creep into my body. I wasn’t ready to leave Nepal and the people I fell in love with, but soon we would be shuttled back to the airport and back to the good ole U.S. of A.

This trip will likely stick with us forever, and we would like to think we are better people for it. I teased my wife that I would likely have PTSD after we return to our everyday reality that’s largely based on consumerism. It’s now time to admit something about the “Goat”. I’ve had my eye on that little Royal Enfield Classic 350 for a couple years now. In fact, when I bought all of my gear for this trip, it was with the goal in mind that I would own one of these bikes someday. That day came as soon as we arrived home. I picked up “Bullet” the next week. Yup, part of Nepal will be with me every time I sling my leg over this little bike.

Namaste,

MM