By Mark
Before we headed off on our ride north from Kathmandu we were a little hesitant as what to expect. We had read that the 120km's takes about ten hours to traverse. What were we in for??? Well, luckily it didn't take us as long but still it took five and a half hours. The road started out small and windy and slowly we made our way higher and higher up the mountain through towns and small villages and the further we went the more the roads deteriorated. There are many landslides up here and they take the road with them each time making many sections of the road quite sketchy, it is already bad enough that the roads have no barriers and beyond them are drops hundreds of metres to the valley below. We arrived in Syrabesi without incident and found ourselves a little guesthouse with a very sweet man who ran it himself along with his shop and restaurant. Service was a little slow but so is the pace of life up here. Can't expect too when we payed just a little over $2 for our room.We decided we should go for a hike while up here since we finally got to see some peaks of the Himalayas so the following day we headed off. We soon realised how out of shape we have become huffing and puffing and sweating, then you see the local porters carrying all sorts of things up the mountain side to the small guesthouses and realise how hard they have it. Along the way I decided it would be funny to hide off the side of the track and give Sanne a nice little scare as she walked on by, only problem was I hid too well and never noticed her walk straight by! So a few minutes later I jump back onto the track, no Sanne. Hmmmm, so I start to walk on up the track but no Sanne, since I was a bit ahead of her before I decided to hide I thought she may have just stopped and had a break. So I turn around and start running in the other direction, after about ten minutes still no sign of her. Totally keeping my cool I turn and make my way back again in my original direction, I start running like mad through the forest screaming out her name scaring all the animals in sight and having the locals think that there really is a Yeti living up in the mountains, one sight of this bearded, dread locked sweating beast would have had them running a mile. Finally after about 30 minutes I see Sanne sitting on a rock waiting patiently. I have never given her such a big hug in my life and she just said I was stupid. Learnt a good lesson that day... After all this we turned around and headed back to our guesthouse for a much needed cold beer.
Before we headed off on our ride north from Kathmandu we were a little hesitant as what to expect. We had read that the 120km's takes about ten hours to traverse. What were we in for??? Well, luckily it didn't take us as long but still it took five and a half hours. The road started out small and windy and slowly we made our way higher and higher up the mountain through towns and small villages and the further we went the more the roads deteriorated. There are many landslides up here and they take the road with them each time making many sections of the road quite sketchy, it is already bad enough that the roads have no barriers and beyond them are drops hundreds of metres to the valley below. We arrived in Syrabesi without incident and found ourselves a little guesthouse with a very sweet man who ran it himself along with his shop and restaurant. Service was a little slow but so is the pace of life up here. Can't expect too when we payed just a little over $2 for our room.We decided we should go for a hike while up here since we finally got to see some peaks of the Himalayas so the following day we headed off. We soon realised how out of shape we have become huffing and puffing and sweating, then you see the local porters carrying all sorts of things up the mountain side to the small guesthouses and realise how hard they have it. Along the way I decided it would be funny to hide off the side of the track and give Sanne a nice little scare as she walked on by, only problem was I hid too well and never noticed her walk straight by! So a few minutes later I jump back onto the track, no Sanne. Hmmmm, so I start to walk on up the track but no Sanne, since I was a bit ahead of her before I decided to hide I thought she may have just stopped and had a break. So I turn around and start running in the other direction, after about ten minutes still no sign of her. Totally keeping my cool I turn and make my way back again in my original direction, I start running like mad through the forest screaming out her name scaring all the animals in sight and having the locals think that there really is a Yeti living up in the mountains, one sight of this bearded, dread locked sweating beast would have had them running a mile. Finally after about 30 minutes I see Sanne sitting on a rock waiting patiently. I have never given her such a big hug in my life and she just said I was stupid. Learnt a good lesson that day... After all this we turned around and headed back to our guesthouse for a much needed cold beer.
The sealed road only lasts so long, there are many landslides in this area
Quick check of the tyre pressures
Switchbacks anyone?
Our final destination, Syrabesi
Hello, what do we have here?
Yes, this stuff grows like a weed here, literally!
Sanne was loving it!
Unbelievable what these guys can carry.
Just a small glimpse of the Himalayas
A small village along the Langtang walking trail
These monkeys were very shy and hard to get a photo of
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