Landing in Kathmandu on May 1st was not a very thoughtful Idea, first of all, it was Labour day, an official holiday where no ‘labour’ is done, and second of all, a nationwide strike had been called by the Maoists, bringing life to, well, almost a halt. There was no transport available to take me to my resort, which was about a good thirty kilometers away from the airport.
After much waiting and fierce negotiations, and for an insane price, I managed a taxi to drop us to our resort at Dhulikhel, a beautiful and picturesque hamlet among the misty Himalayas just outside Kathmandu.
We soon discovered that ‘nothing would move’ as long as the ‘bandh’ (strike) continues, of which there were no signs whatsoever. A feeling of being stranded and confined was setting in, save for our short strolls to the village on the other side of the road, and photographing the landscape and nature from the resort itself.
It was over dinner our second night at the lodge that I ran into a couple from Germany who suggested that we rent bicycles to visit nearby towns for our photography. Only problem with that suggestion was that there was nowhere to find a place that rented bicycles.
This couple had been cycling for past eighteen years, and on this particular trip they had started on their cycles from Goa in India and had reached Kathmandu sometime back. They were enjoying a little assignment with the Lodge of training their staff in the fine art of hospitality.
We woke up to a beutifulsunrise and to some of the most extraordinary bird songs every morning who snag in the trees besides our balcony and would even perch in our balcony and sing their melodious songs, almost like their morning obligations.
We put the cycling idea to good use on our next stop on this trip, the beautiful town of Pokhara, as the countrywide bandh was still on. We rented bicycles for three days and went around the city riding these.
The views at lake Phewa are simply breathtaking.
This was at Pokara where the idea of doing a photography tour on bicycles crossed our minds. So we sourced and bought Motobecane Phantom DS cross country bicycles and imported these to Dubai, UAE.
These are fine cycles with aluminum frame, front and rear shockers, Shimano SLX Rapid Fire 27 speed trigger shift, 27 speed gear system and Avid Juicy3 hydraulic disc brakes etc.
