We pushed off around 9:00 am after an excellent breakfast and fond farewells. The ride back down the mountain was just as challenging, and just as fun. Our final leg was more urban than the others, but Prabin still managed to find some excellent off-the-beaten-track dirt and pavement. Instead of taking us directly to Pokhara, he bought us to the top of the mountain where they launch the paragliders and we saw a bunch of them in the sky. It looked like a blast but I think we had just as much fun carving through the twisty fresh blacktop roads up and down the mountain in tight formation. We pulled into the shop around noon and the hugs and high fives began. Unloaded our bikes, gathered up our gear, then sat down for some lunch, cold beer and a little ceremony of appreciation of our hosts. Throughout the ride, we’d poked fun at John the Elder for his riding jacket which looked like he found it in an ancient archeological dig. He’d said that this was it’s last adventure and true to his word, he donated it to the shop where it will be hung proudly on the wall for the visual enjoyment of future adventurers. Over the course of 7 days of riding, we’d covered over 600 kilometers, each one hard-earned. In the end, we came back with everyone we started with, the bikes as well. We had issues of course, but we adapted, improvised and overcame. That’s the meaning of adventure. We made and grew friendships, got an intimate feel of a culture very different from ours and left with a renewed belief that we humans are more alike than not, where-ever we live, and whatever our history.
Here’s a short summary of the experience. For me, it was about 3 things: The meeting and talking with the local people to get an understanding of how others live and how we all basically crave the same things; meeting new friends in the adventure motorcycling community; and experiencing the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and geography of a new country. This trip provided the best of all three. The Nepali people were wonderful…gentle, kind, friendly and open. I’ve never felt more safe on an international trip. The fellow riders were terrific. We came from all corners of the country, our ages from 32 to 76, vocations as varied as cabinet builder, restaurant owner, hospital executive, and retired social worker just to name four. We all share the moto-affliction and by the end of the trip, were a band of brothers. And Nepal…my goodness. From the crazy traffic in Kathmandu, to the incredible peace, serenity, and sheer spirituality (with occasional craziness thrown in) of riding through the Upper Mustang region, it was an experience like no other. I couldn’t recommend it any more highly. The big question…where next?
