I wake up after a great night of sleep at 7h10, time to prepare, eat, pack with a planned start at 9. The breakfast is fine, and important for the day ahead. We have to pack the bikes correctly (we will learn that it is important later).
We start riding at 9h10, and then we start our 89 km journey for a planned lunch. The road is mostly asphalt, a bit a concrete and some sections are full off-road. There are obviously a lot of potholes, traffic is crazy, so we all have to stay vigilant. We stop in the middle for a small tea, and debrief of our first 35km. Everything is going well so we keep going to Bani, we order lunch, and go refuel our bikes while the food is cooking. 30 min later we are all eating Dahl bat, a great Nepalese dish. Then time for a small nap, before hitting the road again. Normally we will not see asphalt roads for the next 8 days starting now.
The 30km took us the same time as the first 95km. The road is full of rocks, mud, in many places we have to wait for incoming traffic, as we are stuck between the mountains and a cliff with a river. This is more offroad than expected, Chris falls inside a water hole, but no injuries, and we have waterproof bags. We have to be gentle with these old bikes, the clutch is old, the brakes useless, the gears often get stuck, this adds to the challenge.
We finally arrive in a small village, with natural hot springs ! So this is obviously where we stop first, enoying the warm water, and a shower outside. The water is too warm, but we discuss with fellow travelers, mostly trekkers, and also locals that live here. Then rest, wash clothes, pack/unpack, dinner, and bit of celebration for John’s birthday. We watch moto youtube videos together before going to bed.
