The first 40km yesterday was amazing. One of the steepest winding roads you can imagine, clinging to the side of the valley as it dropped dramatically. It was made all the more spectacular, sadly, by extensive landslide damage from the recent earthquakes (by Australian standards the road should have been closed). Small towns cling to the hillside in a way that is reminiscent of the Mediterrean, but much dirtier. We crossed the China/Nepal border without difficulty but the contrast on the Nepal side (across the Friendship Bridge) is stark. If the Tibet side is messy and dirty, the Nepal side is a crumbling shambles. We couldn't ride further unfortunately due to time constraints and we had a 140km+ ride in a Toyota van into Kathmandu over roads that it would be have quicker and safer if we had been riding the dual suspension mountain bikes. Highlight was a great local lunch - eaten with fingers - at a restaurant overlooking the rushing river that flows from high in Tibet (apparently one of the top 10 rivers in the world for whitewater rafting).
Remarkable how good the Kathmandu hotel seems after 16 days on the road, without showers or toilets. Today we have to clean the bikes to the standards of Australian Customs (they are carrying unknown Tibetan dirt and germs). Won't even bother to clean the tyres; just throw them awa,y in light of the things they have run over. Then we have to organise shipment of the bikes back to Australia.
Will put some final photos uplater today
Where are the photo's of Base Camp?
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