7^th Sept

7:00 am, It is pouring… yesterday was sweltering hot??

8:30 am. It is still raining

I have rearranged all my stuff in the bags as I will now be moving into colder areas

10:00 am, the rain just refuses to let up

I have studied the maps sent by Chen Yun,(our very efficient co-ordinator) as also Google the road is totally mountainous,

 I am a little apprehensive about the ride today.. read a blog where it was mentioned the roads are full of sharp turns and bus drivers drive like maniacs!! …and then this rain. Frantically looked up weather forecasts, I thought; since I had kept a good lee way in terms of days, if the weather is not going to worsen tomorrow (!) I might as well leave tomorrow. Unhappily I decided to postpone, unhappy because it would mean one more day of anxiety about the roads and the ‘maniacs’. I had been given the contact details of a man Mr.Laxman who was to help me with my visa in Kathmandu (I had a Chinese visa, but I needed to get an additional stamp at Kathmandu for entering through Tibet.) Called him to tell him about the situation, he told me the embassy works only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Wow! If I reached Kathmandu today, only then could I submit my application tomorrow (Wednesday). Had to leave immediately. Loaded the side-car wrapped and packed it… yes this is an everyday 15 minute exercise loading and 15 minutes unloading (I am carrying 3 bags, spares, tools, oil, and 2 spare tyres that have to be tied and secured to the sidecar.) It was nearing 11:00 am.

Filled petrol and set off, it was still raining. In such weather the glasses initially keep getting foggy… extremely irritating. It rained till Mugling which is one third the way.

The road almost all through runs along the valley of the swift and swirling river Narayani and then it's tributary Tirshuli

 The roads save the last 20 km were good. At places they were really bumpy but smooth- It was as if- you make people lie down, put a thick duvet on them and then ride over them… get it? Smooth but really bumpy.  The last 20 were full of pot holes and also the steepest. AND there was a traffic jam on the last 5 uphill! And then downhill into the city…The jam took 1 and a half excruciating hours Rocinante got so heated up that she kept stalling.

Kathmandu is a big city and lies cozy in the palms of the ranges. I had surfed for places to stay, didn’t find any that suited my pocket but realized that Thamel was the place to go in Khatmandu. Found a nice place checked in. The ride wasn’t as treacherous as I had imagined after all. The writer of the blog I had read was a white man…new to this side of the world little did he know that we all drive ‘like that only’!