Sunday 29 November 2009

Biking up to Jomson and Back

In May of this year I trekked the Annapurna circuit with two Nepalese friends but as time was short we cut short the route and flew back to Pokhara from Jomson. We felt ok about this as we had done the highest part of the trek over the Thorang Pass (5,400 m) and felt less motivation to trek along a (just) motorable road from Jomson to Pokhara.

In October I returned to Nepal (I have the good fortune to work there) and decided that, no matter how good the excuses we had made for finishing early might be, I really ought to complete the trek. However, seeing that there was a road and I am a keen cyclist, I would do it by bike. A snag in this plan was I did not have a bike in Nepal but, from a tour of likely spots in Thamel, Kathmandu, I soon found that buying a decent mountain bike was no problem. ‘Dawn to Dusk’ right next to the Kathmandu Guest House built me a bike from scratch on a Lapierre frame.

Those who know the crowded domestic airport at Kathmandu may understand why I opted to take my new bike to Pokhara on the tourist bus. Perhaps not such a good idea though after seeing it put high on the roof - I just hoped it would still be there on arrival. The bus took a while because really bad traffic jams caused by broken down trucks producing an alternating single-lane ‘system’ – but actually chaos as there were no traffic lights or traffic cops. When, at last, I arrived in Pokhara I checked into my usual place, the Baba Lodge. It has always carried the slogan ‘A pleasant place to stay’ and indeed it is. The helpful owners of the Lodge arranged a taxi to take me to the start of the ride the following morning.

Day one – a warning
I started the ride 13 km south of Beni from a local tea (chiya) stall. This is the point where the black top road gets really potholed and just a few kilometres before it turns into the dirt road that leads to Jomson. The taxi driver and the owner of the tea stall, where I had a cup of tea to delay the start, waved me farewell at about midday. The afternoon’s route of 30 km to Tatopani had a very modest 200 m increase in altitude from start to finish. With just one quite leisurely stop for a late lunch it took me five hours to cycle to Tatopani. Among the hazards were the many streams that turned the road to mud and children that ran after the bike and hung onto it. It was getting dark when I arrived at Tatopani where I was booked into the “Old Kamala Lodge“ run by the sister of the owner of the Baba lodge - I was happy to reach it and even gladder of the cold beer.

At dinner that night the Nepalese guide of a lone trekker from New York told me that the road I would take to Kalopani the next day was dangerous and difficult and that I ought not to be doing it on my own (perhaps with an unspoken ‘particularly at your age’). Now I understood. This was why the friendly people from ‘Dawn to Dusk’ always flew to Jomson and cycled down and had given me a strong impression that biking up to Jomson was a really strange idea.

Day two – claps and cheers
The warnings from the night before were partly true - this was indeed the most strenuous day (see uphill road in background left) but fortunately it was not dangerous. Its ‘only’ about 27 km from Tatopani to Kalopani but, from start to finish the road gains about 1000 m in altitude and it is rocky, muddy, dusty and steep. I met many trekkers going downhill as I biked uphill (all were trekking in the other direction around the Annapurna circuit). They seemed most surprised to see a lone cyclist going the wrong way and there was applause, shouts of ‘bravo’ and very encouraging comments as far as I was concerned such as ‘rather you than me’ and ‘you must be fit’. The locals also made remarks as I passed - although I did not understand the words the gist appeared to be that uphill biking was a little eccentric and a rare sight.

I arrived at Kalopani at about 1 pm and stopped at the ‘See You Lodge’ for a lunch of garlic soup. Extending the lunch into an overnight stay - the lodge looked so clean and so comfortable - seemed an absolutely inspired idea compared with carrying on. I visited the village and admired the views (left) then ate dinner at the lodge while looking forward to the next day with its promise of gentler gradients.

Day three – views with crumble

And so it turned out. From Kalopani to Jomson is delightful with a much better road - much less rocky and much less steep- that has stunning mountain views (see below), a wide beautiful river, very green pine forests, and interesting villages. Yesterday’s efforts were forgotten with the sheer enjoyment of unpressured riding under clear skies and shining white mountains. Later, and even better – the pleasure of eating beating the wonders of nature – was the most truly delicious apple crumble at the High Plains Inn at Tukuche.

Finally, after cycling through Marpha and failing to see a lodge that appealed I carried on to Jomson and found a room in the Trekkers Inn. This completed the circuit – it was the very same lodge that we had checked out in May before the flight back to Pokhara.

Day four – all downhill

Retracing steps can be much less interesting than path breaking but retracing the turns of the wheel was gripping. I really had not realised as to how much I had climbed on the way up to Jomson so had no idea as to how easy and exciting it would be to go back down (see the nice downhill route below). From Kalopani to Tatopani I seemed hardly to turn the pedals at all – all I had to do was stand on them and absorb the bumps. So it was not at all surprising that the two days of pedalling up became one easy day of freewheeling down.

Easy except when a fast descent on the steep and rocky road proved, for the second time on this trip, the obvious; in any collision between pedals and shins it is the shins that come out worst.
It was good to be back at the “Old Kamala Lodge“ for the night’s stop and a garlic yak steak sizzler and watch the sun go down on Nilgiri (below).

Day five – a better brew

When the end is in sight the end recedes. Yesterday I descended in one day what had taken me two days to go up so I looked forward to a really easy morning’s ride to meet up with my taxi that would take me back to Pokhara and my pleasant place to stay. It did not turn out to be easy. It took me almost as long on my return as on my way up. I ought to have expected this – after all the downhill advantage was only 200 m from start to finish - but the previous day’s unexpected, almost non-stop rapid descent made me feel sure things would continue in the same easy vein. By the time I finally did reach the taxi – after many false dawns – I was really relieved. At last I could drink a much-awaited cup of chiya that was so, so much more delicious than the one I had drank so many miles before. Distance lends enchantment to the brew.