Day 9... Take 2
The Gateway hotel offered a buffet service and they seemed to have more staff than guests, most of them young adults. Seeing me, several of them wandered over to ask if my bike was fixed now and if all was good. They were a nice bunch. I ate a small breakfast not feeling super hungry but aware that now is a good time to get some food down.
I had gone over my plans for today when I woke up this morning. Here the harder grind begins... though after my first few days in the mountains I'm not sure it could be any harder, except I guess with the altitude factor.
Not that I'm underestimating this particular part of the undertaking. This is a slow and steady thing. Go too quickly and you risk altitude sickness. Even if the terrain doesn't force me to be slow, the total altitude gained in one day will. It is recommended that 500m ascent per day is enough. I am taking a prophylactic course of Diamox that I puchased in Kathmandu to help with acclimatisation but essentially slow and steady wins the day.
I managed to set off at a reasonable time and the first sections of road were blighted by roadworks. Knarled up road with bulldozers all over the place. Still because of the slow and steady thing, my target for the day was Syange... 15 miles up the road in all senses of the word.
Then came some smooth... literally just laid tarmac.... nice! Then back to the rough stuff and my chain slipped off behind my largest cog. Bugger, not again.. I got off. Extracated it... and sat off again. I hadn't gone far when I heard a now familiar crack and suddenly my legs were windmilling with no resistance on the pedals. I didn't need to look down... I knew the chain would once again be trailing on the ground.
A few expletives left my lips and my heart sunk a little. Nothing for it but to head back to Besisahar and the small good bike shop.
Fortunately I had only gone 2km or so...
Unfortunately some of that was downhill and I have no choice but to walk. Today could be a write off. Many things were going through my head. Was the chain salvageable? How long would it take to repair if it was? It felt like a bit of a sign in that moment.... the mountain did not want me today. Would they let me up at all??
It sounds silly but it had taken a lot of time. and effort and help to get a chain from Pokhara yesterday. I don't think I had the time or the energy to do that again.
I resolved that if the chain was not fixable, then the bike would stay here and I would walk up, forgoing the nice downhill ride I expected to have the other side and coming back down the same way, pick up my bike in Besisahar and get a jeep to Pokhara. That was plan B. Plan A was to get it fixed. Looking at it, it didn't seem like any other part was damaged, unlike last time so there was hope.
As these thoughts swirled around my head, I was walking back, and had to stop for a jeep turning round... a thought came to me and I hailed them and asked for a lift. They said they were going to Besisahar... I showed them my chain... one of them hoped out, threw my bike in the back and motioned for me to hop in.... mode of transport number 3!
It then only took 10 to 15 minutes to get back instead of the 40 or so for me to walk it. They dropped me at the bad cycle shop and because I felt like I had to stay there, I showed them the chain.
They told me I needed a new one. When I made to leave they said they would fix but that I still needed a new one. I said I would try and get another one and come back if I did.... I had no intention of doing that but it felt the easiest way to leave.
I walked back up to the good shop and wordlessly held up my chain.
The young man quickly jumped down, grabbed the chain and got to work as I explained what had happened. For the next 45 minutes he took out a link, oiled the derraileur, put the chain back on and pronounced himself satisfied. I wasn't quite so sure. Although the chain had been ok yesterday, it did not shift well and so I wanted to check it much more closely. I went for a quick ride and then for half an hour, he held up the bike and I tuned the pedals, shifting up and down. Numerous times it jammed or fell of the back of the largest cog. More oil, some further adjustments... both limit screws and barrell adjusters. I felt like I put him through his paces but I needed this to be right before I headed up again. 1 more mishap and the chain would be toast and that would be that methinks... at least for plan A.
Eventually we got it to a point where it ran up. and down the gears ok with only mild hesitations that I could live with and hadn't fallen off the back again, which I think was the most important bit. I offered money... he said no. Instead, I took a photo and promised he wod appear in my blog (poor payment I know) so...
Take 2!
Same road... same bulldozers, same smooth tarmac... past the snapped chain point and so far so good. Shifting ok. Legs not too bad.
It was now 10am... much later than I had hoped to leave but at least not back at the Gateway hotel😂
As I had left the village of Besisahar, a young man had pulled up to me on his mountain bike and started chattering to me. His English was very good and he told me how he loved mountain bikes and how he could do wheelies, which he then demonstrated, leaving me in his dust!
He said he would keep me company for a short while. He was 17 and very sweet as he rode very slowly so that I could keep up with him. He told me how he couldn't afford to go round the Annapurna circuit, how he wanted to be a mountain bike guide and when I came back to Nepal, I must get it touch and hire him as a guide to show me around. He cycled with me for a few km and then shook my hand and whizzed away back to Besisahar. It was a nice way to start my day for sure.
The road was in places nice gravel, sometimes tarmac and wound up and down alongside the river which was that glacial blue and turbulent as it crashed along below the road. There werent many cars or jeeps coming past, and the ones I did see were full of Nepali people, not a tourist in sight still. I enjoyed the peace and quiet, the sounds of the river below and the fresher air.
Shortly I was treated to my first sighting of the mountains today. Snow covered and majestic they rose above the mere foothills that I was playing in. It felt like they thought I had a crappy start to the day and it would make it better if I was allowed a glimpse.... it did. Between the river and the mountains all the stress from the morning melted away.
It was of course already baking hot and the sweat was dripping off me. Givem the decent road surface and the not too intense gradient, many of the climbs were ridable, albeit slowly. I pottered along... the knowledge of less miles today, even with the late start, meant I could take my time, enjoy the scenery. The scenery was stunning.
At one point, I came to a bend in the river, crossed by a bridge, with the moubtains inthe background and just stood and stared for a while. A Nepali couple came passed and I asked if they would take my photo with my bike... so many of my pics have just my bike in them 😂, it's nice to occasionally have one together.
Next up, I came to a fork in the road and took the left hand one which was the main road, but was stopped in my tracks by a man on a motorbike who said that the other way was better for me. It involved going through Nepal's first road tunnel and then wound up on reasonable tarmac, then gravel. Looking at my etrex, I was running parallel to the main road on the other side of the river, on footpath tracks...
But they were fairly decent. There were one or 2 sections including a particularly nasty cobbled section out of a village that brought back haunting memories of Ecuador but on the whole they were reasonably rideable.
Of course the general nature of the path was up, but the miles were going by well enough and a fleeting thought occured to me that perhaps I could go further today than originally planned. At some point though I would have to get back to the road and saw a bridge ahead.. when I reached it there was a sign pointing over the bridge for the off road way to Manang and to continue on for the hiking way. I hoped that the off road way eould be just as nice for the bike as the last bit had been.
Of course after the river there was a steep climb which took me out onto the main thoroughfare for all the jeeps and motorbikes going to manang. I had done over 10 miles and at the intersection there was a sign for Syange that said 8km. Nice!
It was not late and as I went along, I passed a sign for food and decided to stop and eat. I had a nice plate of noodles and a beautiful view of the river. As I sat there a trekker came in, ordered a beer and food and the usual conversation was had. Where from? Where from today? Where to today?
I left not long after, not really feeling in a conversational mood and set off. But my niceish tracks of before were long gone, replaced with rutted, muddy, rocky, steep gradient ups and downs. The downs when they came were rideable and fun but they were short lived and soon it was off the bike and pushing. Fortunately the sun had lost its main heat and there was a nice breeze blowing but it was hard work. I stopped a lot, enjoying the view and the fresh air. There werent as many jeeps or motorbikes as I thought there might be and the only ones I saw with trekkers were on their way down. Either they had come up the other way or they had gone up and back the same way. They all waved or gave me thumbs up.
I wasn't so worried about how long this bit was taking as it was still fairly early afternoon and I did not have that far to go. Even if I was forced to walk it all it still shouldn't take too long.
And then the trekker from the lunch stop caught up with me, which was unsurprising given the amount of up I had been pushing my bike.. I set off bumping down the short section and then again off and pushing once again. The inclines now steep and intractable. If course he caught up again and it began to play on my mind. Obviously it was not, but in my mind it felt a bit like being chased along the road and I didn't like always being in proximity of the same person. The next time he caught up with me, I let him get far ahead. He had said something like 'not far to go' which annoyed me... I know it wasn't far, I was perfectly aware how far away from Syange I was.
Unfortunately the next section had a slightly longer downhill bit and I caught up and overtook once again. But then came the daily sting in the tail... a long steep uphill on godawful track.
To mitigate the misery however was the scenery, The river, now far below winding its way through the foothills. The tall mountain tops now covered by cloud and hiding once again. The late afternoon sunshine, warm but not blazing, dappling everything it touched and unfusing it with a little bit of magic. I came to some rocks on the edge sode of the road. Leaned my bike against one and took off my rucksack and glovves and sat there, just soaking it all in.
Of course the hiker caught up, the clickety clack of his poles signalling his approach.
'Come on, not long now'... bloody man. I know he meant well, but to me it just sounded patronising. I could see the bloody village I was aiming for, I knew where I was, I was enjoying the day... I did not need a pep talk from him!
Its funny the things that bug you.
But I continued to sit there and my annoyance melted away in the face of such a lovely picture in front of me.
Eventually I stood up, shouldered my pack and got on with going up. I glt ro the top and paused for breath when a motorcyclist stopped and asked where I was going. When I replied Syange, he told me he owned a hotel there and had rooms available. So I agreed to stay at the waterfall hotel. I had been thinking to maybe push on up the road a bit but considering I had had a late start, getting to my originally intended point, was good enough for today.
With that, it was pretty much all downhill and I passed the first hotel of the village and the second one was the one of the guy I had met. Perfect. It looked clean and nice and he welcomed me in and gave me a nice ground floor room with bathroom.
Food and room seemed to be as a package which was grand and although the shower was cold, it was very welcome. The sun was setting and I started to get a little chilly so put on my down jacket and sat huddled in bed, eating peanut butter straight out of the jar. Was like heaven. 😂
Went out for dinner to the dining area and found a few trekkers sitting there. One guy was quietly playing a guitar and seemed to be French. I nodded to the people there and then sat at the far end away from everyone. I just wanted to eat and read my book.
The fopd was great. I again couldn't eat it all but the garlic soup was the most garlically thing I have ever tasted (supposed to be good for altitude) and the vegetable curry was also very nice.
Disturbing my dinner was the french guy and two younger women, one canadian, one english, who were gabbling inanely and disturbing the peaceful evening, so as soon as I finished dinner, I retreated to the peace and quiet in my room.
Day was done... and pretty. much so were my shorts which had now almost completely ripped. I might still try and get one more day out of them.
Tomorrow is short and probably not particularly sweet. Lots and lots of up which will prob necessitate lots of pushing. Thats ok though, I have all day and will just take my time. Hopefully, no annoying trekkers will be chasing me down the trail as I aim to leave early for a change.
Apologies for late blog, once again the call of sleep stopped me finishing it last night.
Fingers crossed for a decent day today.
What an adventure Lydia 10/10 for endurance .. I’ve just completed packing for Uganda and have suitcases bursting with medical gear and your mums splendid knitted blankets / hats etc it’ll be somewhat nosier there x
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