As we had plenty of time, Ernest spent three full days cleaning, oiling
and adjusting his bike and found a replacement rear axle. I wandered
the alleyways, drank coffee and read. As Thamel caters to tourists, a
large variety of food was available, ranging from pizzas and felafel to
Indian, Mexican, and Tibetan food. Yak cheese and yoghurt were
readily available, but I found most of the food bland after six months
in India. Instead, I still ordered tasty South Indian dishes instead of
Nepali food, which consisted mainly of dahl bhat (rice and lentils). It,
however, remained a novelty to order a cheese sandwich from one of
the many sandwich shops in the alleys.
Before departing, I discovered the rear axle on my bike was broken.
How strange? I couldn’t help wondering where Ernest found his
replacement axel. A whole day was spent having a new axel fitted.
Again, I was surprised at the excellent bicycle shop in Kathmandu.
Kathmandu – Mugling - 115km
A day that should’ve been easy riding left me exhausted (I must’ve
been coming down with a cold). A short 400-metre climb took us out
of Kathmandu Valley and a 1500-metre roller-coaster descent led into
the Mahesh Khola Valley. The remainder of the way was an undulating
ride along the Trishuli River featuring beautiful vistas. The weather
was hot and dusty, quite different to a considerably cooler
Kathmandu. On reaching Mugling, I was dead tired and fell asleep
shortly after arriving.