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Very nice. (But you need to set the videos to "Public" for those w/o Smugmug accounts---I don't think the servers could handle the FOMO onslaught...)
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,760 Likes: 31
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Joined: Jun 2003
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Itchy Boots Fans Should Recognize This Terrain...The Bridge specifically... And the motorcycle... Riding Zanskar Canyon Road... BTW, this model of the Himalayan 450 is named Hanle... (and empahasize the Mal...that's the way the Indiana say it)
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Joined: Jun 2003
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https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal...estic-tourists-stranded-in-hidden-valleyI'd say this ain't the year for Nepal... Glad I said I was probably going to spend most of my time in the Lowlands... Decided to read some News and this popped... Still lots of rain in the forecast, so, obviously, snow up high... Story specifically states Tourists trapped at Tilicho...this will probably make me Oh For Three... But. I'm not cancelling a Third Flight... At least I got a Special on the Hotel...$45 for 24 Nights...with AC and a Private Bathroom...was shocked when this deal popped... If they have decent WiFi, maybe I'll just hang on the rooftop surfing the Internet and flying the drone...
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Joined: Jun 2003
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The flight from DMK to KTM was overcast most of the way, so I felt no guilt for falling asleep for a good portion of the trip... KKC to DMK had been delayed several times and by the time I was in the Hotel Room in Bangkok, it was past midnight... Throwing out cliches... The More Things Change... I'd say at least a third of the plane was Nepalis (more on that in a bit)...in The Old Days, ii was surprising if there were more than a couple...I guess Affliuence is making its way thru Nepal... The More They Stay The Same... The Airport Cons are as Strong as ever and in my tired state, I particiipated in one...1000 rupees for a ride to the hotel...high, but I'm not in the mood to argue too much...then comes the 1000 rupees to exit the Airport Parking Lot...I spent 5 minutes callling him a Con Man to his Face, but gave it to him anyway...I don't recall the colors of Nepali Money, but I'm guessing it was 100 note to exit... I made him pay...he thought he was doing the typical ride to Thamel...ha...ha...ha...I've had enough of that Tourist Trap and 'm staying way out on the outskirts of Kathmandu...he had to stop at least 5 times before he figured out where my hotel is... BTW, the Hotel was getting ripped off by Agoda...I know an 85% discount was Too Good To Be True...we haggled for about 20 minutes and finally settled on a number fair to him and easy on me... Here's the Garden View from my Top Floor Room: ![[Linked Image from photos.smugmug.com]](https://photos.smugmug.com/Whats-New-1/Nepal-2025/i-wdQTvbN/0/L4vKQcWwL237DNv899ZS5LdZ4H93zPHj9Fp9cskP7/X3/IMG_3661-X3.jpg) And, it's got a Deck I can use to fly the Drone... BTW2, my US Carrier said Nepal wasn't on the Roaming List, but it is...I'll still get a Nepal eSIM so I can do their apps and things... And, back to the Nepalis on the flight...2 that I was standing between had been Classmates 45 years earlier in College...and bumped into each other in the Boarding LIne...When I talked about my plans, one stated I needed to stay on Pavement for a while...apparently, I'll disappear in the Terai Mud if I don't give it time...and the consensus is that the rain is going to stop soon, but it's going to get much colder... BTW3, I get the same kind of looks on the street as I do up in Rural, North Thailand...what's this guy doing here? I give them the "Some of us are tired of the Same Old S......"
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Joined: Dec 2002
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For those trying to count along at home: 1000 NPR = $7.03 US.
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Joined: Dec 2002
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That would break Richard , cut into the added insurance on the motorcycle , waiting for Richard coming back to the USA and customs!
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,760 Likes: 31
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A big difference from back in '13 when it was about 11.76 and the worst rate (as a US traveller) was 13.89...
I should keep that weak Rupee in mind...(kind of surprised it is this weak...found out when I saw the bank transaction as 35.something for 5000 rupees...)
I've always been willing to admit I'm a Cheapskate...
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Joined: Jun 2003
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waiting for Richard coming back to the USA and customs! A LOT of stuff will remain in Thailand...with the threat of FCC back-dating COM equipment bans...in my case, think Drone...I'll have only a carry-on with smelly underwear...
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Joined: Jun 2003
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First taste of Kathmanu traffic with me in control...weird for about the 1st 15 minutes...Bangkok...Leh...LA...all places where I've had to ride very defensively...no different here... Interesting conversation with the Bike Shop Owner...he was surprised at how much geography was coming back to me...Cool thing is, he said Go For Muktinath in a couple of days...they're rebuilding to road as we speak and it should be done...and if I want to ride Challenging Terrain, go for Manang...You don't know how happy that makes me...and, obviously, he knows I'm an Old Man... You guys made me feel so Guily about being Cheap...when he said $375 total...I said I'll give you $300...but...I had given him a $200 deposit back in February...he smiled... Here are a couple of photos: ![[Linked Image from photos.smugmug.com]](https://photos.smugmug.com/Whats-New-1/Nepal-2025/i-pvxQ9Hc/0/KJ8rkWTSk9Q56Rr5Q4PFbJVJGTvT4wCfgGvf5Vb4F/X3/IMG_3662-X3.jpg) More Asian Power LInes for Doug to Inspect... ![[Linked Image from photos.smugmug.com]](https://photos.smugmug.com/Whats-New-1/Nepal-2025/i-85d3Zw9/0/LGBr2svD9PRTGtPvQm3FgNRgrrcPhbjcR5Lkfnrw3/X3/IMG_3664-X3.jpg) My Baby XR parked in front of the Hotel...
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Joined: Dec 2002
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Do you have Global Entry? If you don't, it's arguably one of the best travel investments, imo. (Coming back home from Morocco last week, hundreds of people standing in the customs line, and no one in the GE line. Walked up to the machine, it takes a picture, the light turns green and I'm on my way...)
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Joined: Dec 2002
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I notice the feed to that mess is underground so they know how to do it , looks like some if not most of the wires comms cables. I would be interesting to see how many are live and others just leftovers?
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,760 Likes: 31
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Back in May, when we returned from Thailand, I had an experience similar to yours...I walked up to a camera, took my hat off and then walked through to baggage. I don't know if I passed through a line I wasn't supposed to, because I haven't joined any special program. I went and picked up our baggage and was out in the Visitor's area for about an hour while my Green Card Holder Wife waited to clear customs. I do think they embedded some special image in my passport when it was recently renewed and supposedly it can be read from a distance...(may be spreading an Internet Hoax...) Went for a "burger" (again, no beef in some of these countries) for lunch: ![[Linked Image from photos.smugmug.com]](https://photos.smugmug.com/Whats-New-1/Nepal-2025/i-ZsWQFFp/0/M268FnXvdMLWDg2F3DRvmLZzLHn9gPDRQvgV8DvWT/X3/IMG_3666-X3.jpg) Not nearly the satisfaction of a WPS Burger, but it did hit the spot... ![[Linked Image from photos.smugmug.com]](https://photos.smugmug.com/Whats-New-1/Nepal-2025/i-rzxwhVx/0/NZL24zgPVxPVNZ3K9vWGT5MP9xWRwVq5BsLPX8hfB/X3/IMG_3668-X3.jpg) And, Pizza for dinner...quite good...the Pizza Places seem to have figured out that people don't want Ketchup as the tomato paste...which was too common back in the day. ![[Linked Image from photos.smugmug.com]](https://photos.smugmug.com/Whats-New-1/Nepal-2025/i-txpMXXH/0/KMZz885LsbN7ZTcXrzqVbSPWWDbXSgpjxd9H73zFP/X3/IMG_3665-X3.jpg) Walked past a burned out building...I wonder if it was related to the power line wiring?
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That's interesting...most of the Internet over here now...India, Thailand and now Nepal...are 5G Wireless...There still are land lines...My Hotel still has their landline, but the Internet is 5G...the equipment, including battery backups, is sitting in a closet close to my room...Maybe they just don't want to spend the money for sorting out what can be removed...?
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OMG!!!
That was a National Highway???
I got a late start because I wanted the Rental Company to check a few things and put a new battery in the bike…
Ended up leaving for Lete at around 11…knew I wouldn’t make it…so I decided on Pokhara so I could check with the Tourist Authorities about the possible requirements for a TIMS Card…confirmed no on a motorcycle even if I Trek…surprised…we’ll see if I get turned around…
Plenty of people heading for the AC…including Tilicho (which is good news…if I don’t kill myself on the ride up tp Manang)…several heading for The Sanctuary…which I refuse to miss…Fish Tail and the S. Face of Annapurna can’t be passes up…
BTW, it was 5:59 for 133 miles…
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Made it to Jomsom…
Welcome, we’re going to throw heavy winds at you and toss in about 26km of rain…I missed a couple of turns…G Maps sucks, but part of the problem is the Gov’t ain’t giving us a good signal…in non- mountainous terrain, I’m seeing errors of 50 feet… that doesn’t happen at home unless you’re in a narrow canyon. BTW, India did the same, but it wasn’t this bad…
And they wonder why people get lost…2nd question would be: what are they afraid of…No Lost Tourists???
Missed turn one had me on some muddy, Hard Enduro Terrain…until I figured I might not make it to the Petrol Station…when all else fails, ask the locals…they got me where I needed to be…and it confirms that this little 190 is plenty strong enough…
Missed turn two had me in a Hospital parking lot…it was another one of those lose your balance randomly at close to zero kph…I toppled over and broke the left mirror..four or five people rushed to my aid and gave me directions to a Honda Repair Shop…1750 rupees for the and some minor adjustments…
My GoPro hasn’t been working the past two days…terrain has been so rough the battery popped out…(door is off so I can charge while riding…I guess should buy one of those special charging doors…
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To avoid complaining about mapping and gps, I’m not using it…
Made it to Muktinath in about an hour…25km…
Going to hang…have lunch at Bob Marley Hotel and then ride back down…
Spend another night in Jomsom and then head for Manang…as tired as I am from the beat downs of these roads, I may not trek.
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,760 Likes: 31
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Posts: 5,760 Likes: 31 |
Oh, and I tried to ride towards the Thorong La…got turned around…which makes me happy…some of this has to remain human power only…same goes for the Sanctuary…
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…and I hear there’s been some road building in the Everest Region…some Tourism people came to their senses and any more road building will be very limited…
Today is the first day I’d classify as fun…some great photos that I’ll post tomorrow when I have WiFi at the Hotel…
Spent a couple of hours at the Temple…watched some people walk/run the Holy Fountains…I got frostbite from just touching all the flows…
I did do lunch at the Bob Marley Hotel…changed a lot in 13 years…
The trip to Manang may take three days…a big, long, loop…it could be shorter if I had an Upper Mustang Permit…
BTW, I read a sign that states that even carrying a drone into ACAP is illegal…I’m denying everything…only my phone, a GoPro and insta360…
Last edited by Richard P.; 11/05/25 04:59 AM. Reason: I did ride a few km into Upper Mustang because I rode to Kagbeni on the Kali Gandaki River bed…
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From 37 to 80 degrees on the ride from Jomsom to Kushma…
Probably could have ridden a few more villages up, but this gives me a longer rest for the rugged ride to come…
The village is experiencing a brown out…first one on this trip…much more common in the past…WiFi must be on backup because it’s still working…
Photo and a few videos once I know it won’t drop…
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