Purchasing some Royal Enfields

36 years ago dad rode his motorbike to India from England. He lived in a small Indian village for 9 months in total. We had decided to try and find the village and re-trace some of his steps and what better way to do it than on Royal Enfield motorbikes.

An Indian company bought the Royal Enfield brand, designs and production equipment from the original English company and set up making the bikes in India in 1955. They are still made here today.

We had arranged to meet our driver from the Golden Triangle, Ram, to show us a place he knew for me to buy one and dad to rent. He didn't show up at the agreed meeting place so we headed back to the travel agent to try and contact him. They also knew a place and began making phone calls. We arranged to see a couple and got in their car. We pulled up in a lay by which was a bit strange because we thought we were going to a garage/showroom. 10 mins later two Enfield bullets turned up. They took me up the road on the back then offered me to ride. I had never ridden a bike bigger than 125cc semi automatic so getting on the Bullet on the busy Delhi roads was a bit daunting. I rode it down the road, stalled it a couple of times then arrived back in the lay by. We went off to think about it over a McDonalds.

We flagged down a tuk tuk and a couple of English speaking Nepalese lads moved over to make space. The driver asked what we wanted and we replied with buy a Royal Enfield. Luckily the English speaking Nepalese were able to translate exactly to the driver what we were after. He took us to a street full of motorbike shops known as Delhi motorbike market. Hundreds of bikes parked up, loads of Enfields and bikes blasting up and down the road. This was more like it. We approached a shop specialising in Enfields and he had two old ones parked out the front with our names written on them. They were such good value that dad bought one and will ship it home as well as an early 60th birthday present. We gave them a good look over and agreed a list of things to do to them. They began work immediately. Mine was older and needed more work, it was given new wheel bearings, new chain and sprockets, new clutch plates, new headset, new brake shoes, new battery and new wheel damper blocks. Basically every wear item on the bike. Dad's was much better to start with but got the same thorough inspection and worn parts replaced where needed.

It took two days to complete the work. We spent most of that in the workshop drinking chi, learning what goes where and checking all the work was completed as agreed. We bought piss pot helmets, glasses, security chain and sorted insurance through the seller. It was an interesting and good two days. The next task was to ride them back to the hotel. We paid the same tuk tuk driver who took us there to show us the way back. We gave ourselves a quick lesson, that one makes you go, that one makes you stop and that one changes gear. We were ready to hit statistically the worst roads in the world in Delhi rush hour! We got to the hotel fine. The bikes are brilliant. 350cc singles, kick start, lots of chrome and almost straight through exhausts. They're not quick compared to modern bikes but they sound brilliant, you can hear the individual firing strokes. After a week of riding we were returning to the shop for a re spray on each bike also included in the purchase price.

We were happy, we had two bikes and were all set for a weeks riding around North India.

Rob

Ride to Amritsar

Continuing dads route from 36 years ago we continued on towards Amritsar. The bikes were going well, cruising along nicely side by side, easy rider style. We stopped every 50km or so for a cup of chi from roadside dhaba's (restaurants). Indian chi is made of mainly milk, boiled with tea leaves, sugar and ginger then strained into the cup, it's bloody lovely and was always a good enough excuse for a 20 minute stop and leg stretch.

It took two days to ride to Amritsar, about 500km. The road was straight and wide but you still had to stay on the ball. There's no real rules on the road, just toot and go. It's predominantly drive on the left but if you miss your turning there's no problem with riding/driving down the wrong side of the dual carriageway.
I got squeezed between a tuk tuk and concrete barrier, good job I had the bull bars on the bike, they protected my leg when I hit the concrete. Each day when we arrived at our destination our faces were covered in black road grime. The air on the roads is pretty polluted.

We arrived in Amritsar,  about 20 km from the Pakistan border, and followed signs to the Golden Temple. The signs took us down the high street full of people. By chance we ended up in an underground bike park with 24 hour security. We parked the bikes right next to the guard then set off to find a place to stay.

We dumped our bags at the hotel and went to the temple. It is the most sacred Sikh temple in the world. It is the same as the Vatican city for Catholics or Mecca for Muslims. The temple itself is covered entirely in gold leaf and surrounded by a holy lake called the pool of nectar. The lake is surrounded by a gated precinct. We removed our shoes and covered our heads before we entered. We arrived as the sun was going down, it was lighting up the gold temple and making it glow. Pretty impressive looking. We went back into town for food then returned to see it lit at night. I think it looked even better at night.

Entry to the temple is free, they offer a free meal for every person regardless of faith and provide a place to sleep for the night. The morals of the place seem spot on and the Sikhs we met seemed very proud of it. The kitchen area was on an industrial scale, huge cooking pots and a massive line of troughs for washing up. Everyone was calm and friendly, it was a nice place to be.  We walked through the temple itself and up onto the roof. It's a lovely building covered in gold leaf.

The following day we left Amritsar and headed back to Delhi. We stopped at a town for breakfast and to have our bikes looked at. My gear selector was contacting the foot peg and making gear selection difficult. I also got my valve clearance adjusted and the chain tensioned on both mine and dads.

We continued back and came across a shopping mall complex. It housed a KFC, McDonald's and subway, it looked very out of place amongst the Indian agricultural land!

We arrived back in Delhi 2 days after leaving Amritsar. About 1000 km done in 4 days. The bikes went very well and are a blast to ride.

Rob

Pipli Khera

We set off on the national highway 1 from Delhi armed with two Royal Enfields.  We were in search of the village where dad lived for 9 months in the 70's. First stop was a town called Sonepat. It has completely changed since dad was here 36 years ago but he knew which road we needed to be on. We stopped at a police station to ask for directions, they were all sat on string beds drinking chi. They obviously had all the crime under control. We declined there offer of chi but followed a cop car back to the main road. He obviously thought we might struggle retracing 100m of straight road! Just up the main road was a big public school with a sign saying English speaking. We pulled the bikes up at one of the four security gates. They were a bit dismissive to begin with but gave in to our pestering and phoned an English speaking receptionist. She sent their private driver to the gate and dad explained we were looking for Pipli Khera. He directed us further 12 km up the national highway one. Back on the bikes we counted 12 km on the speedos. We stopped at a petrol station. The owner invited us into his office and made us chi. Dad explained what we were trying to do and mentioned the name of one of his old friends, Rameshwar Malik.

The owner said 'l know that family'. He got straight on the phone and rang Sanjay who then rang Pankaj. Pankaj, son of Rameshwar, didn't believe the petrol station owner, he said don't be silly. Eventually they were convinced it wasn't a joke so Pankaj and Sanjay were in the car on their way to meet us. Pankaj was a baby when dad was in the village so didn't remember him. However he knew about dad as the Englishman who rode his motorbike too fast. Pipli Khera is a small village in Haryana, a million miles from a tourist destination which made dad's stay there very memorable for the villagers who passed on the stories to their children. Everybody we met, young and old, had heard of dad's stay in the village, it was a big thing for them to have a foreigner living with them.

We left the motorbikes with the petrol station owner and got in Sanjay's car. He drove us to the village and we visited a few buildings where dad used to stay. One in particular was a 1st floor room over a buffalo shed where he lived for three months (photo). The village had changed dramatically, what was a population of 2000 is now 5000 but luckily some familiar buildings were still standing.  When we were walking through the village a few heads popped up, one in particular over a roof parapet wall. The elderly residents remembered dad and were pleased to see him. We had chi in the courtyard, where dad used to park his bike, with the brother of one of dad's old friends and a few locals. Dad was pleased to hear that most of his old friends were still about and we were able to meet up with them that afternoon.

We got back in the car and headed back for Sonipat, where the families were now living. We met Rameshwar, the person dad spent most time with and Sanjay's father, Ved Singh. Dad was again being remembered by people as the man who rode his motorbike too fast. Then back in the car to go and visit an Indian theme park called Chokhi Dhani. It is owned by Sonita and her husband. Sonita was also from the village.
We had a nice lunch then went back to the petrol station to pick the bikes up. Then we rode to Veesan's house where they kindly put us up for the night. We were driven to Sanjay's farm to have a look around. They were harvesting basmati rice and planting wheat in it's place. The fertile land of Haryana allows two harvests per year, one of rice and one of wheat. They showed us their buffalo and cow sheds.

That evening we returned to Chokhi Dhani theme park and met Sonita and her family. There was a Rajistani cultural experience with dancers, music, camel rides, magicians and traditional food. We were invited to Sanjay's car in the car park for a few beers. It seemed to be quite a popular drinking spot because alcohol was not served inside Chokhi Dhani. They ordered pakoras and bhajees which were delivered to the car. After beers we went back inside to the Rajistani restaurant where we sat on the floor and ate a meal off banana leaf plates. It was a good evening which we spent most of the time eating and drinking.

Lots of people we met recalled a story from 36 years ago. When dad was at the village he had to do some work on his bike so went to the bike mechanic in Sonepat. Lots of locals crowded around dad and the mechanic. The mechanic had heard dad's bike was fast in comparison to theirs so asked dad how much horsepower his bike was, he replied with 68. The most powerful bike in India at the time was 8 horsepower (measured in a slightly different way). The mechanic made a joke and everybody laughed along with him at dads claim, he said this foreigner doesn't have a clue, his bike can't be 68 hp. Dad said 'get your helmet'. He took the mechanic out and opened it up down a straight, through an s-bend and over a hump back bridge. The mechanic was actually shaking and white with fear when he got back. We learned on this trip that the mechanic had told his Indian friends some time after that if he was offered every property in Sonepat  (population 20,000) he wouldn't get back on that bike! We went to the same courtyard where the mechanic was based 36 years ago (photo of gates).

Later on in the morning the family barber arrived and we had a shave in their front garden.

We had a brilliant two days with the Malik family and their hospitality was generous and welcoming. It was excellent for dad to return and also for me to see where I had heard so many stories from throughout my childhood.

Rob

India - Golden triangle

Arriving in India from Kathmandu was like going from a third world country to a development country. The airport was new and clean, roads wide, and well lit and the taxi wasn't an old knackered Suzuki Alto. However, as we made our way towards the train station in New Delhi things changed quickly. Traffic increased, roads worsened and litter began piling up. We walked to find a hotel, the area was heaving with people, piles of litter everywhere and a stench of rotting food. Even though it was pretty rough the people seemed happy, smiling and laughing.

Our original plan was to get the train to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and then back to Delhi for mum's flight home.

The next morning me and dad went to try and buy train tickets. We asked 5 different people how to get tickets and got 5 different answers! Anyway we ended up in a travel agency. The train tickets were sold out but the agent organised a car and driver for 3 days which would also take us to Jaipur. It was ideal, mum only had a few days so this way we could do the whole Golden triangle. The Golden triangle is a popular tourist route which includes forts, palaces and the Taj Mahal. Within 30 mins of leaving the agency we were in the car on our way to Jaipur.

We left Delhi, did a short stretch through the Haryana district then into Rajistan and finally Jaipur. Rajistan district is famous for its desert landscape, dancing and traditional food. They still use camels to tow carts for transporting goods.  That evening we visited the royal palace then asked the driver to take us to the Tiger fort hoping for a view over the city at night. The fort was positioned on the end of a ridge, this gave us a 270 degree view of the city below. It's not even a big city for Indian standards but it was still 3 million population. The fort had been converted into a restaurant with tables and chairs in the turrets. It was well worth the trip up.

The following morning we visited the Amber fort, again an impressive building, huge and decorated with gold, marble and gems. We went to an observatory designed buy a king a few hundred years ago to study astronomy. It consisted of large structures used for time keeping accurate to 2 seconds and for observing the stars.  The driver then took us to an elephant sanctuary where the owner was trying to sell us a package where we could stroke, feed, paint our name on it and ride an elephant for an over inflated price. We soon told him he can stroke his own elephant. We got back in the car and set off towards Agra.

On the way to Agra the driver stopped so we could have lunch. He took us to a big, posh, tourist hotel offering an 'Indian experience'. Before we arrived we saw a few local cafes on the opposite side of the road. We walked over and it turned out to be a lorry park with a few huts set up with gas bottle burners, a load of pots of spices and a chipati oven. Perfect. A load of locals turned up, along with the resident rat, and were intrigued to see foreigners eating in the lorry park. £1.20 later the three of us were fed and ready to continue the journey. Ram, our driver couldn't understand why we opted for that restaurant.

One more stop before Agra was a nature reserve. Home to large areas of wetlands, wildlife and a shite load of bird watchers. We hired bikes and rode around til sunset, which was apparently the best time to see the birds. We went up a view tower to overlook the reserve. A few peacocks and water buffalo later we were back at the entrance. It was nice to get out the car and away from the hustle and bustle for a couple of hours.

We arrived in Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. To continue our cultural theme from lunchtime of eating in local places, we got a taxi to Dominoes!

We got up early and went to the Taj Mahal. We had been looking forward to seeing it for a few days. It was bloody brilliant. Not to busy with tourists and free entry because it was world heritage week. We had a tour guide who told us lots of interesting facts. The Taj Mahal is made of white marble from the Rajistan district. The marble was transported to Agra by 1000 elephants. It is the only marble in the world which is translucent. It took 20,000 people and 22 years to complete and was built as a tomb for the third wife of the king. His wife died before it was completed but was still entombed within. The king began to build an identical building in black marble on the opposite side of the river. The kings son wasn't too impressed with the 40,000,000 rupees it cost to build (equivalent to 72 billion rupees today). Coupled with the fact he wanted to be king he imprisoned his father in Agra fort in a room overlooking the Taj Mahal and the site where his black equivalent had began to be built. His father spent his last 8 years imprisoned in the fort.

Feeling a bit temple'd out we decided to use the driver to our advantage. I wanted to buy Christmas presents and post them home. We went to a market road with some lovely smelling open sewers and bought the gifts, then to the post office to send them home. It worked well.

We wanted to drive past the Agra fort, take a photo then crack on back to Delhi. A tour guide approached us and managed to persuade us to go inside and it was well worth it. The guide was an Indian history graduate working towards his PhD. He was excellent telling us loads of interesting facts. One was that against popular belief that the Taj Mahal is solid marble, it is in fact red brick clad with blocks of marble. We exchanged emails and he sent us a 40 page paper he has written about Agra fort. We arranged to meet Ram the following morning because he knew a place where we could rent motorbikes.

We arrived back to Delhi then got a taxi to the airport. Me and dad said our farewells to mum. It had been a brilliant few weeks and we had done so much.

Rob

Patan, Nagarkot and Bhaktaphur

I dropped my passport off at the Indian consulate with the lads. We had to collect the following evening. Back at the van me and dad had a go at adjusting the handbrake. It turned out one of the cables had unhooked from its carrier, probably on the craps roads we had been on. I hooked it back on and adjusted the cable. This wad probably what caused the problem in the first place. Again it drew a lot of attention to the van and us. People appearing to see what we were up to.

The following day we drove the van to Patan Dur Bar square. We found a place to park and walked to the square, avoiding the dead rats along the road. The square was nice, lots of old Nepalese temples and pagodas. We visited the golden temple and palace museum. Was a nice place to have a mooch about. We walked past a row of butchers, some pretty interesting sights! We fought our way through the traffic back to Kathmandu for me to collect my visa. We collected them fine. We had applied for a 6 month multiple entry which are easily obtainable from the UK but they issued us with a 3 month single entry! Changes our plans slightly but not too bad. That evening me, mum and dad had a drink with Stew and Dunny to say our farewells. I would see them next in India and my parents in England.

The following morning we said our farewells to the Panda hotel staff. We had stayed there on and off for over a month. They had let us park Big Sal in their car park and treated us really well. We had a good relationship with the staff and will definitely return again one day. We got in a taxi and headed to Nagarkot.

Nagarkot is a small town up in the hills on the edge of the Kathmandu valley. It is famous for its views of the Himalayan Lang Tan range and the sunrise and sunset. From our hotel we saw a building site. They were building a new hotel, currently 8 floors tall. It was the highest point in Nagarkot town. What an awesome place it would be to watch the sunset we thought. We walked down an alley, climbed over a wall and asked the foreman 'any chance we can go to the top' he said 'no problem' and waved us up. We climbed up through the unfinished carcass of the building, no hand rails, 8 floor sheer drop and not a health and safety aid in sight. There were a team of guys working at the top. We asked how many more floors, they replied with 3 whilst hanging off the side with no harness, no hard hats and wearing flip flops. We watched the sunset which was nice then carefully walked back down.

The following day we walked to a view tower, stopping for hot drinks on the way up. We did a little walk through the jungle then back to the hotel. That evening mum complained of feeling ill then got sick. Shortly after dad got sick then me. We spent the whole night taking it in turns to make a mess of the toilet. Every 20 mins or so we had uncontrollable sickness and diarrhea. It lasted all through the night and into the next morning. We were seriously ill, probably the most ill we have ever been. It was worse than a bit of gone off food, we think it was either dodgy water in our drinks on the way up to the view tower or salmonella in our eggs we had for breakfast. Whatever it was it seriously poisoned us. Although it was pretty horrendous we joke about it now. We lost count the amount of times 'oooh I nearly just shat myself' was said!

The morning after we made the 1 hour bus journey to Bhaktaphur. We spent the rest of the day and night in bed recovering. It was a shame because the town looked like an interesting place. Hopefully we would feel well enough to have a look around in the morning.

Woke up and dragged ourselves out of bed and it was well worth it. It was like stepping back into medieval times. Goats and chickens running free, people still using the wells for their water, loads of trades in the streets, pottery makers, kilns and market stalls everywhere. We went to the pottery square where it was still all made by traditional methods. Tables spun by hand then hardened in the straw fueled open kilns. There was four squares in total with cobbled back alleys joining them together. The town is a world heritage site with lots of renovation and preservation funded by the tourist entry tickets.

We made our way to Kathmandu airport for our flights to Delhi. We had a brilliant time in Nepal and would Iove to come back. The people were friendly, the countryside is unbelievable and towns full of history. But we were starting the next leg of the trip in India and were looking forward to it. India here we come!

Rob

My parents arrival and a few days in Pokhara

I was excited to see my parents after being away for 7 months so got to the airport nice and early. It was cloudy in Kathmandu so their flight kept getting delayed, 6 hours in total. They were sat in Delhi and me in Kathmandu twiddling our thumbs. They finally arrived safe and sound.

It was a Monday evening, they hadn't been to bed since Friday night but the last thing they wanted to do was go to sleep. The hustle and bustle of Thamel, Kathmandu and a good catch up was awaiting.  We met up with the lads and Scottish for a good curry and chin wag.

The next morning I had to hand in my Indian visa application. Then spent the afternoon going to the monkey temple and Durbar square. The monkey temple is situated on the top of a hill with views overlooking the Kathmandu valley. There were hundreds of monkeys running around all over the place. We then went to the Kathmandu Dur Bar square for more catching up over coffee and cake. Then later on back to the same curry house, this time the so called chicken defiantly wasn't chicken. After the meal dad broke the news to mum, much to her horror, it may of been dog, possibly next doors Dalmatian!

We woke bright and early to miss rush hour traffic, we were off to Pokhara for a few days. The van had been parked since we arrived in Kathmandu 4 weeks ago so needed a jump start to get her going, the hotel owner was happy to help. Then we had to repeat the rigmarole with the low hanging cables. Dad was driving and I was shouting instructions from the roof, and as before a crowd appeared to watch our antics. The next task was fuel and put some air in the tyres then we were off on the road to Pokhara. Dad came to Nepal 40 years ago, once on a motorbike and then again in a Mercedes van. He had done the same road both times so enjoyed driving our van and comparing how different it is nowadays.

The road to Pokhara winds through the mountains, at some points you can see the road 50 metres away on the other side of the valley but it's 2-3 km to get there. We stopped a few times for coffee, tea and lunch. At one of the stops a monkey came along into the cafe and up the wall then was shoe'd away. In England you get seagulls being a nuisance, in Nepal you get monkeys!

We finished the 7 hour drive and arrived in Pokhara. The next day we hired a rowing boat and went out on Phewa lake. We rowed across to a restaurant where we got lunch. The view was amazing, massive lake, green foothills then snow capped mountains of the Annapurna range behind. The fish tail is the most prominent mountain at 6993m tall. Its named because the two adjacent peaks resemble a fish tail.

Over breakfast the following day we made the decision to have a crack at fixing the handbrake. We had new shoes and springs thanks to Jordan but needed a new linkage because the original was now a mangled ball of metal. We removed the remaining good linkage for a guide and took it to a machine shop for them to replicate it. The hotel manager kindly took me there on the back of his motorbike. 4 hours  and £15 later we had a new linkage, made from scratch. It is made up of two parts that pivot around a pin, not a simple job but they did it well.

The rear brakes are discs with internal drum for the handbrake. When putting it all back together we were struggling putting the drum back on over the shoes. After a while dad noticed the new shoes were 10mm to big in diameter. We had two options, re-line the old shoes or cut and weld the new ones. We opted for the re-lining. The next morning we found a taxi who was very helpful. He knew where to look for a brake re-lining workshop so we dropped the shoes off. He then took us to a car repair place (somebody's garden) to repair our broken earth strap from the leisure battery. Everywhere was closed so he brazed the broken terminal back together, and very well. We returned to the van with relined shoes and repaired earth strap. In Nepal they repair things rather than replace because labour is so cheap relative to new parts.

Again we had the same problem with the drum not fitting. The new linings were a few mil to thick. We heard a grinder going in a nearby building site so went on a hunt for it. With a bit of grinding of the braking material and filing of the metal part of the shoe they fitted like a glove. When repeating the process on the other side the brake pad separated from its back plate when removing the caliper. Another trip to the brake man and it was soon bonded back together! After a lot of farting about the handbrake was back together (not adjusted yet) and rear electrics working, now time for a well deserved steak.

They next morning we began gathering supplies for a night camping in the van. We bought the makings for a vegetable curry from a guy selling veg on his bike. Got a big bundle of wood from  furniture maker and strapped it to the roof and 20 chipatis. We found a picnic spot an hour from Pokhara and set up camp. We cooked the curry on the tripod over a wood fire. A local farmer came and had a beer with us around the campfire and we told him we wanted to get up to see the sunrise. We woke at 5.30am but it was misty so we went back to bed. 20 mins later theres a bang at the door of the van, it was the farmer waking us because the sun was visible through a break in the clouds. We got up, watched the sunrise and boiled some eggs for breakfast on the fire.

We packed up and headed back towards Kathmandu. We stopped at a cable car which took us up to a temple in the mountains. We weren't expecting much but the cable car kept on going over another tier of mountains to a good sized town. Turned out it was a pretty significant place for Buddhist, Sikh and Christian pilgrims. On the way back we were stood in the que and a guard told us to follow him. He took us to the front of the que, past about 2 hours worth of people. We felt bad but we had paid 4 times the amount for a 'foreigner ticket' which made us feel better about it.

Approaching Kathmandu we got stuck in traffic on a hill. Still with no handbrake mum had to press the brake with her hand whilst dad did the clutch and accelerator. We desperately needed to get it adjusted!

We arrived back at the Panda hotel after a great few days away.

Rob

Tibet Part 2 - Everest and entering Nepal

We left Lhasa along the friendship highway heading for Everest base camp. The friendship highway is built over the Tibetan Plateau nicknamed 'the roof of the world' where it's average elevation is over 4500m. It took us over three passes each over 5000m high and is 501 miles long up to the Nepalese border. We arrived in a town called Tingri, at the junction with the to road to basecamp.

Realy it was a road only suitable for 4x4's but we had confidence in Big Sal. We set off with four in the front, it was too bouncy to put someone in the back and the views were too good to miss. One person steering and pedals and one doing the gear stick. This became uncomfortable so two got on the roof. We traveled up taking it in turns to ride on the roof, with the view of Everest in the distance. The road was very bumpy and Sal took a beating but she arrived four hours later. At the top there  is a small village of tea houses and guesthouses all in canvas tents, base camp is a few km walk up the path.  Most people arrive, take it easy because of the altitude then get the bus to the viewpoint. Instead we packed a backpack with a crate of beer and headed up by foot to watch the sunset. We underestimated how hard the walk would be after a beer or two. We arrived at the base camp viewpoint (5130m) and what a view it was! There were lots of Chinese taking photos and one group of Chinese blokes got their tops off for a pose. We had to do one better, tops off and cacks down. About 50 Chinese people diverted their cameras from the biggest mountain in the world to photograph us three idiots! That wasn't enough, the ones who missed the photo opportunity asked us to repeat the stunt so they could have a photo. The Chinese army guys standing 10 m away didn't look too impressed! The sun set made the top of Everest and surrounding mountains glow orangey yellow. We walked back down in the dark, the 'shortcut' ended up being a longcut but we got back safely.

We slept in the van with all our clothes on trying to stay warm. Our alarms were set for sunrise so we got up and just watched it from the camp. One more trip up to base camp in the morning then it was time to go. Big Sal was very cold, her heater plugs weren't working and she was struggling to start. I tried to bypass the relay but one of the heater plugs had failed so it drained the battery. We asked a Chinese guy for a jump start. It took a lot of cranking for her to warm up but she spluttered into life then off we went back down the 4 hours of mountain track. Next was the Chinese border town of Zhangmu.

As we were leaving China, and our Tibetan guide Terry behind, there was only one thing or it, a leaving party. We had a fair few beers in a bar, met up with some Swiss guys who we met at base camp then got the fancy dress out. We went to a small club, had a bit of a boogie then slept in the van.

We changed some money into Nepalese rupees and began proceedings to leave China. We passed the customs border with no problems. When we arrived at the actual border we were instructed to park the van just before the vehicle gate, then walk through the pedestrian gate to get our visas stamped which all worked fine. When we were returning to the van we were stopped by some Chinese soldiers bearing big automatic rifles. They refused to let us return to the van for two reasons. One, the van was on the Chinese side and we had just had our visas stamped as expired and two they had laid some new concrete which apparently wasn't set yet. The concrete had been laid 4 days ago and was hard enough for a guy to be chipping it away with hammer and chisel. The soldiers found it funny that we had to wait in no mans land for 3 more days waiting for some rock hard concrete to set a little more. And we could see the van 30 m away but wern't allowed to it because we didn't have a valid Chinese visa. We were in a bit of a pickle. We kept on pestering the soldiers to let us back to van but they consistently refused.  We kept pestering them and generally being nuisances till in the end we just walked through the vehicle gate against the soldiers instructions. In the end they agreed to let us go to the van and have lunch. We were scratching our heads, if we waited three days we would be late for Gaz's arrival in Kathmandu. The soldiers came to our cafe and asked Stew for our passports. We had to surrender them because we technically shouldn't be in China. Stew said no chance, so they said we had to return to no mans land. Stew said 'with the van? With the van? With the van'. They gave in and said, 'yes with the van'. Bingo, we all jumped in and didn't stop until we got to the Nepalese gate, straight over their so called new concrete! We wern't sure if they were after a bribe but they didn't get one. We were held up for a few hours instead of 3 days so not a bad outcome.

The next hurdle came when we were paying for our Nepalese visa. They outright refused to take their own currency, rupees. They only accepted USD, they wouldn't even take more rupees than the equivalent dollars as a bribe. We had to ask every man and his dog for some dollars. A shop owner had a 100 dollar bill in his top drawer, only 200 more to find. No banks had any, eventually a guy approached us so we bought some from him on the black market. At one point we thought we weren't going to find enough in the small border town.

Were were finally in Nepal and on our way to Kathmandu. What a difference it was from China. The two lane, good surfaced friendship highway turned into a single laned, mostly bitumen but riddled in potholes, ridges and cracks.  We heard news that there was a big landslide which blocked the road for over a month, but was now clear. We came across the aftermath of a pretty big landslide, 300-400 metres long but all cleared up nicely, we were happy but little did we know the worse was yet to come. When we approached it, it looked like the scene of a natural disaster, and it was. The whole side of the mountain had slipped away, filling the valley and damming the river. We learnt that when the Nepalese unblocked the dam the surge of water flooded large parts of India and many drowned. This was a seriously big landslide! A new road, if that's what you can call it, had just been completed. It was dug into the loose rocks left behind by the slide. Only being one lane wide, very steep, with tight hair pins and a surface of sand mixed with rock, we knew Big Sal would struggle. We had no choice, we had to carry on. We spun our way up the road, 200m sheer drop on one side. When we didn't think the road could get any worse, it did, and we were well and truly stuck. We were blocking the other traffic so it was all hands to deck. We rounded up 30 odd Nepalese to help push the van. It worked and we continued another few hundred metres up and we were stuck again. Even with loads pushing we couldn't get it going. What made it more difficult was our lack of hand brake, it had disintegrated in China. This resulted in one foot on the clutch, one foot on the accelerator, one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the foot brake, it made hill starts even more difficult than they already were. A guy approached claiming to be a professional driver, it was our last resort, we let him have a go. He rocked the van forward and back then whoosh, he was off up the hill with our van. Shit.......... he's got our van......... with everything in it! We chased him up the road and he stopped on some slightly better surface. There was no malice in it but we panicked for a second! We were dubious about his claims at first, but he defiantly was a professional driver. The down hill wasn't much better, 3.5 tonnes of vehicle on steep gravel descents and bends with sheer drops off the edge. The whole thing was a poo yourself experience but we got down. We stopped at the next cafe for a well deserved beer.

We finally arrived in Kathmandu. The traffic was ridiculous, cars and motorbikes going in literally all directions. I think the highway code must just say toot and go. We were aiming for Thamel, the tourist quarter. We eventually found it and drove through the centre. Narrow streets with bright lights, lined with bars and outdoor shops and probably more tourists than locals. We had a slight problem. There were lots of low hanging power and phone cables, much lower than the van. Stew got on the roof and was passing them over and shouting instructions as we slowly drove through. Other westerners were amazed to see a British vehicle and were taking photo's of us and our cable obstacles. We eventually found a parking spot then went out for some well deserved drinks.

What a day. Getting stuck in no mans land without van, not being able to pay for Nepalese visa with Nepalese currency, negotiating the land slide with the most technical and dangerous drive yet then stuck amongst low cables in Kathmandu. Certainly a day to remember.

Rob