Stage 3 Chhusang to Tatopani

A breakfast with the same thing I’ve had for days now,  toast and two fried eggs. I don’t know why but it tastes fantastic. Today looks like being one of the best days. We climb about 600 m and we descend 2500 meters and best of all we’re going to finish at a posh hotel next to a hot spring. Result. 

We follow the Kali Gandaki river southwards. The views in the early morning light as usual are spectacular as we climb the to the top point for today. Now it’s all downhill except for a few little wrinkles along the way. Thankfully Chris is on much better form today and although he is not back to 100%, he is much more with it.  

Suddenly, the constant rubble road ends and we’re on tarmac again. It’s like night and day. Riding is so much easier on the smooth surface. Of course it doesn’t last long and we’re back on rubble before long but we’re getting more tarmac than gravel now.

We stop for coffee in Jomsom, the local big town and it is surprisingly good. This of course lights a fire under Chris and he sets off full gas when we leave. Thankfully it doesn’t last long though but at least it’s a bit of Chris of old.  

Down we go along the valley and we see green trees all over the mountains for the first time in a while. We’re at about 2800m now and a warm headwind breeze is building. This normal as warm sunshine on the Tibetan plateau to the north sucks air up from the lowlands. It’s bizarre to be cycling down a gradient of 3 to 5% and having to pedal. We stop on the way to cycle across one of the many wire rope bridges across rivers here just cos we can. 

After the feed stop at about 40 K we start to descent faster and the last 20 K we descent very fast indeed. The road surface is great when it’s there and then occasionally it just isn’t and looks like a bomb side. Hitting these at 50 K pH is a bit bone shaking and you wonder whether the tires or the bike will hold. Top speed today 71 kph. 

Soon we come across another wire rope bridge over what is apparently the deepest gorge in the world so of course we have to ride across it. The entire river system we have been following is rushing through the tiny gap in the rock below. From up here it looks about 20 feet wide so I wouldn’t like to be in the water. 

Nearby rocks falling from the cliffs above have punched holes in the road and the repair men have just laid some fresh concrete to fill the holes. Chris decides to leave his mark on Nepal by riding through it. 


We finish the day at our hotel and have the first beers for quite a while in the afternoon sun after what has been one of the best days riding of my life. 

There’s a hot spring nearby and I assume it’s attached to the hotel so I take the hotel towel the bathroom slippers and I go to reception and they direct me to the place turns out it’s 100 m down the road down a rough track in my slippers aren’t quite up to it. The others are all there in various degrees of heat exhaustion and I joined them. Thanks to the kindly donation of Rs.50 from our trip Doctor because I forgot to bring any money.

We head back to the hotel and shower I go first. Unfortunately, Chris has just found the blind to the shower room and he is just waving his Willy and his arse up against the big glass wall between the bedroom and the bathroom and it is is very disconcerting. 

After a feed at the hotel, we are invited to play spool with the local pool sharks. It’s pretty clear who is going to win. We have all the talk but none of the walk. We can decide where we the wire ball should go but just cannot execute. Too many beers perhaps. 






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