Finally got home to NZ after my 3 month trip around the world. Still recovering from 27hr flight from Iceland (=sore bottom).
Anyway, I spent about a month each in Nepal, UK and Iceland, which was great fun. I had intended on bringing my mountainbike originally (please don’t pelt me with rotten tomatoes) but decided on bringing my MUni because
a)It was lighter and easier to travel with
and
b)It is harder to break fragile bits like derailleurs etc.
and
c)everybody else brings along their mountainbike.
Kathmandu is a really awesome place to ride a unicycle. It is very chaotic. The streets are filled with people in their little cars honking very loudly, tuk-tuks weaving about, kids playing in the middle of the street, buses nearly running them over, bicycles laden with hundreds of eggs, women plucking chickens on the side of the street, little old men carrying heavy furniture down the road, cows in the middle of the road, flimsy rickshaws wobbling about, etc etc. It is one of the most stimulating environments I have ridden a unicycle (ie you have to keep alert to survive). You never know what you are going to come across. A MUni is ideal transportation (the roads are bumpy), but I would strongly recommend wearing a helmet. Also if you ever get the chance to MUni in Kathmandu make sure you ride past the Palace and wave at the soldiers with machine guns because it must be really boring to stand there all day.
I also did a trek on my Unicycle. I would have liked to ride up to Everest Base Camp, but because I didn’t have the time (only a week), and the cost of getting there, I decided on a short trek in the Annapurna region instead. Again, I didn’t have time to do the entire Annapurna Sanctuary (the classic 2wk trek that is really popular amongst trekkers) so I just did the following:
Day 1 Bus Kathmandu to Pokhara (small town, where most people head to before starting a trek in the Annapurna region)
Day 2 Taxi to Naya Pul. Trek to Tikhedunga
Day 3 Tikhedunga to Ghorepani
Day 4 Ghorepani to Tadapani
Day 5 Tadapani to Ghandruk
Day 6 Ghandruk to Potana
Day 7 Potana back to Pokhara
That would allow me to visit a few villages and to see some nice scenery along the way. I hired a guide and a porter (you didn’t really think I was going to carry my own stuff?!!!) As a trek it was very difficult in the first 2-3 days due to the fact that it was uphill mostly, and especially day 3, which was almost impossible to ride- steps (UP) all the way. After 15min of hopping you soon give up and carry. Well, the scenary was fantastic! Beautiful hillside villages, terraces growing corn and other crops, lots of BIG mountains. Beautiful people. From Ghorepani we hiked up Poon Hill (at 3210m the tallest hill I’ve ever gone up) and watched the sunrise over the 7000/8000m+ giants like Annapurna, Dhaulagiri et al. Unfortunately as the riding got better in the latter part of the trek (day 5), I fell down a bank (very stupid thing to do), and broke my ankle (REALLY stupid thing to do), and had to be evacuated on horseback (7-8hrs), and flown back to Kathmandu the next day. To cut a long story short, I had my ankle screwed back together and spent the rest of my trip on crutches. I would NOT recommend breaking an ankle in Nepal (find somewhere else to break it).
Otherwise I had a very enjoyable time in Nepal. I would highly recommed bringing along your Unicycle if you ever go there. These are some of my photos (sorry they’re not in order):
