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catching up soon began to bubble over . Beers were drunk , stories were told and the ever-illusive “ quiet first night ” inevitably began to slip away from us as we got swept through the bars and clubs of Kathmandu ’ s Thamel district on a wave of Gorkha Beer , eventually wrapping things up at about 4am .
There were some bleary eyes and sore heads when we met up with Bijay from Ride Ultimate Adventure at 8am the next morning to go on a cultural tour of Kathmandu , but it was well worth dusting off our hangovers to explore the city !
Kathmandu is a frenetic patchwork of roads and streets – where the law of the jungle seems to take precedent over the rules of the road . Enfield Classics , Meteors and Himalayan ’ s , which are woven into the DNA of the city , can always be seen diligently picking their way through the chaos .
Safely tucked up in our tour minibus , we would have to wait until we flew to Pokhara the following day before we got our own taste of the Enfield ’ s , so we focused on the sights and sounds of Kathmandu . Bijay was very enthusiastic about Nepalese culture and had made understanding and experiencing it a key focus of our itinerary . He had contacts with the Indigenous communities in all the villages that we would be visiting during our ride and had arranged for us to meet with the local people at each stop . Today ’ s tour would be our jumping-off point in Nepali history , temples , and traditions though . It was a great introduction .
After completing our crash course in Nepali history , we rounded the day out with a couple of Gorkha beers at sunset , which soon snowballed into a couple more – and before we knew it , the Thamel district had sucked us back into its vortex . This didn ’ t bode well for our 8am flight to Pokhara and day one of riding .
After some frantic banging on bedroom doors at 6am , last minute shoving of gear into duffle bags and
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