My first ever international ride — taking the bike across the border into Nepal with the BUTR riding group. Extreme off-road sections, river crossings, mountain passes deep in the Himalayan foothills, and the kind of brotherhood that only forms when ten riders share the same dust at 3,500 metres.
All 10 BUTR riders meet at Mumbai. Convoy out via Nashik. Sleep Indore. Brotherhood formed at the first dhaba dinner.
NH27 east. MP plains. Sleep Sagar.
Through Bundelkhand into UP. Sleep Lucknow. Tunday kebab dinner.
Eastern UP. Sleep Gorakhpur — last Indian town before Nepal.
Cross Sunauli border. Carnet papers + insurance. First time taking the bike to a foreign country. Reach Pokhara by evening. Sleep beside Phewa Lake.
Sarangkot for sunrise Annapurna views. Paragliding off Sarangkot. Phewa Lake boating.
Leave the highway. Dirt road towards Mustang. Hot springs at Tatopani. The off-road challenge begins.
Hardest day. River crossings. Loose gravel. Steep climbs. Kali Gandaki gorge. Enter Upper Mustang region — semi-arid Tibetan landscape.
Climb to Muktinath Temple (3,710m). Both Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage site. 108 water spouts. Sacred fire.
Same off-road in reverse. Tougher in some sections — going downhill on loose rock. Back to Pokhara.
Prithvi Highway. Winding mountain road. Arrive Kathmandu by evening. Thamel district.
Pashupatinath temple. Boudhanath stupa. Durbar Square. Patan. Most photogenic city of the trip.
Cross Birgunj border back to India. Sleep Patna. Litti chokha dinner.
Easy day. Evening Ganga aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat. Most powerful sacred experience of the trip.
Long ride south. Sleep Jabalpur.
Final push (some riders split this into 2 days). 16 days · 4,400 km · First international BUTR ride complete ✓
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