BANDIPUR PICTURES

BANDIPUR

Once the rain had passed we made our way along the paved and cobbled streets through the architecturally stunning town of Bandipur to our lodgings for the night.  It's hard to describe the buildings here or our rooms, but it was unlike anything I have had the pleasure too see before.  It really was like taking a step back in time.

Our room

Our window, 2nd floor,  2nd from right

I wasted no time in hitting the streets for some pictures, this place was a photographers dream - the people, the food, the architecture and design, coupled with the views out over the valleys and up into the mountains, it truly was awe inspiring.

Later that night we were supposed to have dinner in a rather upmarket and expensive place in town, as was instructed by Joe.  Instead, we stopped for a 'couple' of cold beers on the way there at a tiny little hole in the wall place, oozing with local charm.

One thing led to another and soon we were on the local rum, eating the most delicious local meals and snacks, having a jam session with some fellow travelers and pretty much having a really fantastic night.   

I'm so glad we never made it to the other place, the menu looked dull with pretty much a couple of choices of western food.  No comparison to the night we had and the local food we enjoyed, in such a simple ramshackle place, the kind of places I like to stop at while travelling.  We even caught up with a couple of the other travelers we met here back in Katmandu.

A great night with great people was really a bonus, the town of Bandipur alone is not to be missed, one of the most amazing little places I have been lucky enough to visit on my travels.  I wish I could have gotten more pics, but the weather just wasn't playing fair!

DAY 3    POKHARA TO BANDIPUR

Day 3 of our bike adventure would take us on a wild ride from modern, touristic Pokhara to the ancient town of Bandipur, high in the mountains, lost in time and seemingly isolated from the rest of the world.

After a nice breakfast by the lakeside in Pokhara, the bikes were loaded and we were on our way again, back on the road in beautiful Nepal.  Once again the scenery was fantastic, and the riding a little quicker now that the guys had relaxed with us.  Aajit took off ahead and silently 'challenged' me to a race, and it was on, at times pushing a little harder than we should, but great fun! 

A couple of quick stops for pictures, snacks and cold drinks along the way and soon we were at the turn off into Bandipur, the start of a tight, steep winding trail engulfed on either side by jungle or treacherous valleys, that took us through amazing mountainous scenery and almost back in time.

Once again the weather gods were unkind to us and a massive storm hit us half way up the mountain, to the point of being quite dangerous.  Rain was whipping down heavy on us and in our eyes, making visibility a nightmare, winds were gusting so hard that tree branches fell, dropping around us or whizzing past our body on this tiny one lane track up the side of the mountain.

At one point, a piece of tin about 2 foot by 1 foot went flying over Julian's head as he ducked it, mere inches away from hitting him.   We just kept riding, nobody wanted to stop so all we could do was continue on, ducking fallen power lines also as we neared Bandipur.

I think we all felt relieved as we pulled into the ancient town of Bandipur, cold and soaking wet again, it was clearly a unique little hillside community and we were quickly helped to put our bikes under cover and be given a hot drink and freshly cooked local snacks to warm up with out of the rain.