Just had the last birthday I have left until I’m 40 next year and life is essentially over. 😉

I want to do a really memorable trip to mark it and have always fancied Nepal and Tibet .

Can anyone talk about their experiences with guided trips or otherwise, itineraries and companies, costs involved, photos etc?

Ideally I want to be away on my actual birthday at the end of July, I work in education too so out of term time is the only time possible and I’d like to do a great trip of about 3 weeks. .

Anyone been?

I did a trip like this a few years ago going from Lhasa to Kathmandu with Red Spokes, google them and have a look, I had a really good time.

Like you I work in education so had to go during the summer holiday. Had to organise my flights to Nepal, everything else was included. I think you spend about 3 days in Nepal then fly to Lhasa where you spend about another 3 days acclimatising before starting the cycling. I think it came to about £2 – £2.5K in the end for about 25 days away. A lot of the route is tarmac so I took some semi-slicks and a pair of off road tyres for the off road bits, the part up to Everest base camp was still rough and waking up to see that outside your tent was amazing. We had a good mixed ability group but everyone managed the trip, but the altitude will get you in different ways. I remember at some points having to climb a km and stop to get my breath, go another km and repeat, and one of the fitest people on the trip had to be taken down from base camp with altitude sickness. Good food, good support, we were amazed one evening in the middle of nowhere in Tibet the support russled up a huge pizza and chips! This was a welcome change from dhal and rice.

But, a friend of mine did the same trip with the same company a month or so later and said he had a nightmare of a time, said the support wasn’t good, didn’t like the food, but reading between the lines it sounds like he had a whinging group as a lot of them ended up in the support truck, my group seemed to be a determined bunch who wanted to cycle the distance so no one gave up and got in the truck.

I’ll try and get some photos up later I’ve got a bit of a busy day.

Thanks Kojaklollipop, that sounds exactly the sort of thing. Look forward to your photos.

Did you go with mates or just join a group of randoms?
Can’t really see too many of my mates wanting to be much more adventurous than the Alps…

I was going to suggest getting in touch with KE Adventure for one of their brochures. The problem for you is that there is only one trip they do in that area at that time of year…it’s a semi-slick one too, not sure if that’s what you’re after?

Have been a few times and as above a lot depends on who you go with

Nepal is a bit of a culture shock and the people you go with can make or break the trip.

I did an amazing kayaking trip a few years back in Northern India, and yes the people really make the difference. It was a culture shock for sure but then that was partly why I wanted to go.

I quite like the idea of going with randoms although of course it could really go wrong if you get any you can’t get along with.

I would defo prefer things off-road, although a bit of both would be great aswell.

Been looking at Red Spokes and their Lhasa to Katmandu trip looks perfect but not sure I can do those dates as they are pretty much in term time for me… 🙁

Kayak, I think you’re going to struggle to find a trip at that time of year. Most are in Spring or getting on for Autumn. That goes for most other destinations too, July and August aren’t good months to choose (I know you haven’t much choice).

That’s pretty much rainy season, not going to be good for anything at altitude either.

Jagged Globe are worth looking at for mountaineering and some trekking type stuff, but you really want to be there in our early spring or autumn.

Nepal is an amazing country, you will feel humbled by the time you leave, both by the scenary and the people you meet. I cant wait to go again next year.

I went on my own, I’ve been on a few trips and always got on with people, I’ve found that these type of trips usually have like minded people and if you go with an open mind, can shrug your shoulders and think nevermind and laugh when something goes wrong you’ll have a good time. I used to work at a private school and we finished at the beginning of July so was a little more flexible with dates, try Exodus I remember looking at their trips but I think it was more £’s and slightly shorter, although they used to include the flights into the cost of the trip.

Saddle Skedaddle do Trips in Nepal Here. Not been on this one, but done quite a few others with them and highly recommend them (plus all their vans are plastered with my photos).

Oh yeah, rain! It is monsoon season, poured on and off the few days in Kathmandu, roads were like rivers then it would dry up, no rain in Tibet, chucked it down coming back down into Nepal, then it dried up again and was hot for a few days. So not too bad really as we spent most of the time in the Himalyas.

Must do some work 🙁

I should be away doing the Lhasa/Kathmandu Red Spokes trip that Kojaklollipop did right now, but the trip was cancelled a few weeks ago as its impossible for UK passport holders to get Tibet visas at the moment . . . . Chinese government took offence at the recent visit to the UK by the Dalai Lama and their retaliation is to withhold visas. Situation will probably change by the time you do your trip, but I’d suggest that you make sure that you can get full refunds on any flight tickets that you might book – just in case. Red Spokes were brilliant at refunding their element of the trip cost.

I’ve done four Red Spokes tours in the past (Tajikistan, Bolivia/Peru, Laos and NW Vietnam) and as Kojaklollipop said the experience is vulnerable to the dynamics of the group – so far I’ve been lucky and have always had a fantastic time.

Couldn’t resist …

Ok, now on with some work

The road back into Nepal, it’s a bit long though at 24mins …

[video]http://vimeo.com/9103991[/video]

Awesome!
Thanks Kojaklollipop and all…
Some food for thought fo sho… 🙂

Quite a few decent smaller companies out there offering amazing trips…

I’d check out;

Himalayan Singletrack – santosh is one of the top nepali riders, and they’ve loads of trips available

highlands and islands adventures has a nepali operation going too – think it’s called mtb worldwide

if it weren’t seen as spam, i’d link to them from my site, but i’d definitely urge you to check them out in google. euan at H&I and Santosh and Jenny at HST are genuinely nice people, and both companies make a real difference to people living in nepal.

i’m heading out to nepal in december/january for the trans nepal and will certainly be meeting up with HST for a ride.

Thanks Hungry Monkey. I don’t mind a link….

Red Spokes Tajikistan trip was something special . . . some of the most remote and most beautiful places I’ve ever been to.

For those who’ve ridden out in Nepal etc, did you fly your own bikes out or hire bikes locally?
If you hired them, were they decent?

I’ve done Lhasa to Kathmandu and it’s still the best trip I’ve ever done. You’d need more tha 3 weeks though, if you are self-guided. 3 weeks would be okay for the riding part but you need some time either side, particularly acclimatising to the altitude at the start – took me about 3 days to feel okay in Lhasa.

I did the tour with two others, carrying all our own stuff, in October. If you were part of a tour operator then obviuosly you could do it quicker. Worth it just for the view of Everest from the top of Pang La, and the descent down into Nepal from Nyelam.

Not quite what you’re looking for, but I’m doing MTB Himalaya this year, looks like fun, and incredible value at about £300 (plus flights to Delhi) for an 8 day event including accommodation and food.

Cheers, Rich

I have since been on the phone with Red Spokes. Nice bloke I talked to, but sadly the Tibet/Nepal trip isn’t really happening at the time of year I need it plus currently UK citizens are not allowed into Tibet due to Dave Cameron Hob-nobbing with the Dalai Llama, though they think this will likely be relaxed by next Summer.

I’ve been looking at their Peru/Bolivia trip which also looks blummin fantastic, fits into the dates I want, and is a smidge cheaper too.
However, I have a few ‘concerns’ which maybe some of you could help with.

Firstly, I’m not really after a ‘cycling holiday’ if you see what I mean. I want a bit of adventure, a bit of unknown-quantity, a bit of roughing it, a bit of danger even. With trips such as these, where you have all your accommodation arranged, the bulk of your baggage ferried about, am I likely to feel something of a ‘passenger’? Is the sense of adventure lacking a bit?

Also the all important bike. Do folk take their own or hire out there? The guy was saying that the quality of the bikes in Peru isn’t so good as other places generally and so I wonder about the cost of taking my own out there and any possible implications.

The flights also. Anyone flown out to Peru? It looks frighteningly expensive from the limited scanning I’ve done so far. What should I expect to pay ballpark? The trouble with the trip is, in terms of flights that it starts in Lima, Peru and ends in La Paz, Bolivia and so flights are basically one-way to/from each location which also pushes the price up. Any way of making this cheaper?

Thanks for any thoughts.

Check out the bike kerela himalaya trip

now that looks like proper riding in the mountains
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g6ktWMJDGw

Cool, that does look like proper mountainbiking.
I kayaked the Pindar river, fed by that glacier… 😀

Hi

well, if you’re happy for links…!

Highlands and Islands – they also do trips in Mexico and Spain (as well as Scotland)

Himalayan Single Track – they’ve quite a few other trips depending on length and budget

there are quite a few other mtb trips on our site, so feel free to browse. all trips are run by locally owned or ethically run companies, if that bothers you.

t’is a shame that our new request system isn’t quite finished yet, as that might have worked well for you.

Thanks for the links. Spoke to HST and like the others, they don’t do trips to Nepal in the Summer break as I need.

Pretty much decided on a Peru/Bolivia trip. It is at the right time of year to take the edge off a bad birthday. 😀 😕 😀

I need to fly to Lima Peru, and then back from La Paz Bolivia 18 days later.
Does anyone have much experience of ‘open-jaw’ flights and how to get the best deals?
Having a bit of a scout about, the flights are mega expensive, about £1100-1250 🙁 Thats without the added cost of bike transport too.

Don’t want to have to sell my bike to fund a bike trip….

I was on the first running of Redspoke’s Bolivia/Peru trip in 2010. I think that Dermot (@ Redspokes) has tweaked the route a little since then, but it was certainly quite an experience when I did it. Accomodation away from the big cities can be pretty basic (but was always OK); I was lucky to have a fantastic mix of people in the group who were all “up for it”. Trip was adapted as we went along – example: we gatecrashed a bullfight in one town; we had to alter our route near Machu Pichu to get around some locals who had blocked the only road in as a protest at fuel price rises . . . the guides are very knowledgeable and were happy to suggest alternative routes and tracks to anyone who was feeling a bit more adventurous. Most of the route was on road (perhaps 70%).

Flights – I used Expedia to get flights on American Airlines (via Miami) – no problems (except having to get bags through Miami – allow a good three hours transfer time); bike went as part of the standard baggage allowance. Seem to remember paying about £800 in 2010 . . . just had a look and Expedia are not listing flights for dates in July/August 2013 yet, but May/June 2013 flights on the appropriate days of the week are about £850.

Hey thanks tonyplym for your comments.
I have been reading a lot of the reviews on the website that were from your trip I’m guessing.
It does sound fantastic. Shame that a lot of it is on the road, but I’m guessing that a Peruvian/Bolivian version of on-road may be a little different to our version of it.

All the flights I’ve found so far are over a £1000 so I’m hoping I can find something else if I hang fire a bit. Dermot suggested hanging on a while and seeing what offers come up. Pretty expensive though so I hope something happens.

Just paid the deposit now so I guess I’m going…. 😀

I’ve been looking at South American trips and the cost of flights (especially if travelling with a bike) is a bit off-putting 🙁 For the best trips, it’s going to be 3 flights in each direction, each with the baggage charge for a bike.

it’s going to be 3 flights in each direction, each with the baggage charge for a bike.

So you mean if you change planes you’ll get charged a separate bike-carry fee on each leg? Hadn’t thought of that.. 👿

I did Pokhara to Kathmandu with KE about 10 years ago.

It was an ace trip and much more singletrack than some of the other holidays on offer at the time, which looked like multiday slogs on rough roads at high altitude.

I’ve done Manali to Leh on a bus and would not want to cycle that route.

looked like multiday slogs on rough roads at high altitude

Ahem… 😕
Still, what a slog… 😀

kayak23, good to see you’ve signed up for that trip, a friend of mine in Hong Kong did peru bolivia a couple of years ago, not with Red Spokes but another company, did the road of death and went to machu picchu, he had a great time, they even got held up in a remote village when a little revolution broke out and there was a bit of a shoot out so things could get interesting for you. It’s a trip that’s on my list to do but the cost of the flights has always put me off … one day.

they even got held up in a remote village when a little revolution broke out and there was a bit of a shoot out

Oh brilliant! I love being shot at! 😉

Yeah it looks like a really great trip actually. I wish it was more mountain-bikey-singletracky but anyway, it’ll be great all the same.

Yes the cost of the flights was something of a shock to me actually. Hadn’t realised it was so much. 😥