Kathmandu was a great place to recuperate. As I mentioned, we ate often and plenty. We did get out to do some bonafide tourist things, but only about twice in two weeks. Instead we ate, and ate and ate.

We also thought about going home, and we weren't the only ones. Back in August, in China, we had decided to go home for the holidays. We figured after Tibet, we would do some hiking in Nepal, then maybe ride to Delhi, then fly home for a month, and start all over again in Europe. So in Kathmandu, we started investigating airfare prices.

Team Swiss was doing the same thing. Back in China, they were having such a great time that they were planning to ride all the way home from Kathmandu--overland, via India, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey. But Tibet took something out of them, and Yvonne's gastro-intestinal illness didn't help. One night, when we went to meet them for dinner, Yvonne opened the door, urged Eric in, and showed him a map of Switzerland. Suddenly, they were planning to fly home, too.

Both Team Swiss and Eric and I were still considering doing a short ride to Delhi before flying home. But in the end, we both ruled it out as too life-threatening and too costly. Even cyclists who like riding in India say that the road from Kathmandu to Delhi is hell. Plus, we met a Dutch couple in Kathmandu who warned us against it, saying they had quit their bike ride there after the woman was hit by a truck. She said she escaped death because she was wearing a helmet, but she still suffered a broken thumb.

Personally, fear of death is enough to keep me from doing a ride. But on top of that, India visas are relatively expensive. And at the rate we were lounging around Kathmandu, we wouldn't get much time in India after our planned three-week hike in the Annapurna.

So in the end, we decided not to go. That made for a more leisurely stay in Nepal.

Around Oct. 19, we started the two-day ride from Kathmandu to Pokhara. It was pretty scenery, and apparently we lucked out, because it was a religious holiday and there was hardly any traffic on the roads. The flip side of that is that lots of people were out on the roads, and many of them formed roadblocks to stop traffic, including cyclists. The idea is: they stop you, they sing a song, and you give them money.

After Tibet, we weren't in the mood for roadblocks, so we tried to race past them. I guess you could call this religiously insensitive, but we really felt like we were being held up. We raced through several roadblocks--mostly people holding hands--with no problem, since the people just backed down. But one woman pulled on my bike and nearly knocked me over, which made me furious. Fortunately, no one threw stones so things didn't get as ugly as they had with the kids in Tibet.

The first night we stayed in a place called Food Home. Chris had told us, via e-mail, that he had paid 600 rupees to stay there. We rolled in just as dark fell. It was an impressive looking place with lots of steps. I waited at the bottom while Eric climbed up. When he got to the reception desk and asked how much, two guys looked at each other and said, "1,000 rupees." Eric said the most he could pay was 400. They laughed, and he left. By the time he got back downstairs it was totally dark. Neither one of us was in the mood for dealing with gouging that night. So we put on our night flashers and started to roll back onto the highway.

Someone came yelling after us in the dark. Eric turned to see who it was but I didn't want to stop. It turned out to be someone from the hotel. He wanted to bargain. I laughed at him. He was very insistent. It turns out his boss and chewed him out for demanding such a high price, and had told him to get us back, no matter what. We finally relented. I told him I wouldn't even talk to him if it was going to be more than 400 rupees. He said we should talk to his manager.

So we did. His manager turned out to be a very nice guy. He apologized for the behavior of his workers and told us he wanted to befriend bicyclists. He gave us the room for 400 rupees a night. The place was a kind of resort--lots of small rooms huddled together on huge, well-landscaped grounds. We ate on an outdoor dining area under the stars, by candlelight, for something like $10 for two.

The manager told us about how he had built the place. He was proud that it was made from local materials, by people with no schooling. It did look good. But I have to say, I don't know if no schooling is a good idea. We kept hitting our heads on low doorframes. We could see pinpricks of light through the brick wall separating our room from our neighbors'. And whenever we opened the door to our room, a curtain rod--which spanned the inside front wall of the room, including the door--fell down. Even so, it was a lovely place, and I'm glad we stayed there. 

The rest of the ride to Pokhara was uneventful, except for our arrival. Just outside of town, at dark, we pulled off the road to ask directions. We both had flashing taillights and Eric also had a flasher on his helmet. We were probably the only lit things on the road. While we were asking, I heard a crash and I heard Eric yell out. It turns out a car had rear-ended him!

Amazing. Truly amazing. The whole road was full of unlit objects in the dark: cows, people, bicyclists, you name it. And who gets hit? Two well-lit bicyclists who weren't even on the road!

The driver got out and started apologizing. It turns out Eric wasn't hurt at all--the driver had only been going five or less miles per hour. However, I didn't know that. All I knew was that Eric had yelled out, and when I looked at him, I saw a car on the back of his bike. Apologies had no affect on me. I yelled at the driver, asking him why he hadn't seen our lights. I yelled out all the countries we had been in, and how no one had hit us in any of those countries. I asked him if he was drunk.

He replied in perfect English, and in a level, but apologetic voice that he was sorry, and No, he was not drunk, and yes, he would pay for any damages. Eric rode his bike to make sure the wheel wasn't bent. Amazingly, it wasn't. Since Eric wasn't hurt at all, we let the guy go. I still think it's amazing that after 12,000 kilometers/ 8,000 miles of riding, mostly in Asia, we got hit by a car in the last kilometer on the last day of the last country we rode in, in Asia.

In the dark, and with the help of a tout, we managed to find the hotel Chris the courier had recommended. The hotel keepers told us that Chris was out of town on a rafting trip, but would be back soon.

Chris got back the next day, and we got to party with him for a few days after that. Most notably, we helped him celebrate his 26th? birthday on October 25, two days before my own birthday. Eric surprised us both with a cake with both our names on it.

Next: Annapurna

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