NEPAL

July 1, 2025

My parents named me Girish, which literally means someone who lives in the mountains. Now they blame me for spending too much time in the mountains—maybe they should’ve picked a different name, like Sagar...

I spent about five days at my friend’s homestay in Auringaley, recovering from heat exhaustion while body protested every plan to continue. I was also a little scared—I was about to enter a new country, even though I already loved its culture, landscape, and knew a bit of its language. Still, I’d watch the rain fall in the mountains of Darjeeling and say, "It’s a bad day to cycle."

Same story the next day. And the next.

Finally, I’d had enough. I remembered a sign on the wall of a bicycle shop in Ecuador: When in doubt, pedal on! So that’s what I did.

Check your brakes and you better have faith in the "creator"..

The mountains of Darjeeling don’t mess around. When you’re climbing the steep roads— you feel in control: of your bike and life and you curse the creator. But on the descents, you become a believer and start praying. You’re not in control: of your bike or your life..

On my way to the Nepal border from Auringaley, I lost all that elevation—5,000 to 6,000 feet—in some 10 km. Here, I turned into a believer!

I rode to the India–Nepal border at Kakarbhitta, got my exit stamp, picked up my Nepal visa, and pedaled on. I had a few days before I’d meet my friend in Kathmandu, so I decided to visit some friends in Ilam—people I’d met in Boston.

While getting my visa, I spotted a tourist map of Nepal. I’m a sucker for paper maps—I don’t use Google Maps. I asked the visa office if they had a copy, but they didn’t. On my way out of the visa compound, a security guard hearing my travel stories gifted me his old paper map. I was like a kid at Christmas. :-)

Ilam and Darjeeling sit at about the same elevation, but now I’m back in the plains—so just know I’ll soon be a non-believer..

Today I rode as far across the plains as I could and found a small town just before the steep climb up to the Ilam tea gardens. I stopped at the only lodge I could see.

Turns out the owner is an avid mountain biker with a Giant bike—fate! Even though they didn’t have a room available, they made space for me.

Today's ride: 64 km (40 miles)
Total: 3,057 km (1,898 miles)

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