Sept 24, 2019, Bhimdatta to Bhardia Wildlife Resort:  154km, 841M up

It was a long (154km) but easy day, mostly flat.  I’ve noticed the weather systems here don’t give you much warning - one drop of rain, then a 2nd drop and immediately an absolute deluge!  I was absolutely soaked before I could even think about a rain jacket.  Not really a problem since it was very warm.  I would have preferred the rain to be a bit colder, I was still too hot.  The rain didn’t last long, but there seemed to be an inch of water on the road whilst it was raining.  It quickly stopped, and about a hour later when I had just started to dry out, it dumped again.

We are riding on the plains along the Himalayan hills.  There is no transition, the hills immediately end and there is flat plain.  Also note I didn’t say “Foothills”, there is nothing small about these hills.

One of the little delights today:  During the early part of the day there were school kids in uniform going everywhere, walking, on bicycles, on buses, piled in carts being towed by tractors, in small towns and villages, out in the middle of the country.  

At one point I was slowly catching up to a wagon being towed by a tractor with 15-20 kids in school uniforms.  We had great fun - they would cheer me on as I got closer to their wagon, then go quiet as I slipped back.  All sorts of cheering and yelling when I overtook.  Lot’s of “hello, hello”, “where are you from?”.  A little exchange, but very memorable.

We have just finished 7 days in a row and now have a rest day.  

Where we are is in the Bhardia Wildlife Reserve, the largest national park/reserve in Nepal.  Home to Bengal Tigers, Elephants and one horned Rhino’s.  Your chance of seeing a Tiger is extremely remote.  

Although we are in a “Resort”, it is rather modest, one towel per room, one lightbulb per room, I’ve slept on concrete that was softer than the bed, hot water for a shower comes in a bucket.  But, when I cycled in yesterday afternoon, there was a large cold beer waiting along with an excellent plate of french fries.  And as we have universally experienced, the Nepalese people are very polite, very warm and friendly.

We had a time zone change when moving from India to Nepal - 15 minutes.  I guess Nepal wants to ensure it is seen as a different country than India.

No pics today as I kept my phone out of the rain.