Fuel Travelers Diary - Alex Arbós, Joan Tauler and Crew at NEPAL.

Seems yesterday when during a cold afternoon, as we were grabbing a few beers and conversing, and still nobody knows how, and perhaps, and just perhaps, guided by the amber brew we booked our flights to Kathmandu.

And it was like this, whilst we were ordering our third round and toasting, we started dreaming about what would end up being one our biggest adventures yet to come.

We had six months to plan everything;

Roman downloaded every single map available, so he could adjust all checkpoints in our GPS's so we would never get lost. Later we learned that in Nepal these are as useful as an ashtray in a race motorbike.

Carlos got any gadget we could need, just in case, and I’m very happy he did. Any possible event came up.

Victor didn’t prepare much, but he was always there, especially during those tough moments to remember us why we were there, and ready to get a smile out of our angry faces.

Alex, made sure to get the best attire, and he made a pretty good job, he looked awesome in every picture!

And this brings the story to me; you won’t see me in many photos or videos, but I was always there, behind the lenses, ready to capture the moment.

Pic: Alex and Victor smiling at the highest point of the route (3.800m)

So we had the crew and the route, yet we still had to meet the big players; the rain and the motorbikes. And I am placing them in this particular order for a reason, it may seem obvious to you, but it wasn’t that much for us, monsoon season is real.

So we flew, literally fought to get our visas, and jumped in an 8-hour drive to Pokhara.

The adventure began.

During the early stages of our trip, everything got lined up to have the perfect mix for a big adventure; we got lost, we found gas stations without gas, we didn’t manage so well to cross fast flowing rivers, we broke some motorbikes, and drove on mud, LOTS of mud.

Nevertheless was beautiful, being us so far from home, but at the same time so close to your buddies, and just like this, be able to overcome any event. The fatigue caught us with really funny and sincere laughs at the end of the day, while sharing our experiences with other travelers. That actually felt like home. 

Days went on, and without even realizing, we saw ourselves in the middle of the desert. We had finally reached the Mustang, a region in the Rainshadow of the Himalayas.

Roads were pretty awesome there, and not to talk about the views, riding our bikes surrounded by these huge snowed mountains… that was incredible. We stop worrying about fixing bikes and we began to enjoy them. We rode them as fast as we could, or as fast as the high altitude allowed us. Riding motorbikes at 4.000 m are for sure, not the same than back home.

And this is how, after 7 days, we managed to get to Muktinath, a small town between some of the highest peaks of the world. Alex arranged with some locals a perfect rooftop, where we could sit there for hours, under the Nepali sun, and remembering all the moments we went through.

Text and photos by Joan Tauler