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 Biking through the rural villages at the
valley rim on the back trails with some
ups and down hill tracks, these day
biking trips gives you sufficient time
to immerse in its peaceful surrounding
environment and make friends with the
locals.Our varied day biking trips
within Kathmandu Valley allows you to
enjoy its hidden pockets rarely
frequented by westerners thus giving you
a chance to see the other back side of
Kathmandu.
Our other biking trips includes City
Tour with a difference biking to the
famed popular historical and medieval
places of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan,
viewpoint of Nagarkot and Kakani, the
quiet sleepy town of Sankhu and
Budhanilkantha. a: Back Trails of
Kathmandu (A day tour on the back road
visiting rural areas
Kathmandu-Bungmati-Chapagaon-Kathmandu.
Hot air ballooning in Nepal is something
that many travelers have written home
about. In the five years since its
inception, the sport has been very
popular with tourists for it affords the
most spectacular view of the Kathmandu
valley and the Himalayan ranges towering
in the background. On a clear day it’s a
superb way to view the Himalayas (from
over 6000 m up), and the view of the
valley is equally breathtaking.
The huge balloon comes to life in the
morning light, `a sleeping giant
decorated with the all-seeing eyes of
the Buddha’, as it ripples, stretches,
expands and readies itself for its load
of passengers. The departure is gentle
and one hardly feels the ascent.
The advantage of this ancient and
romantic form of flight is that there is
no whirring or whining of engines, no
dusty Perspex and no airplane wings to
obscure the most magnificent of views.
Like the agency puts it `even if you do
not climb Mt. Everest, from the perfect
safety and comfort of a wicker
basket…you will feel that you have
reached the top of the world in
effortless security’. Cool!
Season
The best time for a hot air balloon
flight is during the months of
October-November and March, although the
season extends from October to April.
The flights take place daily during the
season, and are dependent on the wind
for the direction the flight will take
(Eastward or westward across the
valley). The landing could be anyplace,
mostly in the terraced paddies that
stretch out across the fringes of the
valley, and usually attracts a large
impromptu gathering of villagers
checking to see what has fallen out of
the sky!
The Trip
The hot air balloon takes off from Thimi,
near the historic town of Bhaktapur, one
of the three erstwhile principalities of
the Kathmandu valley and in many ways
the most medieval. Bhaktapur has a
collection of some of the finest Hindu
and Buddhist temples, and ancient
villages. From there, depending on the
wind direction, it takes you on a trip
that gives you a bird’s eye view of
historic Kathmandu and the valley.
Nepal's diverse terrain is a mountain
biker's dream adventure come true.
Mountain biking offers an
environmentally sound way of exploring
this magnificent country, its landscape
and living heritage. Because this is a
Spartan, laborious mode of travel, it is
also considered the way to travel by the
'purists'.
There are plenty of dirt roads and
trails in Nepal to meet every mountain
biker's wildest fantasy. Mountain biking
is also recommended if you wish to
explore the urban centers such as
Pokhara and Kathmandu, plus the
outskirts. Imagine, if you will, a ride
through lush green rice fields, through
hamlets, up and down the hillside, along
the river bank, around temples, past the
street roaming cattle, along the
highway, you name it.
Through snow, monsoon downpour,
wonderful light effects, or fierce
head winds, depending on place and
season. The adventurous souls may plan
extended trips to such exotic locales as
Tibet, Namche Bazaar, and western Nepal.
You could even do the entire length of
Nepal across the plains. What you can or
cannot do on mountain bike is
limited only by your imagination.
It was in the mid 1980s that Biking
activity really took off in Kathmandu in
the mid 1980s. Enthusiasts flew with
their bikes from East Asia to Tibet to
do a 2-week journey from there over the
passes (17,000-ft) to Nepal. This
landmark event put Nepal squarely in
mountain
biker's map. Thus Kathmandu today is
considered a Mecca for mountain
bicyclists, drawing hundreds of
enthusiasts from all corners of the
world every year.
Costs And Other
The cost of the hour-long flight (hotel
transfers and breakfast at a Thamel
restaurant included) is $ per person.
Each trip has 12 passengers. The flights
are manned by a team, which includes
experts and much-decorated balloon
pilots.
Reservations for a balloon flight can be
made over the phone or through a travel
agent in Kathmandu (or hotel concierge).
They can be purchased by travelers
cheque, credit card or cash. Tickets
must be purchased a minimum of three
days before the flight and the company
notified about your place of stay. On
the day before the scheduled flight, the
company will inform you of a pick up
time at your hotel when you must be
ready to depart. If a flight is
cancelled due to bad weather, the ticket
is fully refundable.
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