Roadblock

The is a lot of good riding around Pokhara but i still don't have much energy despite eating and sleeping for most of the last two days so i thought it best to head back to Kathmandu. This is a day ahead of the plan i originally had but it gives me another rest day before i decide what to do about the India leg of the trip.

It had rained all through the last night and into the morning while i was loading the bike so i sat under the veranda for an hour hoping it would clear up, but when that didn't look likely i set off in the rain. The ride was going well, not exactly flowing as the tyres weren't fantastic on the wet road, but well enough and i was about two hours in to an expected six hour ride when i came across another long line of stationary vehicles, so i thought it was another strike. As before i rode up the the front, but this time it was more difficult as there were a lot of pedestrians moving on the opposite side of the road that i had to ride along. A bike in front of me actually clipped a guy stepping off a bus, and stopped but the guy who had been hit, didn't seem to mind and just kept going.

When i got up to the front i could immediately sense that this roadblock was different, much uglier than the last. I took off my helmet again, but this time no smiles so i moved the bike to the side of the road and dismounted.

What happened was a few days ago two men were killed on a motorbike when they were involved in a collision with a truck. The people manning the roadblock were relatives of the dead men and they were protesting because the negotiations for compensation had been going on without success. What they wanted was 25 million rupees for each of the dead men from the truck owner, just over £200,000. So angry at the lack of a result they just closed the road. This is the main road from the capital Kathmandu to Pokhara, and one guy i spoke too had been there for more than a day.

The only alternative to this route is to go back to Pokhara then back to Butwal and along the road i had originally came out from Kathmandu on, which would be about a 400km detour to get to a point 80kms along the same road.

I had no choice but to sit there. If i had gotten any kind of friendly look from the folk on the barrier i'd have tried my luck, but they weren't happy at all and i could even see ambulances lined up on the other side. More of the local people would wander up to chat for a bit and one suggested i say i had to catch and flight and try my luck, but i wasn't in a rush and felt i'd already pushed my luck enough so far.

It was a really strange thing to watch, there were cops around, some in riot gear, a couple with shotguns and a couple with tear gas guns, but they didn't do anything at all. Occasionally the crowd got mad and started shouting, even jostling a bit with the folk on the roadblock, then when that didn't work they went over and vented at the cops. The guys who came up to talk to me were interesting, some saying they sympathized with the family, other saying it was an accident, how can they want money. Some going further and saying this is an example of what is wrong with the country, their taxes have doubled but they get no services from the police. Another saying it was better when the King was in power, everyone was safe then.

I also got talking to another westerner who had driven up to the front of the queue in a 4x4 which had MS Nepal on it, so i guessed he was from a charity NGO. He had been there since 8.30am and didn't think there was much hope of getting through. I wasn't sure what to do, i didn't want to ride around as it would take too long, but i couldn't wait all day since then i'd have to ride at night again, but i figured i'd hang around a bit longer and see what happened.

After a while the folks let through some ambulances, but this only seemed to wind the crowd up more. Some bikes left so mine was standing on it's own by the side of the road, so one of the people waiting came over and said i'd better move it out of the way since things were getting tense, and it looked like it could develop into a mass brawl. The guy in the yellow waterproofs in the picture above seemed to think it was ok to ride through at one point and he got chased off by a guy waving a stick.

Some other guys came over and said i'll ask if it's ok if you can go through but you'll need to come over with me, but that meant leaving the bike with my luggage on it and i wasn't keen on that given the tension in the air. A little while later a jeep approached the barrier and a guy said if that gets through you should follow it, but i couldn't see who was in it and really didn't like the look of the way it was surrounded, so i just stayed near the bike. Negotiations continued for a while with the people in the jeep and i noticed the guy who had offered to ask if i could go through there also.

After maybe fifteen minutes the crowd moved back and the jeep started edging forwards. Some of the guys also pointed to the western guy in the NGO jeep and he started moving, then they pointed at me and beckoned me forward. I chucked on my jacket and helmet, not even bothering to fasten either up and jumped on the bike, finally getting through after about three and a half hours. On the other side i saw one of the bikers i had been chatting with while we waited, he seemed genuinely happy i'd gotten through, he was still annoyed that he was waiting, but he was resigned to it.

After that it was one stop for fuel and to take some pictures of wrecks then the final approach to Kathmandu. The city sits at an elevation of 1,200metres so just outside there is a series of hills that you need to climb, with sweeping bends and numerous twists and turns. The heavier vehicles really struggle here but you need to be very careful when passing since there isn't much room to see if it's clear.

By this time i'd found a perfect rhythm on the bike and even when the rain started again it felt great. The most dangerous thing was the lunatics in the minibuses who pulled out at every blind bend, causing numerous head to head stand offs. Once up on the plateau the rain was so heavy it was creating little rivers on the road so the trucks were going slow even there. I was finding it lots of fun so i was carving through the traffic, really enjoying myself. I only wish i could have filmed it.

The ring road around Kathmandu was chock full of traffic. There is no discipline whatsoever on the roads, buses will happily drive up the wrong carriageway, pedestrians will wander all over and every other vehicle just goes wherever it wants. I was loving it, dodging along in a sort of 3D Frogger game, and i found my way back to the hotel without any problems.

Despite it being the off season they were full unfortunately, i thin because some flights were cancelled so they put me up in the hotel next door and i'll move back in the next day.

Rather than get cleaned up i took all the luggage off the bike and returned it to the guy i had rented it from. I explained about the problem with the fuse and the new tube in the tubeless tyre, but the didn't seem to mind, just saying it's still under warranty so any problems it just goes back to the dealer. I also mentioned the lack of a headlight so he switched the bike on to check and sure enough it didn't work, then he hit the switch in a particular way and it came on. Oh say i.

After getting cleaned up i went back to Sam's Bar and this time i met John a friend of the guy who had been giving me all the recommendations. John has been out here since 1986, and opened the first bar in Thamel, before that you only got alcohol in restaurants. He had some great stories about how things have changed in his time here, it was a great evening chatting with him.