Biking in the Himalayas

Tags: Asia, Bike Expedition 2005, China, Cycling, Mongolia, Nepal

In March/April 2005 I will travel to Asia together with 3 other guys from Norway. We are planning to go bi-cycling from Ulan Bator to Kathmandu, a journey of 6000km through stunning landscape in Mongolia, China, Tibet and Nepal. The bike trip will take 4-5 months, and we will spend most of the nights in our tents, except from the more populated areas of China, where we can stay in guesthouses along the road and eat delicious Chinese food.

The cycling route from Ulan Bator to Kathmandu

After a few days rest and preparations in Ulan Bator, we expect to set out into the Gobi-desert towards China in the southeast. The distance through the desert is about 900km. Continuing through China there are a myriad of different roads to choose from, so exactly where to go is still open for discussion. If time permits, and we feel like it, we might go deeper south into the heart of China, or we may take the fastest route to Tibet following the Great Wall (see map).

In Tibet we have much fewer options. There is only one road to Lhasa that is officially open to tourists, and that road passes through the city of Golmud. In other words, we will probably end up in Golmud before we head south for Lhasa, which is the capital of Tibet. If everything goes according to plan, we will be in Lhasa at the end of July.

The distance from Lhasa, over the Himalayas to Kathamdu in Nepal is around 1000km. In order to come to Kathmandu we must go through five passes, each at around 5000 meters. After Lhasa we may decide to make a detour to Base Camp at Mt. Everest, if we still have some time left. The base camp is at 5200 meters, with roads - albeit in poor conditions - going all the way up to the camp. In total the detour would be 100 kilometers and on the way we will need to cross another pass at 5000 meters.

We will arrive Kathamndu in Nepal after having finished the world's longest continous downward slope, 140 kilometers in total. The wet season will have set in and we expect that it will rain almost every day in the middle of August in Nepal, 135 days after the start in Ulan Bator.

Read more about the expedition at www.sykkelekspedisjon2005.com