Ride on Rolls Royce Trail (A Historical Foot Trail) - 11 June 2011

This trail, steeped in history, was the main exit from Kathmandu valley until the construction of Nepal's first highway, Tribhuwan Rajpath, in 1956. The travellers crossed Chandragiri Hill and then descended to Chitlang and walked through Markhu, Kulekhani before ascending another daunting hill to reach Chisapani Gadhi.  From there they descended to Bhimphedi and onward to southern plains after crossing Churiya range.  In later days a rudimentary means of transport could be found at Bhimphedi to reach Amlekhganj and, from there, a train to Raxaul and beyond.  That was an adventure in itself.  Some remnant of the original foot trail still exists, which is partially used by the locals and some hiking enthusiasts.  The path saw countless pilgrims, travellers, royalties, and foreign dignitaries over many millennia.  Nepal must be the only country where the cars came even before the roads were built.  During the regime of tyrant Ranas, porters carried them over this hill for their aristocratic masters in the capital.  That is why a travel through this route is like touching dust left by the many generations of our ancestors.

We, Prakash Subedi, Ujjwal Mainali, Nirajan ji and myself (Birendra), started at 6:00 from Rabi Bhawan and rode to Thankot over the main highway.  We turned left at Thankot Check post and started uphill ride from Godam, on recently built dirt track.  The route was pretty rough from the recent rain.  At places the path laid with cobbled stone, mainly on the switchbacks, developed gaping holes between them, which made it difficult to peddle.  So we had to haul our bikes quite frequently.  However, the northward view that revealed snowy giants peeking from the monsoon cloud, a rare sight during this period of time; came as a rare reward.  Drenched in sweat after a daunting uphill ride brought us close to the top.  To our dismay, a section of the road was missing due to landslide that compelled us to carry our bikes for 20 minutes on a mossy stone foot trail.  Minutes later, Mainali ji lost his foothold on a slippery stone and banged his knee on the ground, as well as his bicycle - slightly damaging both.  The silence was broken by group of quite healthy-looking-men, with heavily rounded midsection, supposedly scared the resident fauna with their cacophony as they slugged uphill.

We kept pushing ourselves with the full conviction.  The approach to the pass was a welcome event.  The view to both the sides of the pass was awesome.   At the top we realized that Ujjwal ji’s bike lost pressure on its front brake rendering it useless.  It hindered our downhill progress, as he would not be able to gain speed.  Nevertheless, we started our descent on the jeep track, currently being built - quite wide though.  It will not be long before this section will be blacktopped and will start the beginning of the end of solitude in this area.  Goodbye Shangri La!!!  For discerning riders they can actually take the original foot trail, which is a bit steep but can offer a thrilling ride.  Purano Pauwa, with dozen or more rustic houses, still carries its mediaeval aura.  You can actually step back in time, when you arrive here.  The village has recently prepped 8 houses to receive guests for home-stay as an NTY 2011 initiative under the aegis of NTB & Chitlang Community Homestay (stt@mos.com.np).   A night’s stay after an arduous ride can be a different but rewarding option if you are ready to settle for a very modest setup.  Arriving here, we met the same group of healthy-looking-men, and found out that they were visiting the village as domestic tourist and planned to spend night there.  Bravo!!  NTB should be proud of them!!!

Further down, after Naya Pauwa, lies the village of Chitlang, located on a small valley surrounded by luxuriant hills.  It is a collection of old stone-roofed houses predominantly inhabited by Newars.  The village has a very rich history and cultural heritage.  It lies at a distance of 22 kms from Kathmandu.  This village used to be a bustling resting-point when it served as the main route into Kathmandu.  The lush green fields with variety of crops set the stage for this village, virtually untouched by the modernity (till now!!).  Apart from many historical attractions, the village now boasts the first goat-cheese factory, an olive orchard that recently started producing oil and trout fishery etc.  The road from Purano Pauwa to Markhu is almost flat.  A shortcut from Chitlang to Markhu goes through a dense pine forest, which offers some sections of single track and is totally isolated.  But due to the problem in Mainali ji’s front brake, we decided to ride on the jeep trail encircling the forest from its west end.  Another short descent brought us to Markhu.  Markhu is a village settled by the legendary porters that kept supply lines to Kathamndu alive. At Markhu, which is now seeing the influence of modern times, with couples of new motorbikes whizzing by, we refilled our almost empty hydration packs and bottles.   Another combination of up and down hills took us to Kulekhani.  Instead of riding down to the dam site, we turned left on Kathmandu – Phakhel – Kulekhani Road.

The return trip was a bit tiring but a good fun as we tracked our route through Phakhel and Humane.  We occasionally came across the sparse Tamang settlements.  On the way we encountered few enterprising kids wanting to sell us a bagful of ripe plums with an asking price of Rs. 20.  Prakash ji bought the bag and we devoured sweet and juicy fruit until we were full. The kids ran away gleefully after receiving equal amount as extra from Prakash ji. The concluding part from Humane offered a great freewheeling opportunity.  As I reached home it was quarter to six in the clock.   It was a wonderful trip with another well spent 12 hours of my life.

If you want to follow the route, you may download GPS track from the link below:

Endomondo: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/sVPr9g-kGDQ

Wikiloc: http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=1775419

You will also be able to see the trail in Google Earth with Wikiloc layer turned on.