We're Off :-)

Day 1: Kathmandu to Narayangadh


With the start point decided as Durbar Square, the spiritual heart of the city and the place where until recently all the Nepalese Kings were crowned (Nepal became a Republic two days before we arrived), we were primed and ready....or so we thought.


After a brief ceremony with a few local dignitaries and the cutting of the start line ribbon we raced off into the confusing maze of streets that is Kathmandu...and promptly got lost. What should have been a procession behind a police escort turned into a chaotic "every Rickshaw for themselves" fight for survival.

We ended up stuck in a one-way system which felt more like being in a river with all the other traffic flowing past on both sides. Eventually we were spat out next to a small group of other 'Runners stopped by the side of the road. Fortunately one team had the foresight to bring a map of Kathmandu with them and so we managed to work out which direction we needed to be heading in.

Showing his usual gusto Tom leap to the front of the pack and taking the lead from the locals began to assert himself on the other road users. This worked a treat and soon we were on the ring road heading out of Kathmandu.

Once we escaped the city we were treated to glorious mountain scenery intermingled with roadside carnage courtesy of a few less fortunate lorry drivers proving that overloaded vehicles and sharp bends do not mix.


(Thanks to team Paint It Black for this photo)

As has since become the norm we missed the turning for our intended route so began making up it up as we went along. We finally stopped for the evening in a small town called Narayangadh having covered 165km.

Current location: Royal Hotel, Nepal, 27N 41'47.2" 84E 25'14.9" 167m