Jiri to Bandhar

After a nice morning in Jiri we left for Bandhar. This was our first whole day on the bike. We passed through a valley before we did an seemingly endless climb up to the top. Once we got to the top we rode through the clouds and stopped at a small house for a well earned lunch. The house was situated along the ridge line of the mountain and was run by a small famely. As we stopped our bikes caused a big rukus among the locals and everyone wanted to check them out. After lunch we did a shorter decent into a valley. This is where we lost our first rider. Didier, one of the great French, jumped off his bike at the wrong spot and fell 2 meters down and landed straight on his feet. He twisted his ankle in the fall and suddenly we had a problem.

Didier was lucky and his fall only twisted his ankle. Although in great pain he was able to limp down the trails and do a little biking on the flat. We had to abort our trail riding plans for this day and we headed straight for Bandhar valley were we coordinated a helicopeter evacutation of our friend didier. Despite his fall Didier was in a admirably smiling and taking this whole situation in strides.

In the valley we stayed in an amazing house, a bit spartan, but the location was unreal. We could see our highest destination from here, Pickey Peak, and it was a little frightening to stand in the shadow of the 4050 meter tall mountain we will climb over the next days.