Mountain Biking in Kathmandu Valley

Mountain Biking in Nepal

Are you visiting Nepal and only spending your time in Kathmandu? Everyone must think you came to only trek mountains but that’s not the reality. Don’t worry, you can still go through an adventurous journey in Nepal by doing some mountain biking  outside of Kathmandu. Voilà, you can now still tell your friends your did some adventure in Nepal ;-).

The mountain biking tour is called the Marijuana Trail and you will be able to ride in the suburbs around a beautiful landscape. There will be some single tracks, some downhill moments, cross-country and urban trails between the two townships of Bungamati and Khokana.

How long is the bike trail?

The Marijuana Loop biking trail is 25KM long. Easy peasy, you will go through it! If you are not an experienced biker, there is a chance you might fall the single track but don’t worry, it’s all part of the adventure. One of us actually fell but no dramas at all, just don’t go fast and stupid. Most importantly, don’t break with the front wheel whilst going downhill, that’s the recipe to be injured!

How is the tour?

You can book this through the guys called Social Tours. It costs 65$US and includes transportation, bikes and some food and a drink at the end. You will be led by an expert guide. We arrived at 11AM, got briefed then they’ve put us in a taxi with the guide to get to the southern part of town. They stop to get your bikes and helmets is at the Saddle Bike Store. You will get briefed, given a bike, helmet and … that’s it haha.

It starts with an urban ride to reach Bungamati, where you will tour through the town quickly (you will not stop), then continue on singletracks behind Khokana. You will then eventually head back with a uphill to reach Bhaisepati and come back to the bike shop. Once there, you will walk with your guide to this cool outdoor social area where they make wood-fired oven pizza. The place is called Moksh. The website says the tour is 4 hours, but considering we started at 11AM, we came back to town around 4:30-5PM. It was winter so quite pitch black and felt way later than that!

Things you get for the price of 65$US

Includes

  • Mountain Biking Guide
  • Hardtail Mountain Bike
  • Helmet
  • A Meal
  • A Drink

Excludes

  • Emergency evacuation
  • Insurance
  • Water

As you can see, this info has been taken from their website and doesn’t mention the transportation. Although they bring you there complimentary as part of the tour, the guide seems to want to abandon you when you are eating your pizza, claiming you can take the taxi back yourself. We were against that and insisted he paid the taxi back to the initial booking office. If you book this tour make sure that they bring you back, because of course it is cheap for them to get there and back but for you as a foreigner, taxis will charge you over 500 to get back to town. The tour is worth it although we believe it does indeed have a few things to get better at … like the logistics and providing water. At the price of 65$US, you really expect a little bit more. Overall, like we said, it’s really an experience to do, especially if you love landscapes and doing some active travelling like we do!

Namaste!
  • Have you visited Nepal before? If yes, what did you do and enjoyed the most?
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