Lhasa To Kathmandu Ride

Our Clients’ Reviews

Here at Exodus we thrive on feedback from our customers. It's the only way we can ensure our trips continue to be the best they can be. So, for the real tales, twists and turns of the trip you're interested in, look no further than the reviews from our previous travellers. Any feedback collected (Good or bad) from Exodus clients is posted straight onto our website - totally unedited. Read more...

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  Stephen Fisher

  LHASA TO KATHMANDU RIDE

  

  Written August 2010

  Wonderful bike trip; spectacular country. Our guides were very competent and made the experience great. Daily rides varied in length according to the terrain, but we could ride as much or as little as we wanted. 

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  What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?

  Visiting Tibetan monasteries and learning about the history of the country and its religion; seeing Mt. Everest from base camp at sunset.

  What did you think of your group leader?

  Our leaders, Kumar and Mangle from Nepal, were outstanding. They managed a group with diverse ages, skills, and interests exceptionally well, and handled a few unexpected developments (landslide covering the road and blocking traffic, for example) very competently. They ensured a safe, memorable trip for everyone in the group. I'd go anywhere with either of them.

  Do you have any advice for potential travellers?

  Its best if you have good cyckling skills and many miles of conditioning. Some of the days are quite strenuous, but you can stop whenever you want. Be flexible, and enjoy the trip.

  Is there anything else you would like to add?

  My only disappointment was that we had very little exposure to true Tibetan culture, and little chance to interact meaningfully with the local people. This is undoubtedly due to the Chinese occupation, but still, I had hoped to meet and get to know native Tibetans much more than we actually did

   
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  David Tipple

  LHASA TO KATHMANDU RIDE

  

  Written October 2009

  Despite my overall rating, this is a great holiday with fabulous scenery and people where the local guides work hard to make the trip a good experience. However, this is not a mountain bike holiday about 80% is on smooth road, there is significant additional cost once you get there, distances cycled can be pretty long and the basic accommodation is very, very basic. 

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  What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?

  The most inspirational moment was reaching Everest tourist base camp to see Everest in bright sunshine, deep blue skies and then watching the sun set with pink tinges on Everest before darkness fell revealing what seemed like an infinite number of bright stars.

  What did you think of your group leader?

  The leaders were very good, despite a few set backs they tried really hard to make the holiday a good and memorable experience.

  Do you have any advice for potential travellers?

  This is not a mountain bike trip, it's mainly a road trip where you cycle 70km to 110km at altitudes above 4,000m each day. You need to prepare to be able to cycle these distances every day, the longer distances are on the flat, the shorter distances tend to be ascents of about 1200m over a distance of 28km. As you get closer to Nepal the headwinds become stronger and stronger to the point where it can be difficult to cycle even the downhills.

  Allow for an extra $600 to $1,000 once you get there, for your Chinese visa about $115, the excess weight charge for the combined weight of your luggage and bike about $80, $300 for the food truck, (cook, driver, food, etc), 10 yuan per drink in Tibet (coke, beer, etc), 10 yuan in the basic hotels to use the public showers in Tibet.

   

   

   

  Is there anything else you would like to add?

  For the couple of days cycling that is "off-road", it's actually on wide dirt tracks with lorries, buses and 4x4's passing and creating dust clouds. The vehicles have also caused regular rutting, perpendicular to the direction of travel which after a full days cycling on them can become very tiresome.

  While this is a great experience it seems clear that no-one from Exodus has been on the trip in quite some time and the trip notes are at least 2 years out of date. The Chinese have now built a very high quality road for all but the Everest basecamp loop.

   

  Exodus Response

  We are sorry to see such a poor rating on this holiday and are looking in detail at what we need to improve on this trip. The trip is no longer sold as an off-road holiday as the friendship highway is now almost completely tarmaced - 80% at the time of writing (Nov 09). The trip notes are being comprehensively updated for 2010, and Exodus will be sending a senior member of staff to travel on this trip during 2010. We are confident that this holiday will live up to expectations for anyone that chooses to travel in 2010.

  Katherine Tory (Tibet Trip Manager)

  
  

  - Exodus Staff

   
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  Piotr Nowak

  LHASA TO KATHMANDU RIDE

  

  Written October 2009

  The trip itself was absolutely fantastic. Unforgettable views and great cycling, quite tough from time to time due to the low air pressure, were no doubt worth the effort and the money. Seeing how local people live was a great experience too, though sometimes shocking. For the following reasons, however, I was largely disappointed by Exodus:1. Lack of emergency equipment like PAC and oxygen bottles. These items are absolutely essential on this trip and the trip notes clearly stated that these items would be with us.2. Local guides appeared to have been incompetent to give first aid.3. Too many compulsory bus transfers (some of them not mentioned in the trip notes). If you want to brag that you have done the Friendship Highway from Lhasa to Kathmandu wholly on a bike, you would better do it on your own or with another company.4. The trip notes highly underestimated the overall cost of food and drinks. Also, on several occasions we had to pay for the meals, which according to the trip notes were on Exodus.5 stars for the trip, 1 star for Exodus, hence the overall rating is 3 stars only. 

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  What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?

  Visiting Potala Palace and Everest Base Camp were absolute highlights of the trip. Both were simply fabulous.

  What did you think of your group leader?

  I am not sure which of our guides was the leader, but generally all of them were friendly, knowledgeable, and usually helpful. They were, however, very little interested in interacting with the group.

  Do you have any advice for potential travellers?

  Do not bring your own bike – it is too much hassle, and the bikes provided by Exodus are absolutely up to scratch.

  Do not bring too many energy bars either - one per day should be more than enough. We had a few cooks on our trip and the food they prepared was calorific enough, tasty, and varied (no we did not eat yak meat every day!).

  Is there anything else you would like to add?

  Ascending 5200m high passes on the bike was hard, but very enjoyable. Cycling with other group members was very pleasant too – I met fantastic people and had a great time.

  Exodus Response

  We are very sorry to note that we score poorly on this tour. Along with our local partner we have undertaken a comprehensive review of this trip to ensure we meet our own high standards for any holidays that run in 2010.

  1. On one trip this summer the correct procedures were not followed and a Portable Altitude Chamber (PAC bag) was not made available on this tour. We can guarantee that on all future trips a PAC bag will be carried. Supplementary oxygen is always available, and we have further increased our provision for future trips.

  2. Our local staff are qualified and experienced in first aid and we have looked in detail at the circumstances that led to this comment.

  3. Like on most Exodus cycling trips we choose to cycle on the most scenic sections and generally not all the way from one hotel to the next. Our trip notes are being comprehensively updated for 2010.

  4. As above, our trip notes are being updated for 2010.

  We can assure potential clients that all trips run in 2010 will be to our normal high standards.

  Katherine Tory (Tibet Trip Manager)

  
  

  - Exodus Staff

   
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  Brendan Carney

  Everest was the business

  

  Written September 2007

  What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?

  Hard to say .The cycling and the views

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  What did you think of your group leader?

  Excellent.Very professional

  Do you have any advice for potential travellers?

  Be carefull of the altitude .

  Is there anything else you would like to add?

  It cost me $ 250.00 to fly my bike from Kathmandu to Lhasa .If I had known this , I would have flown to Lhasa directly and not bothered with Kathmandu at the beginning of the trip .  

   

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