Mystic Mustang 2025
It was 11th October and I got a WhatsApp notification from Hero MotoCorp. It was about a motorcycle expedition to Upper Mustang in Nepal on their newly launched Xpulse 210. Just a few days back, I was thinking about doing this solo. And here it came, the plan was to cover Manang and Upper Mustang and they were taking care of everything in this expedition, from booking stays and food to motorcycle, luggage transportation and permits. What better could I expect. Within the next two days, I registered for the event, prepared all the necessary documents and booked my tickets to and from Gorakhpur as it was the starting and ending point of this expedition.
Fast forward to Day 0, I packed all my stuff and left for Gorakhpur.
Day 0: Arrival in Gorakhpur
I arrived a day before the expedition. As the train got in late at night, I had booked an Airbnb for the night. In the morning, I had poori sabji in breakfast at a local shop nearby and then after checking out, I left for the hotel. The stay was at Courtyard in Gorakhpur.
After completing the document verification and riding gear scrutiny, I was assigned bike #06.
In the evening, we went to the Hero Premia Showroom, the idea was to get familiar with the bike, and a small briefing was planned. Later, we had an ice-breaking and a detailed briefing session for the event back at the hotel.
The routine for the coming days was simple: each morning, we'd get a wake-up call, get ready, pack our luggage and submit it, so the pickup trucks could leave ahead of us. After breakfast, we'd get on our bikes and start riding towards the destination for that day.
After dinner, I went straight to sleep as we had to leave early the next morning.
Day 1: Gorakhpur to Chitwan
The first day of the ride. Got ready, submitted my luggage for the pickup, had a nice breakfast and left for Chitwan.
In the afternoon, we arrived at the India-Nepal border in Sonauli, Uttar Pradesh. Lunch was arranged at a nearby hotel. While we were having lunch, the team completed the customs formalities. After lunch, I got a new NTC sim card and exchanged currencies, the INR to NPR conversion rate was 1.6.
I was in a different country for the very first time. The ad hoardings and the cars on the roads had names and logos, I had never seen before.
We took a small snacks break at Shashwat Dham and in the evening we arrived at Vivanta in Chitwan, our stay for the night. Here, a few more riders from Nepal joined us for the expedition. I also needed a few adjustments on the bike, which Rehan bhai quickly fixed.
Day 2: Chitwan to Chame
We left early after having breakfast. The hills had started showing up already.
We stopped for lunch at Gateway Himalayan Resort in Besisahar. The terrain after lunch was all offroad and we found multiple water crossings on the way. I enjoyed riding this machine on this terrain very much.
It was late night when we finally arrived in Chame. The stay tonight was at Hotel ShangriLa. The temperature had already dropped as low as 3°C. Also, after a very hardcore day of offroading, my boots were completely wet. I was worried about the next day's ride, but cheers to our marshal Kushagra, he had a brilliant hack for such situations and provided me with some sanitary pads to dry my boots.
Day 3: Chame to Manang
After two days of hardcore riding, this was a relaxed day. We were going to Manang, just 30 kms away. We started late around 10 AM, had a quick stop at an apple farm at Bhratang. The farm was truly beautiful. I plucked and ate a fresh apple right from the tree.
We took another break at Green Lake in Manang, and then headed over for lunch at our stay, Yeti Hotel in Manang. The landscape there was unlike anything I'd seen before. It was freaking cold here, so I also bought a warm cap and gloves, which cost me 800 NPR.
In the evening, I went for a walk to Gangapurna Lake nearby. It was a breathtaking sight, this lake was formed by the melting of the Annapurna glaciers. I sat there for around an hour and then came back to the hotel. The temperature was around -4 to -3°C. My thermals came to the rescue.
Day 4: Manang to Pokhara
It was time to say goodbye to this beautiful place. Had breakfast. There was a thin ice layer on the bikes that morning, a reminder of how cold it gets up here.
After warming up our bikes, we left for Pokhara. It was a total of ~200 kms of ride that day. We stopped at Blue Lake for a while. Had lunch at Gateway Himalayan Resort in Besisahar.
At around 7 PM, we arrived at our stay, Hotel Heritage in Pokhara.
Day 5: Pokhara to Tatopani
On the way, we found the Kushma Suspension Bridge in Nepal, one of the longest suspension bridges in the country. We stopped there, did some drone shoots on the bridge and had a quick lunch afterwards.
It was a relatively short day, around 100 kms in total. In the evening, we arrived at our stay, Hotel Natural Spring in Tatopani.
Day 6: Tatopani to Lo Manthang
The day ahead was a long one. We were going to enter the Upper Mustang region today, so we all left early in the morning.
FYI, Upper Mustang needs a special permit and a licensed guide. This is different from the basic Annapurna Conservation Area permit, which you can get at the border itself for 1200 INR. The Upper Mustang permit at that time cost 500 USD for 10 days, required even if you're staying for fewer days. This region is opened for public but with a strict access.
The media team took a few of us separately for the shoot. So, we left early after breakfast and stopped at multiple places for the shoot. We stopped for momos at Seven Eleven Restaurant near Jomsom Airport. The momos were really good.
After that, we arrived at the entry point for Upper Mustang.
We completed the formalities and were ready to go. We stopped for lunch at Hotel Himali and had Nepali Thakali.
After lunch, the roads went crazy and the landscapes started changing rapidly. The trails were dusty and windy. I felt like I was riding a rally stage, ripping the Xpulse 210 through these wild trails.
The landscapes were completely different now with all these yellow colored huge mountains, It felt like I had gone 100 years back in time.
These landscapes and this beautiful adventure motorcycle, this was all I needed.
Late in the evening, after crossing a lot of mountains, we arrived at a point from where we could already see the Lo Manthang village in the distance. We patted ourselves on the back, clicked a few pictures, and then left for the village.
Our stay was at Hotel Mandala. We were all welcomed with a Khata, a traditional Tibetan ceremonial scarf. The hotel was completely insulated from the outside cold. I was fully exhausted, so after dinner I went straight to sleep.
Day 7: Lo Manthang Rest Day
We had an extended stay at Lo Manthang village. In the afternoon, we rode to the Jhong Caves. We also did some water crossings on the way. The China border was just 30 minutes away from here, but Indians were not allowed to go there. Our guide explained about the caves, the Buddhism culture, the monasteries and meditation practices in the region.
On the way back to the hotel, I got my front tyre punctured. The team quickly replaced the tyre and fixed the bike for the next day. Thanks to Rehan bhai for his support throughout the expedition.
After lunch, I was just lying in bed through the evening. Later, we had a local cultural dance performance by Dolma Tsering and her group.
Day 8: Lo Manthang to Muktinath
We had breakfast in the morning. I also tried to dry my boots, as they were still wet inside. The bikes had collected a thin layer of ice overnight. It was bitterly cold here. The bikes were refuelled as well, thanks to the team, they were carrying jerrycans.
After warming up ourselves and the bikes, we all left Lo Manthang with heavy hearts. Because as we departed, the expedition had started its countdown. Also, it was the last day I'd get to do proper offroading, because after Muktinath, we'd have mainly tarmac roads.
We had a lunch break at Hotel Himali. After lunch, we had two routes to reach Muktinath, however our lead rider Shaq decided to choose the offroad instead of tarmac. I was happy, thanks to him.
In the evening, around 4 PM, we arrived in Muktinath. Our stay was at Hotel De Purang. I had a quick shower, and then we visited the temple after a small hike of ~300 stairs. The Muktinath Temple is a temple of Lord Vishnu. The name Muktinath means "Lord of Salvation." We did the parikrama, the darshan and after having the prasad, we all returned to our hotels.
Day 9: Muktinath to Pokhara
After breakfast, we had a quick briefing and then the bikes were refuelled.
We had a stop at Marpha village, the village was beautiful. There were many shops, people were buying souvenirs for themselves. I was just randomly roaming around. Vir Nakai was sitting in a shop. He invited me in. He told me he always visits this shop whenever he's in this village. The shopkeeper was an elderly lady. She offered us free chai. We also bought some dried apple cuts and Vir suggested I get the timur, a spice found in the Himalayan region.
We left Marpha and stopped for lunch at Hotel Natural Spring in Tatopani, the same hotel where we had stayed on Day 5. After lunch, we had to stop for around 30 minutes because there was a landslide ahead. The JCBs were already at work clearing the road.
In the evening, around 7:30 PM, we reached Pokhara at our same hotel from earlier. We also had a small celebration party that night at Paradiso.
Day 10: Pokhara Rest Day
This was a rest day for all of us. A few people went for paragliding. I was just chilling the whole day.
In the evening, we went for kayaking in Phewa Lake. The kayaking was an amazing experience. The view of the Annapurna range while kayaking in the middle of that huge lake was something else entirely.
At night, I packed all my stuff, as we had to leave for Gorakhpur the next day.
Day 11: Pokhara to Gorakhpur
The Nepali riders were departing from here to their homes. We said our goodbyes and left. As usual, we did our customs formalities and had lunch at the same hotel near the Sonauli border. We were back in India.
Around 8 PM, we reached Gorakhpur at our stay at Courtyard. Everyone was very happy and emotional at the same time. It was our last day of this expedition. I ordered a pizza for myself as a token of celebration.
Day 12: Departure from Gorakhpur
Everyone started leaving after breakfast. I took a small nap and then checked out from the hotel.
In the evening, I went to the airport, did the check-in of bags. I also had to wear the riding boots to keep my check-in bag under the weight limits.
By around 11:30 PM, I was back in Bengaluru.
This was one of the best adventure motorcycle expedition I've ever had. I had so much fun riding this beautiful bike on the wild trails of Manang and Upper Mustang. Cheers to Hero MotoCorp, Maxperience and everyone else who made this event such a memorable and amazing adventure.
Signing Off,
Mystic Mustang #06