Nepal is a well-known country for trekkers and walking enthusiasts. About one in five of last year’s 300,000 tourists took a trek of one kind or another. Trekkers with cameras and porters carrying provisions are familiar sights, but cyclists with lightweight bicycles and space-age-appearing helmets are not.
While conventional bicycle hire has been available since the 1960s, Himalayan mountain bikes were introduced in large numbers after the 1989 Indian blockade. The mountain bike, made in Taiwan or Korea, has been an 18-speed success for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the opportunity to explore many dirt roads and obscure trails in the valley, where scenes of village life are at their best.
People’s Review, 18 May 1992
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