Humla Limi Valley Motorcycle Expedition via Burtibang: The New Karnali Highway Route (17 Days)

Arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport and transfer to the hotel. Evening briefing on the route, the bikes, and the paperwork needed for the restricted area permit ahead. Bike fitting and a short familiarization ride if time allows.

Standard paved highway riding out of the Kathmandu valley. The Kathmandu to Mugling stretch tends to be congested with cross-border cargo trucks and long-distance buses; the road opens up and smooths out for the final stretch into Pokhara. Overnight by Phewa Lake.

This is where the route leaves the mainstream tourist corridor. The road narrows into mid-hill highway, winding through terraced farmland and forest with far fewer vehicles on the road, and this is the first real test of the bikes on unpaved sections. From Pokhara it is about a 46-minute ride to Naudanda, a good spot to stop for breakfast with views of Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, and Manaslu. From Naudanda, ride roughly 1 hour 15 minutes to the Gandaki Golden Suspension Bridge, then continue via Baglung Bazaar to Inar Paani (about 50 minutes), and on to Kathekhola (about 35 minutes), a good lunch stop at the local road house hotel. Watch for a landslide zone near Kauche. The route continues through Haadi Khola and Kharpaani into the Badigurd Khola corridor, where there is a petrol pump, with a tea break option at Filbari Agro Resort before the final roughly 2-hour ride into Burtibang.

A long day through remote hill districts, with river crossings and steady elevation change and a curvy, genuinely fun road. On a clear day, this stretch offers views of Sisne Himal and the Dhaulagiri range. Jajarkot sees very little outside traffic, and the ride in gives a clear sense of how far this route sits from Nepal’s usual travel circuit. From Burtibang, ride toward the Kakri Highway, where there is a petrol pump for refueling, then continue about 40 minutes to Rukumkot (1,560m). From Rukumkot, a 30-minute ride into West Rukum’s Musikot Gaupalika area brings mountain views of Hiuchuli Patan Himal (5,916m) and Sisne Himal from the Kitani Bhir viewpoint. The route continues to Seri village, then turns left toward Jajarkot (2,945m). There is a fuel station along this stretch, though it is not always operating. The route passes Shulihale, home to a garden riverside homestay on the bank of the Sano Bheri river, then continues via Simle, Fukre, Githakot, and China Bagar on an uphill ride into Jajarkot itself, with overnight typically at RR Bheri Green Hotel. The Rukumkot to Jajarkot stretch alone takes about 2 hours 30 minutes over roughly 80 km.

Continued mid-hill highway riding with a mix of paved and gravel sections. Dailekh is a district headquarters town and a natural overnight stop before the terrain gets more demanding. The ride out of Jajarkot is downhill as far as Cheda Bazaar, then uphill on an off-road stretch toward Falyalna or Suyada, where the route rejoins the mid-highway. There is a manually operated petrol pump at Kudu, refueled from a jar rather than a pump, and the road from Kudu to Cheda Bazaar is in good condition. From Cheda Bazaar, the route continues through Chedagadh Nagarpalika and Karki village along the river, then climbs an off-road stretch to Suyada, the border between Jajarkot and Dailekh districts. From there, the route continues to Bestada and Lohare Khola, followed by a roughly 9 km uphill climb into Dailekh, with overnight typically at N.K. Hotel.

The longest and toughest riding day before Humla. Expect narrower roads, more switchbacks, and slower average speeds as the route climbs toward the Karnali basin. About 25 minutes downhill from Dailekh (N.K. Hotel), the route passes the China Aid Oil and Gas Resources Survey Project Nepal site, then continues toward Pool Bazaar and Sai village, where there is a petrol pump. From Sai village, take the right-hand road toward Piluchaur via Rakam Karnali, Jitgadh, and Santigadh.

Arrival in Simikot, Humla’s district headquarters, by road rather than by air. This stretch rides the Karnali corridor itself, the road inaugurated in July 2025 that finally linked Humla to the rest of Nepal’s highway network. From Piluchaur the road is unpaved, running via Dhulachaur and Kawadi (the border between Humla and Dailekh districts), then on through Khachha, Sallisalla, Sarkegadh, Syaltadi, Khadikhet, Bokchyagauda, Yangchu, Kharpu, and Syamni into Simikot. Simikot sits above 2,900 meters, so the evening is kept easy to help with acclimatization.

Widely considered the best riding day of the whole trip. Roads here turn rougher and higher, and the landscape shifts toward the drier, more Tibetan-influenced terrain that defines this part of Nepal. The route crosses the Nyalu La pass at roughly 5,000 meters, passing the beautiful Sheliman Lake and the Tsongsa waterfall, then continues through the Talung valley past Talung Lake and the Nying Khola on the way into Takchi. Takchi itself is the junction point for the Limi villages and the trailhead for the ride to the Mount Kailash viewpoint at Lapcha Syar.

A full day at Takchi to adjust to the altitude before the ride to the Kailash viewpoint. Time to explore the immediate area on foot, service the bikes, and rest, or take an optional short ride to Jang village for a hot spring bath.

The ride to Lapcha, locally known as Lapcha Syar, the trip’s final destination and its signature stop: a magnificent view of Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar across the Tibetan plateau. The route crosses the Ponkyung La pass, an old caravan trading route, continues to Chakpalong, and reaches Lapcha at an elevation of 5,133 meters. After time to take in the view and photos, the ride returns to Takchi. With energy remaining, there is an optional short ride to Haji village to visit Rinchenling Monastery, the oldest monastery in the region, before heading back to Takchi for the night.

The mood shifts on this ride. The goal has been reached, Kailash has been seen, and the return leg begins with a mix of quiet satisfaction and the ache of leaving high Humla behind. Retracing the route back to Simikot, the same landscape looks different in reverse: passes that felt uncertain on the way in now feel familiar, and there is time to actually notice the small things, a prayer flag line strung across a ridge, the particular blue of the sky at this altitude, that were easy to miss while focused on the climb.

Back onto the Karnali corridor, riding it a second time with the confidence of knowing exactly what each stretch demands. Dust, saddle fatigue, and the accumulated wear of eleven days on the bike start to show, but so does the ease that comes from a group that has genuinely bonded on the road by this point. Descending out of Humla, the terrain gradually softens, and the strict rhythm of high-altitude riding starts to loosen.

Return riding day through the mid-hills toward Surkhet, a larger valley town with better infrastructure and a change of pace after the high country. The roads widen, phone signal returns for the first time in days, and small comforts, a proper hot shower, a wider choice of food, start to feel like genuine luxuries rather than defaults. It is also a natural point to reflect on the trip so far over a relaxed dinner, with the hardest riding now behind the group.

The descent from the hills to the Terai plains is dramatic in its own right: cool mountain air gives way to the warmer, thicker air of the lowlands, and the terrain flattens into wide agricultural country. Arrival in Lumbini brings a different kind of atmosphere entirely, quiet, contemplative, and historically significant as the birthplace of the Buddha and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Maya Devi Temple and the surrounding monastic zone, with monasteries built by different Buddhist nations in their own architectural styles, offer a natural, reflective pause after two weeks of demanding mountain riding.

An easier riding day onward to Chitwan, trading temple courtyards for jungle and grassland. Chitwan National Park is one of Nepal’s best places to spot one-horned rhinoceros, wild elephants, and, with real luck, a Bengal tiger, alongside a wide range of birdlife along the Rapti River. After the thin air and gravel of Humla, the humid, green, slower rhythm of the Terai lowlands feels like an entirely different trip grafted onto the end of this one, which is much of the point.

The final riding day, and it does not go quietly. The Hetauda highway climbs back over the Mahabharat range in a long series of switchbacks, one last genuine riding challenge before the loop closes. There is a particular feeling to this stretch, part focus, part nostalgia, knowing this is the last real riding of the trip. Arrival back into Kathmandu’s traffic and noise is a sharp contrast to the empty mid-hill roads of the past two weeks, and a clear marker that the expedition is complete.

A final breakfast together, time to exchange photos and contact details with the group, and a transfer to the airport for the flight home, carrying back a genuinely rare kind of story: having ridden overland into Humla on the same route the region itself only gained access to in 2025.