■ KATHMANDU, NEPAL: Over 3 years ago, upon my first visit to Nepal, I ran into Sunil, who grew up in Nepal but is now living in America. He’d returned to help fund cancer treatment for kids whose families could not afford it. Fast forward to today, and his foundation has now helped over 122 Nepalis get treatment. Many have survived!

One of the first people he helped was a guy called Pradip. He now lives on a mountain which is about a days journey from Kathmandu. Rather than take a bus or motorbike I thought it would be more interesting to buy a bicycle and journey up there on my own to visit him and his family to congratulate him on surviving cancer.

But since I obviously don’t fly around the world with a bicycle in my backpack, I first had to buy and actual bike. The first bike I looked at was one used by a hotel to cycle laundry back and forth. It was a classic timeless cycle but would’ve been very hard to navigate through the Kathmandu traffic on.

My search for a bicycle continued…. Down the road I saw a man deliver water bottles to shops. The bike was perfect but the owner seemed quite emotionally attached to his ride. There was only one solution: The Federales Reservos had to be rapidly deployed.

With a bicycle finally secured, and my Federal Reserves somewhat depleted, I started cycling at 7AM the next morning on the dusty streets of Kathmandu, through the historic town of Bhaktapur and ultimately up the foothills of the Himalayas.

What I thought would be a leisurely, yet exhausting bike ride, turned out to be anything but just that. Instead this bicycle adventure from Nepal’s capital Kathmandu turned out to be one of the greatest adventures I’ve had in recent years…..

■ LEO SHRESTHA FOUNDATION FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/leoshresthafoundation/
http://www.leonepal.org

■ INTERVIEW WITH SUNIL:

■ AMERICAN HERO IN NEPAL:
https://youtu.be/4ZZghNKnCTk

■ TREKKING IN NEPAL: