Kathmandu

At around 9:30 am, 210 Royal Enfield motorcycles, that had lined up at Tundikhel few minutes earlier, left for Pokhara in style on April 12. In their biker’s attire or comfortable clothes, they rode on their machines for nearly 200-km-long journey. Riding solo or with friends or wives on pillion, off they went for riding adventure at the 8th Enfield Rendezvous & Poker Run 2016 to celebrate Nepali New Year 2073 BS. They were driven by passion and love for bikes and riding.

Joining the group of 250 participants from Nepal and India among others was rider Phurba Yolmo from Darjeeling, India. Crossing 600 kilometres solo on his Royal Enfield Thunderbird via Bardibas and Sindhuli that he really enjoyed, the "50-plus" Yolmo arrived Capital on April 10.

"Riding is my passion and I love this machine (his bike). Being a part of the event is a kind of adventure. I wanted to be a part of the big group," shared the "recovering drug addict". He has been into bikes for the last five years and this passion has "helped me fight the addiction".

He added, "Enfield is supposed to be a mean machine. We can't smile when we ride this. So, this is not for chocolate boys but for rugged people." And Yolmo was ready to ride another few hundred kilometres to Pokhara and was ready in his biker’s attire. Yolmo is also connecting with people in his first participation.

Sharing the same passion for bike and riding was 25-year-old Siru Thapa. What attracts her to the event is "people with same passion for bike and riding together — coming together".

Quite a regular of the event, the female biker "love bikes and I have always been in love with riding". Thapa loves adrenaline and racing, and "riding together on the highway" has always been memorable part of the Poker Run.

Everyone was looking for adventure at Poker Run and so was the couple Srinath Nair and Anu Mondal riding all the way from Jodhpur, India. This is their third time at the event, to which Nair shared, "We have had diverse, unique and good experience before. There are riders from different backgrounds including many female riders. And people are warm here," adding, "This event also includes playing poker in-between and enjoying the run while celebrating Nepali New Year. It is a unique experience. So, we like coming here again and again."

The couple came in 2012 for the first time and "we were one of the first people from India to participate in this Poker Run".

On the other hand, everything is memorable for Mondal. She shared, "The terrain is very beautiful. Nepal is a beautiful place and so we wanted to come and participate."

The 8th Enfield Rendezvous & Poker Run 2016, organised by Sacred Summits will end on April 14 after a series of activities in Pokhara. The Himalayan Times is the exclusive media partner of the event.