Our rendezvous point for this mountain bike adventure is the bustling and exotic Kathmandu airport. Once all our flights have arrived from all four corners of the globe, we pack the vans and head approximately 15km out of Kathmandu to the serenity of Shivapuri Hill Cottage. We get settled in with a few beers and some well-deserved food, and chat over the trip ahead. Our first full day together starts on our sun-draped terrace, eating breakfast, building bikes and guessing what lies ahead of us. With satisfied stomachs we load the van and drive 30 minutes deep into the heart of the Shivapuri National Park, where we unload the bikes and give our group their first taste of Nepalese singletrack! And what an introduction! At the foot of this trail we take a tour around the world famous Buddhist Stupa, called Boudhanath, which must be walked around in a clockwise direction. On returning to the cottage we are treated to our evening meal on the terrace, and with fires glowing we fill the group’s minds with stories of tomorrow’s trails.
We start the next day by taking our shuttle up to a high mountain village on the north side of Kathmandu, where we catch our first glimpse of the Himalaya mountain range in the distance, and the group starts to feel the draw of the mountains. We ride a winding, technical singletrack back to Shivapuri and another delicious home-cooked meal. This morning we pack to leave the stunning hill-top cottage behind. Our luggage goes on to our next destination and we ride up through the Shivapuri National Park, and over the back side to descend down fantastic wooded trails to the historic and very picturesque town of Bhaktapur, where after dinner we take a guided tour of the city and its numerous temples and Stupas.
The New York Times recently published a fantastic story on the city of Oaxaca; the city and state in which we’re based during our Mexican mountain bike tour. Oaxaca is truly the culinary jewel in Mexico’s crown, and during our Mexican mountain bike adventure we enjoy food in every kind of cafe and shack, to a very up-market restaurant that successfully brings traditional Oaxacan cooking into the 21st century, with its modern twist on age-old recipes.
We will be heading to Oaxaca in late October and early November for two more tours to sample more fabulous food, mountain biking and of course the colourful ‘Day of the Dead’ (Dia de los muertes) celebrations. This spectacular festival takes place on 2nd November on the second last day of our mountain biking tour in Mexico, and Oaxaca is known as the one of the best places in Mexico to celebrate the Day of the Dead.
Sweet singletrack in the mountains of southern Spain
On this mountain bike adventure tour you’ll experience the real Spain. In the Sierra Nevada and Alpujarras region of southern Spain you’ll ride the dry, rocky, singletrack trails that have connected the collection of white-washed mountain villages for centuries, and you’ll be welcomed as a long-lost friend, with the offer of excellent local food and drink.
Here is our trail video from our Nepal mountain bike tour, that takes place in the stunning Mustang region. For further information on this tour please visit http://www.mountainbikeworldwide.com/bike-tours/nepal
Each week the Guardian website produces a round up of what’s hot, and what’s not in the travel world, and in their new year’s edition…
H&I Adventures and our new worldwide tours have made the ‘what’s hot’ section!
The picture used in the feature is of our local guide riding deep in the heart of the Mustang region of Nepal in the deepest valley in the world, the Kali Gandaki Valley.
If you have ever dreamed of riding in Nepal, or Mexico, or the Sierra Nevada in Spain…
We hope you had a fantastic night and made some interesting and exciting resolutions over a glass of wine. We had a great 2011 and enjoyed the company of many fantastic customers, worked with lots of very professional people, and rode our bikes in some of the best locations around the globe.
We are looking forward to working hard in 2012 to continue offering you world-class mountain biking tours, and the challenges and awesome adventures that come from that.
If you have been considering a tour with H&I Adventures then 2012 might be the year for that trip. We have our Scottish favourites: Torridon and Skye, and Coast-to-Coast tours; and two new adventures aimed at the beginner to intermediate rider: the Cairngorms adventure tour, and our Tastes and Trails of Scotland tour. To add to that we have introduced some amazing tours in Spain, Mexico and Nepal – exciting new countries, but the same high quality and life-affirming experiences that we have been delivering in Scotland for the past five years.
We always love to hear from our customers and followers, and you can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo and Google+, and of course, via email or on the telephone: +44 (0)1463 239716 and toll free from US/Canada on 1 888-228-50-35
Here are our top five images from 2011. We felt these were the most inspiring and thought-provoking mountain bike adventure photos of our year. They’re not professional photos, but pictures take during real tours with real people on some of the world’s best mountain bike trails. Why not tell us your favourite in the poll below the pictures!
Heading off for a week’s mountain biking in Spain is the ideal way to start our winter riding season, away from the sub-zero temperatures of Scotland. On landing at Màlaga airport, our driver is there to greet us and transfer us to our hillside accommodation and base for the week in a stunning traditional village called Fondales.
At our accommodation we’re welcomed by our enthusiastic local guide and host who shows us around, then leaves us at the pool area to build our bikes in preparation for tomorrow’s ‘tester ride’. After dinner and a few beers everyone sits around talking about past biking experiences and guessing what the week has in store for us. There’s a healthy amount of nervous energy in the air.
Next morning we arrive at the meeting point 35 minutes ahead of schedule – we’re keen! Our local guide arrives just on time, cool and calm to announce, ‘You are the best group this week!’ The only group this week, he means. He’s trying to sweet talk us. Our first day’s riding is fantastic! As a ‘tester ride’ it has lots of climbing to assess the group’s fitness, three or four different descents to ascertain their ability and a couple of café stops to start the coffee league table. The coffee league is long debated at each café, and even continues onto the trail, but we never did get another coffee all week to beat the first one in Pitres.
It’s early October and the mountain biking season in Scotland is drawing to a close, but we are busily packing our bags again, this time heading to central America and more specifically the Oaxaca region of southern Mexico. This area of Mexico is more famous for its culinary delights than its mountain biking, but we know better!
We leave the Highlands of Scotland on a dark and wet October night, sitting in the van chatting about how we are looking forward to some dusty singletrack with the sun on our backs, salivating at the thought of sinking our teeth into the world-famous food and drink of the Oaxaca region. Our flights and transfers all go according to plan and before we know it we’ve arrived in Mexico City. First thing in the morning the whole group assembles around the breakfast table, chatting excitedly about what’s to come. Once we’re fed and watered we climb into the van for our trip south to Oaxaca City, where
we set about exploring this stunning UNESCO World Heritage Site. That evening we set our taste buds alight with the first of many amazing culinary masterpieces that we enjoy during the trip, then look over some maps of the area we’re about to explore on our mountain bikes.
The next morning we are up bright and early, building bikes and packing day bags for our début ride in the Sierra Norte, but first we are going to visit the impressive Zapotec archaeological site of Monte Albàn, which flourished around 750-800AD with over 40,000 inhabitants. After soaking up the history we head for the hills and saddle up for the first ride of the week – and what a ride! We set off from a village tucked away high in the Sierra Norte mountains and weave our way along ancient Zapotec hunting paths until we pop out at our woodland cabins and home for the rest of the week. Our kit is already there waiting for us and the fire is crackling away in the corner, so we unpack, settle in and open a beer.
H&I Adventures owner Euan Wilson says, “The main driving force behind our decision to expand is our customers; they’ve been suggesting for a while that we add other countries because they want to explore the world on their bikes, but they also want guaranteed level of service that only comes with a trusted tour operator. Now we can give them both!
“We have been very careful to select destinations that offer a choice of skill level and budgetary options for our customers, and support our commitment to responsible adventure travel. We work closely with the local communities in each of the remote areas we experience to ensure that our adventure tours provide revenue for the people and environments that give us so much pleasure along the way.”
The north of Scotland's biggest bike demo returns for its 7th year at Laggan Wolftrax. Save the 28th and 29th... http://t.co/MTceReWB ----------------------------------1 day ago
The awesome Concrete Circus starring Danny MacAskill will be available to download from the iTunes store on the... http://t.co/zcr5NLcj ----------------------------------2 days ago
I posted 71 photos on Facebook in the album "Nepal mountain bike tour, Mustang region" http://t.co/Bgt8PITl ----------------------------------6 days ago
Our rendezvous point for this mountain bike adventure is the bustling and exotic Kathmandu airport. Once all our flights have arrived from all four corners of the globe, we pack the vans and head approximately 15km out of Kathmandu to the serenity of Shivapuri Hill Cottage. We get settled in with a few beers and some well-deserved food, and chat over the trip ahead. Our first full day together starts on our sun-draped terrace, eating breakfast, building bikes and guessing what lies ahead of us. With satisfied stomachs we load the van and drive 30 minutes deep into the heart of the Shivapuri National Park, where we unload the bikes and give our group their first taste of Nepalese singletrack! And what an introduction! At the foot of this trail we take a tour around the world famous Buddhist Stupa, called Boudhanath, which must be walked around in a clockwise direction. On returning to the cottage we are treated to our evening meal on the terrace, and with fires glowing we fill the group’s minds with stories of tomorrow’s trails.
we’re based during our 
Each week the 
