The air is thin, there is snow on the ground and all of the mountains around are snow capped as well. It’s 18,380 feet above sea level and I am struggling to breathe normally in between shots of water from my camelback as I sit waiting for the rest of my crew to arrive. Funny enough, I’m not sitting here by myself. There are at least another two hundred people. Why, you ask? Well, this is Khardungla Top in India, the World’s highest motorable pass. Let me help by putting its height into perspective. It is nearly 2,500 feet higher than Mount Everest’s Tibetan Base Camp or over 11,000 feet higher than Australia’s highest Mountain, Mt Kosciuszko, which means it’s incredibly high no matter who you are or how you got here! Most everyone around me is a tourist that has paid to be driven here by the local tour groups in and around the valleys below the pass. That said, there are loads of vans, buses and cars that have carried them here to experience life at the top. As for me, I didn’t walk, hike or run. I used a motorcycle!
This was day two of the first edition of the Royal Enfield Motorcycles Moto Himalaya Adventure ride. The motorcycle brand Royal Enfield has an intimate relationship with the Himalayan Mountains, which goes way back in history with the Ladakh region being a very special piece of that. We based ourselves out of Ladakh’s capital of Leh and traveled from our accommodation to the specified daily locations or for overnight trips depending on the weather limitations. Our hotel, The Kaal, was clean, modern and warm; not that it was that cold. It was in the mid 20’s and quite balmy. Over the next few days we used a Yurt, a circular tent, as our accommodation. Dare I say it, we would all have been happy to return to The Kaal!
After flying from Australia to New Delhi via Singapore it was a domestic flight that got me to Leh accumulating next to 17hrs of flight time staggered across two days. Arriving in Leh I was met by the Royal Enfield crew and transferred to the hotel where twenty-two motorcycles sat waiting for their latest set of “guinea pigs.” The bikes that were chosen to complete the adventure task were the latest reincarnation of their original Bullet. An EFI 500cc single cylinder four stroke engine mated to a 5 speed transmission replaced the mules that would have originally been used to move my sorry ass up and down the mountains earlier on in history. The bikes’ ergonomics are extremely suited for highway cruising and not for attacking dirt-covered mountain passes. But the bike can and does take all of the changing surfaces in its stride. Mind you, there has to be loads of give and take from both you and the motorcycle across an adventure ride like this one that incorporates asphalt and dirt across multiple days in all types of conditions. That said, it was the simplicity of the bike that helped bring this group of international journalists closer together across the eight-day ride.
Back to Khardungla Top, the crew arrived spreading themselves around the area like a set of rats. Only these rats had cameras and needed to record every single square inch of the place. The recommendation was to only stay at this altitude for a maximum of 15 minutes to reduce the effects of altitude sickness. I had been there for about 30 minutes and it was time for me to leave. The run back down the mountain included me passing loads of buses and motorcyclists heading up to the top for the “unique experience” passing a few groups of people that seemed to be working on the sides of the road along the way. Later I found out that they were crushing rocks to use in road repair and it drove home that we were in a third world, be it extremely nomadic, culture where people had to do the basics by hand just to continue to survive. At that moment I felt extremely thankful that I lived in Australia! On our return to The Kaal there was no celebratory drink as we had been asked to refrain from alcohol as it exacerbates the effects of altitude sickness. It was not that much of a problem for me but Jorgen, the German journalist, was having fits! After dinner and our rider briefing for the next day’s event we headed into Leh and scoured the markets for some crazy specials. Tip: take a calculator and know your currencies. While there, the other Australian journalist, James Kerley needed WiFi as he had to do some “business.” After a couple of hours trying to find a location we gave up and headed back to The Kaal.
Over the next two days we saw more road builders riding kilometer after kilometer of dirt and asphalt roads, only this time we were headed for an overnight camp at the edge of Pangong Tsu in the town of “Man” believe it or not! Along the way we were encouraged to stop at roadside restaurants. These places didn’t necessarily look like a shop to westerners but more like a house with chairs out front. The thing that separated them from a normal house was the hanging chip packets and bottles of Coke and Pepsi lined up next to the front door. I tried to trust the food from these roadside markets but did take note of the expiration dates, as everything we bought was out of date. So we made sure that whatever we bought was still sealed. That meant everything from the chips to the bottled water as I had a couple that didn’t “twist-snap open” so I poured them out. You can never be too careful with what you consume in remote areas like this and there’s no local council inspector looking after trade in these regions. The accepted delicacy for travelers is Maggi two-minute noodles found at all roadside diners large or small in mountainous regions. Due to their dehydrated state they stay good for long after their “use by” date and the water used by the locals is boiled so as to eliminate most of the bugs. These became a good source of carbohydrates.
Pangong Tso or Pangong Lake, as we westerners would call it, was amazing and a true visionary oasis for those who have crossed the world’s third highest pass marked by the Border Roads Organization. Chang La is 17,688 feet at the road’s highest point. This pass was remarkably less busy and more heavily traveled by the military, which were extremely active while we traveled through the remote regions of India. We stopped for a late lunch at the lake and ate like kings at a Lakeside restaurant that featured a mix of Indian, Tibetan and Chinese dishes. As a motorcyclist it pays to be selective when it comes to cooked meals as getting your pants on and off isn’t as easy as you’d think. The most common dish that I found on the trip was Paneer Curry. Vegans rejoiced but everyone else took vitamin tablets as our energy stocks soon depleted just eating vegan meals. The road from our lunch stop to where we would be staying was quite possibly one of the most fun rides I had ever ridden and I’ve spent the last 10 years riding across the world. It weaved along the lake’s edge sometimes actually crossing the smaller lake inlets which made for some fun, as well as the deep sand track we followed on our “street bikes” that were fitted with “street tires.” Three riders joined me out in front of the group for a little pretend Dakar Rally racing and it slowly developed into a side splitting comedy of errors that ended with a deep water crossing! With two Americans and a Frenchman pitted up against an Australian I was not going to let my country down so I started to wick up the pace. We were laughing so much that we kept pressing on cracking up at our near crashes on the sand and the water crossings until finally we got to the mother of all water crossings. I let Christophe fire through it first where surprisingly he made it but the bike dropped below its tank at one stage. From then on it was a calamity of errors as the crew had to ride through it. With bikes stopping in the water and on the edge, it was side splitting for the few of us that managed to get through it earlier.
After this moment the crew was never the same and we had suddenly been joined at the hip through this experience. The next day we trekked back to Leh in the opposite direction. Many of the water crossings had receded due to it being early morning and the sun hadn’t melted the snow and ice. It was a fairly uneventful trip back to Leh, which wasn’t disappointing as most people were still getting over the previous day’s ride.
The longest part of the total experience was our ride out to Tso Moriri Lake to our meeting point of Rumtse, which was a total distance of 240k out of Leh along some of the most scenically stunning roads that I’ve ever ridden. After a quick pit stop we headed over the Tanglang La Pass at 17,480 feet, the second highest motorable pass, which could be taken as fast as we deemed safe due to the extremely smooth surface on the way up from Rumtse. This was also the first location that we could see Yaks up close but surprisingly I decided to look quickly and keep it pinned. Once over the top we headed into Debring for lunch where we sat beside the road enjoying a beautifully cooked meal set up on some tables out in the open in the middle of nowhere! After lunch we headed towards the first of two incredibly stunning lakes. The first and smaller one was Kyagar Tso while the second, and our location for the night, was called Tso Moriri, which was patrolled by the military. When they wanted to see my passport I had to tell them I didn’t have it as it was with the Royal Enfield guys and they were a little ways back. I could feel the tension as I sat there waiting for the guys to arrive. Fortunately when they did it was fine and we checked into our accommodation shortly after called the Nomadic Resort.
The next morning was the final ride day. I checked on Arjay and he wasn’t very happy with himself to say the least but he was able to sit back and relax in a car for the trip home. Heading back over Tanglang La Pass I noticed so much more along the road like the fresh mountain water streams cascading their way along the edge of the road. The beautiful purple flowers covered the water grasses near the top of the Tanglang La Pass. I also noticed a few Marmots and Yaks, which made me wonder why I was noticing all of these wondrous beauties. I think it was because my body realized it was time to go and my senses were trying to get me to stop thinking about speed and more about experiences. Either way it was a great final day back to Leh with one last trip to the local markets and then it was on to the ride presentation dinner where everyone was celebrated for their achievements throughout the journey. After this we were encouraged to drink and celebrate. Unfortunately it was late and our flight out of Leh was at 7am the next morning but that didn’t stop a few of us from playing Jenga until the wee hours!
Would I do this again? For sure, in a heartbeat! Would I ride like I was trying to win a trophy? Probably not. This was a great trip that catered to the diverse rider skill levels that we had in our crew and that in and of itself needs to be commended. If you love motorcycles and really enjoy truly unique and once in a lifetime experiences, a trip to India’s side of the Himalayas is definitely for you. Don’t forget to do the trip on a Royal Enfield. I would suggest using their newly released Himalayan as that would make the trip a whole lot more comfortable given the roads I navigated. A massive thanks to Royal Enfield, Adarsh, Arjay and the mechanic for all working tirelessly to make sure that the ride was an extremely no fuss affair! And to Larissa from Flight Centre that somehow made a 72-hour wait for my visa turn into an overnight experience!
