I first drove to Ladakh in 1988, on assignment for Sportsweek magazine on the first Desert Himalayan Raid. Ever since, Ladakh has fascinated me and I have managed to drive there every couple of years, usually via Manali, in Himachal Pradesh. This year was markedly different experience as I got there on a Royal Enfield Thunderbird motorcycle. This is the mother-of-all motorcycle rides over 2000 km from Delhi-Leh-Delhi, crossing three mountain ranges, five high-altitude passes -- the highest at 18,500 feet -- and temperatures from 40 degrees C in the plains to -14 degrees C in the howling night winds of Sarchu, a camp at 14,500 feet. This trip was planned by Royal Enfield and 52 riders took part, 3 of whom had to be evacuated at Leh due to Acute Mountain Sickness. This trip was certainly on my list of Things To Do Before You Die and lived (sorry!) up to all my expectations.
Since I have not learned to include captions along with the photographs, the one above was taken 4 km short of our tented camp at Debring, a high altitude desert at 14,400 feet at the southern-most tip of the Tibetan Plateau. The rider is Balwant Patel, who I suspect is lost. Balwant flew down from London and bought a brand new Royal Enfield Machismo to take part in the Himalayan Odyssey 2006.
You can see some pictures of the ride here
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