Himalayan
Adventure
I started writing this journey in September 2019 and
it has previously been published. I have just been contacted by Ravi,
co-founder of Eden Riders and Tours. info@edenriders.com,
for some video clips of that trip. I have sent him a Youtube reference for
the short I made. https://youtu.be/uqrUP6HbNGw?si=fC55ip5vOLFnJB4u
I have also
60GB of video clips as well. The result of conversations is that you are
getting a condensed version with video clips to get a taste of my adventure in
2019.
Going to Manali
You know that you can get carried away
with an idea and all I wanted to do was have a bike ride in India perhaps Goa
to Tamil Nadu in pleasantly warm weather. Staying in hotels every night and
avoiding street food that would keep you running on Imodium for days and
basically having a taste of Indian roads and traffic riding in a group and
being generally looked after. A good friend, Jiban, asked if I would like to go
with a group of his friends on a road trip in India. I said yes straight away
with dreams of Goan sunshine and nice beaches. People who know me are aware
that I had been to Goa before and knew what to expect. The guys were having a
get together to start off the arrangements. This was in early April and we met
at the Millionaires in Langley around 2pm on a wintry afternoon that gave us
some snow showers. I arrived on the Kawasaki as it was a bikers meet. As usual
I was one of the first and was introduced to all the guys. Harmit, who was
taking the lead on making the bookings for flights and the bike trip. He had
been on this trip at the end of last season and enjoyed it so much that he
wanted to do it again with all his friends. On that first meeting I met
everyone but it took me ages to get all their names right. They used nick names
too so half the time I had no idea who was being talked about. At a quick
glance they all looked about half my age. I can do a softies bike ride with
these guys as there was only one who rode a bike regularly. As the meeting went
on it was dawning on me that it may not be quite an easy ride we would be
riding up to over 18300 feet and I wondered if I would be able to cope with the
altitude living almost at sea level. It would be alright. They said they would
look after me. We were going to Ladakh. I had no idea where this was but had a
reference for the Eden Riders and would look it up when I got home. Harmit was
asking questions about bikes to ride 500 Bullet Classic or Himalayan. The
Himalayan was more expensive by a few pounds a day. I chose a Himalayan as it
was a relatively new model and would have fuel injection, better to cope with
the altitude. I looked up the trip with Eden Riders and there was little
information about the condition of the roads and possibly an occasional “Water
Feature”. After discussions with Gita she agreed to me doing the trip as I
would be with friends.
Jiban and me arrived together in Delhi and took a taxi to the hotel, Bhonti , sister-in-law, had arrived to welcome me and gave me some much needed cash. We were soon seated at the table and introduced to all the guys, Harmit, Jiban, Rahul, Sagar, Deepak, Saket, Vickram, Himanshu and his brother Rinku. Now we were all together it was time to get on the bus for our overnight journey to Manali. It was a long journey out of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab to Himachal Pradesh. Arrival time in Manali was supposed to be eleven AM but it was close to Four when we arrived forcing us to scramble to the hotel room unpack our gear and be ready to ride our chosen bikes on a test ride around Manali. I was pleased to be back at the hotel safe after having my first motorcycle ride in India in the dark with my new friend the Himalayan. I got cleaned up and missed the boys going out for the meal. I acquired a lift from Sham, one of the mechanics on the back of his Enfield and caught up with them at the restaurant in tee shirt, shorts and sandals for an evening of bonding. Excited to start our ride.
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