High Himalayas

The moment you’ve been looking forward to for so long has finally arrived. A Himalayan Heroes rep will greet you at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport – IGIA and transport you to your hotel. Tomorrow, we catch a morning flight to Leh where you’ll get a chance to acclimatise to the altitude and jump on the bikes but first, you should take it easy and relax by the pool and sleep off any jet lag. If you would like to arrive a day early and see the sights of Old and New Delhi then we can arrange that. If you wanted to see the Taj Mahal then we suggest arriving two days early as it is a full day trip. We highly recommend it as it’s a long way to come to not see a modern wonder of the world! 

After an early breakfast, you’ll be escorted to the airport for your flight to Leh over the highest mountain range in the world. Some people pay big money for joy flights that aren’t anywhere as picturesque as what you’ve just seen. Landing at a shared military facility, you’ll be greeted by a Himalayan Heroes rep who will transfer you to our hotel where you’ll have an early light lunch before jumping on the bikes to get used to how they handle and stop as we manoeuvre our way through traffic to a monastery on top of a hill that overlooks the airport on one side and the vast valley on the other side. We usually follow the winding river home as it’s a great short intro to what you are in for. This is your opportunity to ask the mechanics to make adjustments to the brake and gear levers, mirrors, etc. A rider briefing and a welcome dinner top off a great first day.

After breakfast, we jump on the bikes and head west to our first destination – Lamayuru. We’ll stop at Magnetic Hill and defy gravity, pop in to see a monastery that dates from the 10th century before taking a detour up a narrow valley for some riding fun. When the road turns to dirt, we turn around and head back to the main road wondering “if this is how good it is on day 1, what are the other days going to be like!”. We then take it easy along the beautiful tarmac that climbs the valley walls as there are no guard rails or signposts to tell you that the upcoming corner is actually a hairpin. We ride through “Moonland” to the monastery at Lamayuru. Go to the rooftop and look for “skull cave”. If you spot it, I highly recommend you visit it….but don’t go alone. 

We head back the same way we came for about 10 km and then turn NW into a protected valley. There might be a short delay at the military checkpoint while they check all our paperwork is in order. Once we’re through, we’ll come across two of the four villages of the Aryan people – Hanuthang and Dah. It is said that they are descendants of Alexander the Great and that there haven’t been any marriages outside of the four villages. They are proud of their “race purity” and one can certainly see they have Indo-Aryan features unlike the majority of the Ladakhis who have Tibeto-Mongol looks. The villagers have realised it is easier to charge for a photo than it is to work the fields and orchards so be prepared to pay for a closeup photo or be discreet and use a zoom lens :-).

If the road is good, we’ll continue onto Batalik and then up and over a mountain pass following the Pakistan line of control just 8 km to your right. We try not to make any unscheduled stops in view of the Pakistani military lookouts. Kargil is a Muslim city and it is certainly different from the places you will visit on the rest of the adventure so be sure to go for a walk (again, it is best to go as a small group) and enjoy the scrumptious street food.

We head back to Leh via the southern route. The riding is cruisy as we head into Mulbekh where a giant statue of Buddha overlooking the old trade route is carved into a huge rock by the side of the road. It is said to date back to the early centuries and animal sacrifices were done here a few times a year. A few kilometres down the road, a beautiful monastery is built into the caves overlooking the lush valley. A more picturesque place is unlikely to be found. The roads keep getting better as we head back into Lamayuru for lunch before we head back to Leh. This is the base for our adventure and WiFi, good coffee, souvenirs and laundry facilities are available. 

We escape the city and head southwest through a military base and follow the Indus River for nearly 180 km before coming to a police checkpoint. We say hello with a wave of our passports and then over the bridge and south through a narrow valley road that has you flip-flopping left and right for a good 10 km. As we exit the valley, the landscape opens up and reveals the high-altitude lakes that are considered more sacred than the 400-year-old monastery that we visit. On every adventure, we encourage our riders to “Give Back” to the communities we visit. The monastery school is a great place to hand over school equipment, toys such as Lego, sporting equipment, clothes or other necessities to the local community.

If you aren’t particularly alert, then a good way to way up is to go for a swim in the lake – Tso Moriri. It is frozen for most of the year and certainly feels like it when you jump in. As we head back beside the lake, we take a shortcut across the hard-packed dunes and gravel roads. After our off-road fix, we stop for a break at Tso Kar and prepare for our ascent of Taglangla – the third-highest road in the world. If you thought the ride up to the top was fun, wait until you ride down the other side! It is 60 km of pure motorcycling nirvana as the roads are empty and the tarmac smooth. When we hit the Indus River, we turn left for 10 km and then right at Karu into a valley with some more amazing roads.   

The last couple of days have been huge so we’ll have a slow start to the day and enjoy the serenity of Sakti before climbing 20 kilometres to the top of the second-highest road at Chang La. We’ll savour the views for a little while before we cruise down the mountain to the largest lake in the Himalayas – Pangong. It’s roughly the same area as Singapore and two-thirds of it is in Chinese-controlled territory. We relax lakeside, enjoy a BBQ and camp under a billion stars. 

It’s decision day. At breakfast, we discuss how everyone is feeling and if the weather is good, then we’ll give the group the choice of either riding along the Shyok River or up over a mountain pass into Diskit where the colourful 35 m statue of the Future Buddha looks down the valley towards Pakistan. Both routes will see us backtrack for around 40 kilometres until Durbuk where we’ll choose to go left or right. Going left sees us head back over Chang La and then into Sakti before heading directly North over the Wari La mountain pass towards the Shyok River and Diskit. If people aren’t up for the challenge then we suggest continuing straight ahead at Durbuk and following the river all the way to Diskit. Both choices have ridiculously good riding and different scenery so it’s your choice which way you’ll go. 

A relatively short day is ahead so we take our time and squeeze every bit of fun out of this most amazing adventure. We climb the north side of the pass, stopping once or twice for a military checkpoint to take photos before we reach the top. We have our fingers crossed that the clouds stay away and we secure some unforgettable memories in front of the two signs. The first sign proclaims it is the highest motorable road in the world and then an hour or so later after we’ve climbed a further 100 m up the mountain to get some great photos and have a shot of celebratory rum, we take pictures in front of the second sign that suggests staying at this altitude for more than 20 minutes can be injurious to your health.

We then make our way down the mountain into the valley below which the city of Leh is nestled in. It’s around 40 km and 99% downhill which has seen a few riders turn their engine off and successfully freewheeled all the way down into the city. For me, it is the highlight of the trip as one can reach speeds of over 70 km/h and slipstream past bikes that have their engines running. Have the mechanics check your brakes at the top first OK!

That’s it, folks, you’ve immersed yourself in the colourful cultures of Ladakh and just completed one of the most extreme motorcycle expeditions in the world. You’ve crossed three of the world’s highest motorable passes, seen huge hanging glaciers, visited an ancient palace, stayed at monasteries, been a guest at secretive villages and maybe you’ve even swam in a high-altitude freezing lake. 

Time to board the flight back to Delhi and onward home. Back on home turf, you won’t be able to explain the scale of this journey; photographs and videos will fail to do justice to your adventure. Your memories of this epic adventure will stay with you forever.