Delhi Bikers

Like chained elephants they rumbled by. On our way up we had wondered why all those Indian Army trucks had metal chains around their wheels. Now when we were on the other side of Changla Pass, stuck in knee-deep snow, we knew why. Soft snow + road tyres + high altitude = what were we thinking? With fresh snow to fall into and plenty of people to help us up, s lipping and sliding we squeezed past the one truck that had blocked all the traffic. Layer upon layer of Vanilla Ice Cream. The ride down was spectacular! With all the taxi’s held up at the pass, we had the entire road to ourselves all the way to the police check post in Tangtse. By the time I got off my bike I was thoroughly intoxicated by the experience.  Stopped to register at the Tangtse Police Station. Got to pet the dog for free. We hoped the person who rode this is still alive. A wrecked Enfield at the check post put things i...

Morning view from our guesthouse window This year the Zozilla Pass opened very late. Hence when we flew in by May end Leh was just waking up and local ladies could be seen haggling for flowers freshly brought up from Srinagar. Mohan the Enfield Master We spent our first day trying to tune the rented Desert Storm Royal Enfield’s at Mohan the Mechanic. He was from Jammu and for the last two decades he and his brother had been at the outskirts of Leh reviving battered Enfield’s that had survived the ordeal up the land of the high passes. He said business was good but the crowd had dramatically changed. From predominantly foreign bikers his customers were now mainly locals and domestic bikers. Unlike those tourists on shoestring budget, the new clients paid well. We knew it was risky to rent a bike in Leh because rental companies have one agenda, to quickly cash in their bike before its totally trashed. Novice bikers who have never ridden even an automatic scooter bef...

Pushing to get some air under the pony-tail - 2005 A Delhi Biker has either been to Ladakh or planning on riding to Ladakh. Interestingly there is no actual destination called Ladakh. On the way there is a Zing-Zing Bar (with no bar of any kind) and you do end up in Leh. But there is no actual place called Ladakh. It’s the name of the region and the people are called Ladakhi not Lehi. Hope you can see what’s happening. All it takes is one ride up to Leh and a Delhi Biker is an expert on Ladakh, the people, the culture, the monasteries. All dinner conversation eventually go via the Gata-Loops or More Plains and through the ‘La-La Land’. Baralacha-La, Tanglang-La, Khardung-La, Fotu-La, Zozi-La and so on. If you’re not impressed it doesn’t matter, a Delhi Biker will not stop or slow down. He has done plenty of that at the Rohtang Pass mess. Nothing like catching up with fellow bikers in the middle of nowhere On and on about the landslide, the river crossing, ...