Advice on traveling to India

JUST DO IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Way Home

Way home.

Good sleep and early start as I was leaving the next day and we made record time over the 120k of desert back to Leh.

Exchange the bike for balance of the agreed amount, dinner with friends and very fond farewells to everybody.

Leh to Delhi, Delhi to Cairo, Cairo to Bilbo and the India odyssey was over, just like that. As I rode in the taxi into Bilbao I was already missing India and wondering where all the people, dirt and noise was. Disappointed by the spotless streets and lack of crowds, not to mention the lack of heat and aroma of spice and cow shite. I just wanted to get back on a plane and head straight back.

Bilbao is a beautful city though and I have a great week with the lovely Liz, gorging on great sea food and culture in the many museums.

And thats it.......................

Lamayuru Day

Rested, fed and watered we check out the monastery.
An ancient place dating from the 16^thcentury is perched on top of a narrow ridge that juts out from the mountain range that towers over the valley. The climb up is only about a 100m but is steep and is like going back in time through the ages. The monastery is in different states of repair and ruin. Some parts of it have dissolved with the ridge over time as it looks as if they where created with the ridge, some of the dwellings are actually built into the soft rock and seem to be part of it.

It is a small place but the views it commands are grander then any palace or cathedral I have ever seen. This is where god resides, not in churches or temples but here in the vast expanse.

We head down to the valley and pass the hottest part of the day in a grove by a babbling brook.

As the heat of the afternoon passed we start to head back up to the monastery stopping to explore the ancient ruins along the way. Going back in time with these crumbling relics. Children come and play around us, their beautiful faces, some though only sullied by the slightest sign of inbreeding, some more so then others (the place is cut off for most of the year, not much else to do). They do their games and play about us. Slowly we make our way to the top often loosing our selfs in the maze of abandoned half decayed reminisces of lives lost. An old school house, empty for an age or a roofless kitchen leading to a little orchard. All the while winding our way to top. We pass the late afternoon sitting in dusty places catching the monastery from different angles and different ages, messing about.

By evening we make it to the top again and sit and watch the sun set from the steps at the door of the monastery. For a while the head Lama comes and sits with us to watch the show, a great big man with a hardest soft face I have ever seen. As the sun plays out the last of his light show, flaring and bouncing colours around the range of mountains with the first stars in the sky the Lama's in the monastery give it a soundtrack from inside the monasterey, filling the air with chanting and the beating of drums and symbols with the blowing of great long trumpets. The religion here is based on circles or cycles and to worship the faithful walk around the monistery in a clockwise direction spinning the prayer wheels as they pass. Women and men some that look as older then the ruins pass us repeatedly on thier rounds.

A great feeling of gratitude fills me and I know I'm in the prescience of god.

As the light dies and more stars appear we head back down to our guest house and feast on roasted stuffed tomatoes, dal, popadom and rice. One of the best meals I have ever had.

We end the day on the roof of the guest house watching shooting stars. There is only electricity after 11pm so it was totally dark with the only light was coming from the stars and the Milky Way.

As the LSD wore off we drifted into a deep restful sleep (Wait!! LSD, flash back to 10 days earlier. I met a guy in Visthest, a Russian selling liquid LSD. We had nothing to put it on so we broke off 2 bits of chapti and dripped it onto them and wrapped them in plastic, very Indian but I thought a trip to finish my trip would round it off well.)

Road to Lamayuru

The plan is to head with Tony and his pillion of choice and I with my pillion of choice to Lamayuru a Tibetan monastery about 120k from Leh.

Tony and Priscilla, Wei and I head off early to beat the heat. Passing through the prehistoric valleys on old towns some of which look like they have fallen straight from heaven, every town we pass through we're greeted with a chorus of “Julley, Julley”.

We stop at one monastery on the way and wander around it grounds and browse the souvenir stalls. The art work inside is stunning as it is raunchy. This monastery is of a tantra order and the paintings depict gods all forms of sexual positions.

We stop at patch of heaven that is a golden field of grain that fills the floor of this valley and as we take it in a bit of ground gives way under Tony's bike stand and his bike slides down a little embankment upside down. We wrestle it back to the road (Heavy bikes these Enfields) but the damage is done. We try to drive on but the water had drained from is battery causing the wires to overheat and fuse together in a cloud of smoke and a dramatic end to their trip. After about 2 hours we finally convince a truck to take them back to Leh and Wei and I head on to Lamayuru.

Arriving late and tired we settle into a guest house and have some of the best Indian food I have had yet.

Leh

Leh is a very nice town full of Eco friendly Tibetans and travelers. The Tibetans are lovely people, always greeting you with a smile. The gender rolls are not as strict as with the Indians so the women are also friendly and great fun to talk too.

The town is in a sort of crater with mountain ridges reaching into it. On the most prominent one there is a palace that no matter where you are in the town it can be seen like the way eyes in a portrate follow you around the room.

I spend a few days taking it easy and eating mo mo and thupka.

I organize with a local guy to buy my bike and I get half the money up front and plan one last journey.

Hitting The Trail Day 3

Up at dawn, breakfast, splash of cold water and on the road again. Nowhere to stop for the next 270k, no tents to stop and sleep, no chai after the police check point about 30k. Nothing but 3 passes over 5000m and a lot of mountain. If you brake down or have an accident your on your own.

Winding along edge of a rip in the earth crust and then climbing to our second pass of over 5000m I stuck with my policy of singing to my bike, it was if we had made a deal. We had too very defined jobs to do. I had to make sure to work the throttle and gears percicly right and she had to just keep going. The deal worked and we kept climbing.

Up to the top and down the other side after a brief rest and clap on the back at the top.

Sailing over valleys the size of counties with the constant snowcapped mountains always towering around us . The views of the constantly changing valleys formed by all the forces of nature where just breathtaking. The Himalaya's are still growing and you can feel the power of such a great life force literally vibrating all around you.

Crossing what seems like an endless tangle of valleys as if we where ants on a Rhino, barely slowing for the occasional river we came to the Valley Of The Gods, so called because the mountains around are considered to be sitting Buddhas meditating.

A stretch of over 70k through the dusty bowl, the trail winding through the valley. After a brief stop to check the bikes and fill our selfs with what ever provisions we needed, we set off.

The trail soon turned to dust and then to sand. At the first sand drift I took what I thought was a bit of a detour around a bad patch but it was a mistake and as my front wheel hit the a deep drift the sand parted like water and my wheel sank half way up the forks but the momentum carried me forward and with the all my skill I managed to throttle out of it with the back of the bike fish tailing about wildly. I did not fall though and made it out the other side without injury to the bike.

This was just the first of the sand traps but I did not detour any of the other and made it through them all. It was one of the most challenging parts of the trip but also one of my favorets.

Then on through the valley. Crusing though the Valleys of these still, meditating gods, their basins the size of counties with grazing Yaks in the distance and clouds with their shadows drifting across the landscape I had tears rolling down my cheeks from just the shear beauty of it and my gratitude for being able to be there, the shear perfection of it struck me so deeply that I was so moved, I hold that part of the journey as one of the most powerful and defining moments in my life.

Back on an ascent, this time to the second highest motorable pass in the world.

As I climbed road workers would appear out of nowhere clearing the road or making repairs to it. At on point I can round a corner to find two women that looked as if they could be in their 80s shoveling away snow and ice that had worked its way across the road. There was no truck with them and nobody else. Just these two old ladies in the heart of the Himalaya's toiling away stopping only to give me a wave and a warm smile as I passed.

Around another corner and a good twist of the throttle to get over a muddy embankment and I was at the second highest motorable pass in the world.

I entered the highest temple in the world and gave my humble humble thanks and took in the view from this place in the sky.

We posed around a big sign that states “TAGLANGLA, ALTITUDE 17582 FT. You are passing through the second highest pass of the world, unbelievable is not it!”

The wondrous silence was broken by 3 bus loads of solders whom I entertained by guiding then around my bike.

Then down in to what used to be Tibet but is now part of India. Another different landscape with different people but this time it was with different temples. Stupas everywhere loomed along the road. Some seeming to be from prehistoric times. The people now with beautiful Asain like features all calling “Julley!” as we passed.

We kept rolling and rolling until as the evening came and turned into the night we arrived in Leh, 14 hours after leaving Sarchu. Exhausted, hungry, dirty but feeling very triumphant.

Hitting The Trail Day 2

With one pass to go before the monsoon was really behind us we set off early.

Passing through valley basins and around river beds and then starting the ascent to the first high pass of over 5000m I was still bitching about the bike and every time the bike did not respond I was still cursing the mechanics but the further I got away from them the more futile it was. On the last stretch to the first high pass on the twisting road though glacier ravished desert the bike finally with a clunk ground to a halt.

I was devastated and raging. Tony came back to check on me but there was nothing we could do. There where friend of Tony's about 2 hours behind us that had mechanics with them so I was resigned to wait for them to see if they could help and if not then I would have to put the bike on a passing truck and pay for them to bring me and the bike to Leh.

There was no point in Tony and Will waiting with me so with a hug and farewells I got back on my bike and started rolling back down the hill to a chai shop we had passed, gutted that my adventure was over.

Just out of curiosity I checked to see if the engine would start and it did! I checked to see if she would go into gear and she did!! I turned to see if Baby (Her name) would go up hill and she did!!! I started singing at the top of my lungs as if only the singing would stop the bike from stalling and keep her going up that mountain and it did. As I caught up with Will and Tony I was singing and shouting at the top of my lungs and as we turned the last corner to the pass we where all amazed and the joy we all felt at that top was amazing. Whether it was the altitude or just the shock of being there, I was truly on cloud nine.

We rolled down the other side leaving the monsoon trapped behind us, the pass so high that it never crosses over that range. We rolled to our lunch stop in a encampment of parachute tents, pulling our bikes up and getting into the tent to get out of the strong sun.

After a delicious lunch served by a beautiful Tibetan family we stretched out and rested on our laurels for the afternoon as we where on the short part of the journey and had time to kill.

Then as the day cooled a bit we headed on to Sarchu where we would spending the night.

Passing through what felt like the heart of the Himalaya's with huge valleys with snow capped mountains on all sides (The photos do not do it justice but gives a glimpse). The roads where a real bikers wet dream.

Dinner and bed as we had a mammoth day ahead of us the next day.

Hitting The Trail

After a false start, hampered by on of those days that just no matter what you do it all goes wrong and after an infuriating morning running from mechanic to mechanic shouting with sweat beading from my brow with the last of the fever, finally I was ground to a halt by a broken throttle cable 5k outside Minali and had to limp back to Visech letting Tony go on without me and I eventually resigned to the bad day and checked back into my hotel and treat myself to a relaxing evening and a good meal as I had not really eaten in 3 days. It turned out to be just what the doctor ordered as by the next morning I was fever free and refreshed with a monsoon free sky letting the sun smile on me with gentle warmth.

The bike though was not going as well as it had been, I was convinced that the mechanics I was using the day before had done a hatchet job on the bike. Ruined my noble steed by canabilizing the engine. It seemed as if all the power had been just sucked out of the engine.

I slowly climbed the mountain road cursing the mechanics every time I twisted the throttle and got nothing in return. Twice I almost turned back after a couple of turns but knowing that Tony and Will would be leaving Keylong (The last town for 365k before Leh) with or without me the next day I pressed on. At one particularly muddy and steep corner the bike ground to a halt and I was turning around to head back and knock 4 kinds of shite out of the mechanic when a group of Indians started shouting at me. I stopped and tried to explain that it was not that I could not drive but that my bike was destroyed by mechanics but they did not understand and one of the group came down and insisted on having a go at taking the turn. He made it up the steep mud to cheers and chants of his friends with the odd jeer at me for not being able to do it. I tried to explain that it was not that I could not do it but that the bike was not up to scratch but it fell on deaf ears filled with self pride, there is video footage on their camera of them all cheering around me and me shouting in fury that “YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!!! It was the mechanics!!!!!” but it made no impression on them and they were just in a state of hyper excitement. They tried to get me to dance with them but I was in no mood but had to promise if we passed each other at another chai shop I would do so so they let me go.

The bike kept creeping up the mountain though and at the next stop at Rotang pass (the first pass, about 4500m) I stopped f or a chai and give the bike a rest. Sitting enjoying the view I heard a screech of tires and cheers as I turned the same group of Indians where pouring out of their jeep and coming towards me with purpose.

“You dance with us!”

“Ah.. no lads, am tired and the altitude......”

“You dance with us!, you said you would so you have too!”

I tried to object but they had none of it so I got up and they put on some slamming Indian techno. So somewhere in India there is video footage of me raving my socks off for about 10 minutes, shouting and dancing like mad man with these boys, giving it socks, gyrating, kicking the air and jumping around as if in some fit. I have to say it did lighten my mood considerably.

Getting over the Rotang Pass was a releif as at the top is where a lot of tourists go to stand on the rapidly diminishing glaciers or sit in deck chairs laid out for them, some touts even have snow mobiles to take people up the last patch of ice there. A sad sight I thought and kept going. After the pass though there are no more day tourists, its only for the serious ones now and as I free wheel down the other side I'm alone for the first time.

Snaking down the mountain into an vast valley and following the road on and on I come to my first river. A torrent it seemed cutting across the road. It was about 18 inches deep (up to my exhaust) and about 10 foot wide. I stalled for about 10 minutes watching the river and then just went for it throttling through it. Coming out the other side with only a damp shoe to show for it, I was elated. I passed the first challenge.

About 5k before Keylong I stopping at the last petrol station for 365k to fill my tank and extra container I needed for to make the journey to Leh.

Rolling into Keylong to find Tony on the side of the road and with whoops and great smiles we headed for dinner and where Will met us also.

Vashist

A small village with hot springs is a hang out for travels that want to be away from the main tourist places. It is a serious place for smokers and everywhere the acrid smell of Chalis (as it is called here) spills out onto the street. The Kullu vally near here is a place of major production in India.The atmosphere here is very relaxed and there are some lovely little guest houses and Tibetan restaurants.Alas though I can only enjoy it through a haze of fever sweats and through the window of my bedroom as along the way I have picked up a bit of food poisoning and all I can do is wait it out and hope I'm strong enough for when we leave for Leh in a couple of days.

Ah! The road

Eager to get on the road again my early start is slightly hindered by early morning rains but don't mind too much as had a late night (after 12) last night saying goodbye to friends.At about 9.30am Will and I strike out on the road and as we head down the mountains away from Dharamshala my hearts sings "On The Road Again".Will is maybe not as eager as I or has a different pace but I'm on a mission today. When we get to the main road to Minali I show him the map and take off arranging to meet half way at Mandi. The conditions are perfect and the bike is going as if she feels the same joy as I do. I get to Mandi in very good time and with Minali only 3 hours more I decide to go fro it and txt Will my decision. So with bearly a break I head off, the bike as willing as I.The roads are very good as Minali is a big tourist stop and the scenery is amazing also, driving through vallies and small towns.The highlight of the trip in the 5k trip through a mountain by way of a great tunnel.Through Minali brushing off the touters and too a small village called Vishist where we have arranged to meet Toni who will be taking the lead to Leh.A full days driving, 9 hours in total of the most flawless driving I have ever experianced.

Last days Dharamshala

My last week in Dharamshala was not as good as my first, I felt slightly adrift and the constant rain and damp was really getting to me. I had met a load of great people but there was just too many Israelis (most of which were fine but some where just plain rude and all they where interested in was getting high and hanging out with other Israelis in Israeli restaurants). I also just felt as if I was loosing touch with India as this was pretty far away with all the westerns and shops.I also tried some tantra yoga but it just brought out pains and made me feel sick so I had to stop.I was also scouted by a local group of criminals as a likely target for a jewelry scam they run there were they ask you to import jewelry to your home where a contact will come a meet you and pay me 5000 pound sterling. This meant that I could not hang out with my Indian friends as these guys were always there and would be trying to get me to come round. Needless to say I was not taken in but it left a bad taste and the beauty of the place was slightly sullied.