Riding the Himalaya's Razorback on the Enfield 350 Thunderbird (Aug 2007)

[biking nomad]

FB666Y,

 

Those landscape shots and the narrative are indescribably magnificent. In three words - because one would not suffice, and two will never really convey the magnitude of what I feel – absolutely mind blowing!

 

You journey to very enriching places. I am sure you enjoy every minute of the journey when you're on the road and you reminisce every moment of the epic journey when you're back. While you ride your dreams, I live vicariously through your reports and nurse my dream of riding away into the horizon and letting my front wheel point to where home will be.

 

Thank you for keeping me hungry for the long open road, the warmth of the people on the journey and discovering an epic adventure.

 

Hope you will provide some details on your planning and the nitty gritty so some like me can someday ride your tracks and walk in your footsteps.

[senate747]

very awesome pics... bro, u r the man....

[mudman]

respect man...u've taken touring to yet another platform...for many of us living in sg...it's still a dream to be realised someday.....

[fooz]

absolutely fantastic stuff u got thr!

kudos to ur other half for being such a good sport. and a good photographer as well... the pics are v well taken.

i wonder wat kinda carrot u dangled to entice her to join u in the adventure =)

 

btw, wat did u to the royal enfield after the trip? sold/dumped it?

[FB666Y]

The Fourth Leg: Leh - Kargil - Srinagar

Next up was a comfortable 400km saunter to the Kashmir valley and Srinagar with an overnight stop in Kargil. The 200km stretch to Kargil took us about 6 hours and through mostly good roads (subjective here - compared to what we have been riding on!).

 

Leaving Leh we managed to pass the Dalai Lama who had a long train of cars following him. The roads were lined with people hoping to glimpse the Dalai Lama and had to deal with a dusty Enfield till the Dalai Lama drove by. The high road through Lamaruyu was amazing, though I didnt get any proper pictures of the thousand year old monastery there. We bumped into a bunch of Polish riders who had shipped their bikes over to India and were footloose and fancyfree through the Himalayan and Zanskar ranges with the BMWs and Africa Twins.

 

Kargil was pretty dull. We didnt do much except watch tv - miraculously they had satellite tv and managed to catch the Motogp. The next day we were held up in Kargil while the local school had a race on the local roads. We finally got on the road and made our way to Zoji La Pass, the pass that pass from the brown Ladakh ranges into the green verdant valleys of Kashmir.

 

Zoji La Pass itself was in a terrible state - large rocks, exceeding narrow roads, and potholes so large they were craters.

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain401.jpg

Out of Leh we bumped into a Polish ragtag bunch of riders

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain402.jpg

Lamaruyu

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain403.jpg

One of the many quirky roadsigns put up by BRO

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain404.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain405.jpg

Lamaruyu

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain406.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain407.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain408.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain409.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain410.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain411.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain412.jpg

Approaching Kargil

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain413.jpg

Kargil

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain414.jpg

Kargil

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain415.jpg

Kargil

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain416.jpg

Hmmm - the enemy is evidently just over the hills. Close to where the Pakistani came over in 1999

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain417.jpg

A village just outside of Kargil

[FB666Y]

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain418.jpg

A village just outside of Kargil

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain419.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain420.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain421.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain422.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain423.jpg

Approaching Zoji La Pass

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain424.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain425.jpg

Climbing the Zoji La Pass

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain426.jpg

The top

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain427.jpg

Tourist - you find them everywhere nowadays - this bunch took a bus up.

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain428.jpg

The road down the pass and into Kashmir

[FB666Y]

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain429.jpg

Going down - I wouldnt even call that a road!

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain430.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain431.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain432.jpg

The green Kashmiri valley

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain433.jpg

More from Kashmir

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain434.jpg

More from Kashmir

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain435.jpg

More from Kashmir

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain436.jpg

More from Kashmir

[FB666Y]

Pictures from Srinagar, with the Daal Lake and several mosques:

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir01.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir02.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir03.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir04.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir05.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir05a.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir06.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir06a.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir07a.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir07.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir08.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir09.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir10.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir11.jpg

[FB666Y]

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir12.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir13.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir14.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir15.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir16.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir17.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir18.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir19.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir20.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir21.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir22.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir23.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiakashmir24.jpg

[FB666Y]

Dont have much time today to finish up the remainder of the pictures so I thought I'd answe some questions:

 

Xtr33m3-

Its amazing that u recovered from the virus so quickly. I had what I taught was dengue on week following Nat Day (same drill - 38 deg fever, shivers, headache, body ache, blood test) - took me a week to recover but it was OK one day and then fever again the next - the last side effect was body rashes. Till today still no clue what was the cause of my fever- and it was not dengue. Guess it helps to get away from it all on the Enfield

 

The clinic didnt come back with the result of the blood test, so I can safely assume it wasnt dengue. Going to the track with a slight fever probably made it somewhat worse, so Im kind of lucky it didnt get me down for too long.

 

Nicholai -

Nice views and all, man. Only the 2 of you went for the trip? How long and, approximately, how much did you stay and spend during your trip there? You went there on a package tour?

 

We spend about 6k for the two of us for 19 days. No package - only the 2 of us and the road.

 

fooz -

btw, wat did u to the royal enfield after the trip? sold/dumped it?

 

Nope - it was a rental - it ended up back at the shop

[Nicholai]

  FB666Y said:

Dont have much time today to finish up the remainder of the pictures so I thought I'd answe some questions:

 

Xtr33m3-

Its amazing that u recovered from the virus so quickly. I had what I taught was dengue on week following Nat Day (same drill - 38 deg fever, shivers, headache, body ache, blood test) - took me a week to recover but it was OK one day and then fever again the next - the last side effect was body rashes. Till today still no clue what was the cause of my fever- and it was not dengue. Guess it helps to get away from it all on the Enfield

 

The clinic didnt come back with the result of the blood test, so I can safely assume it wasnt dengue. Going to the track with a slight fever probably made it somewhat worse, so Im kind of lucky it didnt get me down for too long.

 

Nicholai -

Nice views and all, man. Only the 2 of you went for the trip? How long and, approximately, how much did you stay and spend during your trip there? You went there on a package tour?

 

We spend about 6k for the two of us for 19 days. No package - only the 2 of us and the road.

 

fooz -

btw, wat did u to the royal enfield after the trip? sold/dumped it?

 

Nope - it was a rental - it ended up back at the shop

 

It's good that you weren't infected with the dengue fever, man. $6k for the both you for 19 days is a very good deal. I'm sure you must have worked on the budget prior to the trip. Maybe I'll do a you for my honeymoon . How much was the bike rental?

[FB666Y]

You will need to take several limitations in consideration if you want to do the same.

 

Basic facilities like toilets are lacking in all places - the only proper toilet you will find is in your hotel room.

 

Roads may not be what you imagined: Manali - Leh though 460km only had proper tarmac for about 100km - the rest was a slow bumpy 20kmh rocky crawl while dodging trucks buses and jeeps.

 

Kashmir and Srinagar is choked full of military - there are military personnel posted every 100 metres of so along the entire 100km stretch of the valley.

Coming out of Srinagar we saw minesweepers - personnel combing the roadside and surrounding countryside for mines. This is Kashmir after all.

 

Driving/riding in India is a different kettle of fish - pedestrians and trucks and buses will ignore you - pedestrians will cross right in front of you, buses have no qualms pushing you to the side and even off the road. When I was in Delhi the local bus (Delhi blueline buses) transport death toll for the year was 75. Up till Aug of this year the buses have runned over and killed 75 people.

 

You will also need to be handy with the spanner should the bike break down - there isnt a mechanic for hundreds of kilometres.

 

The road is only open for a small window - 4 or 5 months between May till September. The rest of the year the passes are snowed in and the road is impassable.

 

Other than that ... its a hell of a ride!

[Nicholai]

Sounds like an extreme adventure, man. Thanx for the tip! Will try to come up with a fool-proof plan should I decide to go on with this similar adventure. My utmost respect and pride is to you.

[FB666Y]

The Fifth Leg: Srinagar - Amritsar

A 430ish kilometre jaunt, the ride to Amritsar was done in one day. We went from the cool valleys of Kashmir into the dry and hot plains of Punjab. The road was mostly good - early morning in Srinagar and the road to Jammu saw loads of military personnel combing the road and surrounding countryside for mines. The day passed pretty much uneventfully and by 6pm we were in Amritsar.

 

We did a bit of a walkabout in Amritsar, and the evening the next day we went down to the Wagah border to watch the border closing ceremony. More of that on YouTube here - http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wagah+border&search=Search. Its a bit of a show the 2 sides put up with flag waving and goose step marching and taunting.

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain501.jpg

Last looks at Kashmir

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain502.jpg

Last looks at Kashmir

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain503.jpg

Last looks at Kashmir

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain504.jpg

Last looks at Kashmir

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamain505.jpg

Last looks at Kashmir

 

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiagt1.jpg

The Golden Temple in Amritsar

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiagt2.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiagt3.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiagt5.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiagt4.jpg

[FB666Y]

From around Amritsar

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamaritsar01.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamaritsar02.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamaritsar03.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamaritsar04.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamaritsar05.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamaritsar06.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamaritsar07.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiamaritsar08.jpg

 

 

Attari Wagah Border Ceremony

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiaborder1.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiaborder2.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiaborder3.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiaborder4.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiaborder5.jpg

[FB666Y]

The Sixth and last Leg: Amritsar - Delhi

Nothing much to say about the last day on the bike. A 500km kilometre jaunt went smoothly till about a 100km from Delhi when a stray spoke peeled back the chainguard, pushing it rearwards. Luckily it didnt get stuck in the wheel, and after taking off the wheel I managed to hammer it back to place. It held for another 70km but by then it was raining and I made it into Delhi and back to the bikeshop with the chainguard rubbing against the spokes.

 

And thats about it.

 

Some pictures from around Delhi, and the Taj Mahal (which I managed in a day trip from Delhi)

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiadelhi01.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiadelhi02.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiadelhi03.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiadelhi04.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiadelhi05.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiadelhi06.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiadelhi07.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiadelhi08.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiadelhi09.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiadelhi10.jpg

[FB666Y]

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiataj01.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiataj02.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiataj03.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiataj04.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiataj05.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiataj06.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiataj07.jpg

 

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m308/FB666Y/indiataj08.jpg

[belgarathc]

what a trip!

[Dalbir]

Well my man, U had a great ride on the top of the world. Maybe you will come here and ride the top of Europe with us. I was just listening to Like a Rolling Stone - while looking at your pics. Great Stuff.

 

See u soon !

[biking nomad]

  Dalbir said:

Well my man, U had a great ride on the top of the world. Maybe you will come here and ride the top of Europe with us. I was just listening to Like a Rolling Stone - while looking at your pics. Great Stuff.

 

See u soon !

 

Hey Dalbir!

Enjoyed every punctuation, word and picture from your Living a Dream ride.

Any plans to publish a book? I'd be first in line for a autographed copy.

 

Is your site still online? WOuld love to revisit your journey.

 

Tks for the vicarious thrills. ANd of cos, chak de phatey!!

[FB666Y]

Damn - I was the webmaster on that site! But no, the Livingadream site has been off aired for a couple of years - if you have 100mb of space I could be tempted to put it back online again.

[biking nomad]

Thats a real pity! You deserve a lot of credit for the excellent site. And of cos it would all have been nothing without Dalbir's extraordinary journey. Can't stop laughing at the story abt having his Dommie stolen in Leeds and then getting it back from the theives!

 

I do not have any kind of IT knowledge to know much about hosting nor do I have the finances to get it up. But then that makes it a great excuse to put a book out.

 

Shameless Plug to SBF Admin:

Any chance of hosting it on SBF's servers? Trust me, many riders would enjoy the pictures and story!

 

To date, I only have met one Singaporean RTW rider who published his journey. I'm sure, like Michael and Dalbir, there are others who have accomplished simmialr feats but we might not have heard abt it. It would be a good inspiration for others wanting to follow your tracks or just for some vicarious thrills.

 

Michael Fong's A Tankful of Time

http://www.selectbooks.com.sg/titles/30244.htm

 

Although, I've never met Dalbir I had the good fortune of somehow hearing abt his trip and website. Subsequently, i've had the good fortune of meeting ppl who have known him personally. And everyone says what a swell guy he is.

 

Big fan, man!

And now a FB666 fan too!

 

Chak De, guys!

[Nicholas Chan]

FB666Y,

 

I should be able to put up 100 - 500 megs of space for you on a local server of mine in a couple of weeks. PM me if you need it.

[desmokat]

salute u .. my bro.. u really make us wana go for it!!!!

[Jackie-HD]

You Rock!!!!