The preparation
14th March 2010. What only few of you know is that we are planning a motorbike trip in Ladakh Kashmir , North West of India. With two friends, Paul and Fred, we want to drive on the highest motor-able road in the world, come as close as possible to the Chinese border and drive for about 1000 km in the Himalayas. We would leave Delhi in July, around the 3d of July, fly to Manali, rent an Enfield there and drive all the way Leh and back.
Shall we buy spares or a new bike?
15th April 2010
The trip is getting into shape, we have a road plan and are working on the details already. Paul and Fred bought some tight leather motorbike pants in the ‘ Russian market’ , I will drive with traveler trousers, but bought the Top Gun Jacket to drive at high altitude.
Shall I buy spares or simply another bike ?
24th April 2010 : Today I spent all my time buying the spare parts for the Enfields in Karol Bagh. Karol Bagh is an overcrowed market for motorbikes in all types, shapes and colours. I found the spares at a reasonable price, but was once again negotiating for another bike. Couldn’t leave it… The funny bit was that many took pictures of my bike and probably want to copy it. Went home with a bag full of cables, bulbs, fuses and adry throat. I am becoming very good in explaining spare parts in Hindi…..
Fixed the old mountaineer sleeping bag from Sebastien, repaired and reinforced the zipper…
Out of business
25th of Apr 2010: Crisis
Disaster stroke. Vijay Singh just informed us that he is out of motor cycle rental business and has only two motorbikes left in Manali. He is returning the money but we have to find another guy to rent us the bikes. Paul and Fred are out of the country and we probably have to re-plan the whole trip. I was already in the stage of preparing the saddle bags, the tank bag.
Back to square one..
1st of May 2010 : Yes, ….today we are back on track. This morning we managed to contact another company and made an agreement to rent their bikes from the 3d to the 10th of July. Seven days in the Himalaya will be more than enough and our b@ms will be flattened by then. We now can go into the details… We decided to camp and are looking for a tent to sleep three guys and a goat. The tents we saw with a camping specialist in Defence Colony mentioned that they are fit for four ‘ men’ … no mention of ‘women’ in the tent manuals. So we concluded the day with the reassurance that Maxi, Anab and Daphne can sleep on both their ears when we are up there, getting acquainted with Tibetan Buddhism and the art of keeping an Enfield on the road.
