Adventure motorcycling through the Himalayas by Royal Enfield

The highlights of my motorcycle ride from Varanasi to Kashmir and back to Delhi on a Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350.

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In June of 2016 I travelled from UK with the intention of buying a motorcycle in India primarily to ride the Manali to Leh highway. I had always wanted to see Varanasi so that was the first destination followed by the flight to Delhi to go motorcycle shopping in the Karol Bagh area. I had originally had my mind set on a Hero Impulse until I rode the Thunderbird, I handed the cash over straight away after trying it out.

After a few days of getting the bike ready in Delhi I headed for Rishikesh, another place I had wanted to visit for a while. I could have spent weeks here but there were plenty more places to visit so it was on to Shimla after that. I found Shimla to be very similar to Darjeeling and relatively expensive for India.
For anyone riding from Shimla to Manali I recommend taking the road the leaves Shimla to the east, the Jalori Pass is brilliant.

The more extreme riding started north of Manali with the Rohtang Pass. You need a permit going north and it was ridiculously busy with traffic on the day I went. My first puncture happened as I was on the way down, two nails in the tyre caused me to take an early stopover at the Triveni Guest House in Sissu.

A full day's ride got me to Sarchu, I could have pushed on to Pang but I was tired from riding 10 hours that day. I got the effects of altitude sickness that night. The next day was the most impressive, every pass I rode over produced a completely different landscape each time. That morning started with the Gata Loops with the highlight being the Morei Plains before getting into Leh.

A few days in Leh / Nubra Valley followed by a ride east towards Kashmir. The scenery was less changeable but equally as stunning. The culture and the personalities of the people changed as soon as I got over the Zoji La Pass.
The Zoji La pass is featured in the video as the stretch of road that looks the most dangerous.

Gorakpur – Varanasi – Delhi – Rishikesh – Shimla – Manali – Leh – Kargil – Srinigar – Jammu – Dharamshala – Amristsar - Delhi