Cracking the Code on Covid Travel

It seems impossible to have a conversation about Covid and more specifically about travel during it without touching a nerve somewhere. The topic is as polarised as climate change, racial equality, immigration and pretty much every other social theme of our time. I am not going to wade into that mire. It’s way too tiring. If you are a person who believes that until Covid is ‘over’, the world should remain ‘sheltered in place’, you might be better served spending the next 10 minutes in your garden. But for those of you who accept our new reality and despite this will continue to live your life, read on.

If you have not travelled much in the last 22 months, especially internationally, one basic fact should be understood: the rules have not only changed, they refuse to remain static. So, if an international adventure is stuck in your near-term mindset, don’t despair. With a lot of stamina and some clever sleuthing, catapulting yourself from your Covid penitentiary into our beautiful world is a few clicks away.

Making a commitment..and when

Let’s be honest: the airlines and companies like AirBnB have been pretty horrible throughout this pandemic. I personally have lost thousands on flights that had to be postponed or cancelled, losses that have posted as revenue to the carriers but a big expense to me. And I know I am not alone. It took a while to figure out the best tactic: don’t book more than 3-4 weeks out. As we all know, our current world can become a very different place in a short period of time so a brief gap between booking and travel constrains this risk. And of course, choose a tour company (like ours, for instance) that has the deepest disdain for large, inflexible airlines and one that treats its clients the way we would want to be treated. This means 100% flexibility of your booking in the Covid world.

Getting ready for departure

Disclaimer: All facts may become fiction without notice.

We field questions daily about the rules for travel. The question ‘do I need to be vaccinated’ is invariably among them. Obviously, whether you vaccinate or not is a personal decision. But if you decide not to, you will encounter a strong (quarantine) headwind wherever you go.

Let the fun begin!

Step 1 – Get International Travel Insurance.

This was a strong recommendation well before the Covid waves started crashing over our beach party. This coverage usually cost about USD75 and covers you for illness and injury during your trip. So ‘if’ you take a tumble and need to come home in first class wearing a cast, or ‘if’ you contract the dreaded Omicron or some other letter in the Greek alphabet and require some hospital time, you can rest assured that you will not have to max your credit card getting the care you need. Allianz is a good one that we use, but there are many out there.

Step 2 – India & Nepal – Your ticket to the big show

Time to get real: if you want to travel internationally, you are doing yourself a disservice by not getting vaccinated. That said, this is your choice so if you are down with the facts and don’t mind sitting in a quarantine hotel at your expense, have at it. Once you are past this, the process is straightforward: get a PCR test prior to your flight (how long before varies but usually no more than 72 hours), complete your Passenger Locator Form for the destination country, get your visa and off you go. See? Simple.

Step 3 – Staying safe on road

Once we’re on the road, everything is pretty much as it always was. Kathmandu or Delhi traffic madness (the best video game in the world), stunning vistas, winding roads, sublime food, beautiful smiles. Wearing a mask in hotels and restos is left to the guest although they are still required in taxis and busses. We wear them to keep the dust out of our lungs but short of that, your adventure rolls on as your dreams imagined. Let the awesome unfold!

Step 4 – Getting ready to make your way home

We expect the service level of our hotel partners to be equal to that of our tour company. That means we take care of everything. 24 hours before you depart, our base hotel in Kathmandu, Delhi or wherever will arrange for a reputable local lab to come to the hotel and take bio samples from our entire ride crew. 8 hours later, the results are delivered and you are ready for re-entry.

Step 5 – Navigating your arrival

This is where things become variable based on your home country. Most require the completion of a Passenger Locator Form that essentially captures all your personal data including your vaccination status, your negative PCR result and proof that you have booked a PCR test to be taken upon your arrival back home. (As I write this, the UK has just done away with this silliness but who knows, the madness may yet return.)

The happy ending to this bureaucratic ball of twine is that it really isn’t that difficult. Like adventuring around India or Nepal for 12 days on a motorcycle, it may seem daunting but once you’re done you’ll give yourself a pat on the back and wonder what all the fuss was about. And as far as the riding is concerned, you’ll kick yourself for waiting so long and start planning your escape to do it all again!

Thanks to the pandemic, some things may take a while before they return, if they ever do. Crowd surfing at a live concert, eating without care on busy streets, or hanging around to say “bless you!” after someone sneezes still seem part of the distant future.

For most of us, traveling has been restricted and reduced to either going through old photos or exploring our backyard or rooftop. During this time, incessant research on our dream ride has been our primary way to cope with the travel ban.

But the travel industry will resume in time because it plays a key role in people’s mental wellbeing and sense of purpose. And one of the first types of travelers who are most likely to get back on the road is the adventure motorcyclist. Research shows that 75% of travelers are seeking remote destinations with fewer people. Something adventure bikers around the world have been pursuing ever since motorcycles were invented.

The question is, how will adventure travel in India and Nepal be different compared to pre-lockdown back in March 2020? Here are some plausible predictions as we anticipate travel reopening eventually.

More personal space. In theory, you may get a little more than elbow room now that social distancing has been drilled into us for over a year. This does not mean traffic becomes any less chaotic or interesting in the billion-plus nation of India and 29 million in Nepal. It just means that a bunch of bikers having chai on the roadside won’t gather a crowd of curious onlookers in under 30 seconds.

Less “chalta-hai” attitude. This common Hindi saying implies an easy-going and nonchalant approach to everything. “Chalta-hai” is about making do with the bare minimum. The “new normal” may make that attitude less acceptable. For adventure bikers, it could mean not leaving things to chance but doing due diligence. From getting vaccinated, being first-aid trained, to learning basic motorcycle repair and maintenance, being better-prepared will ensure a less worrisome ride. For those posting their trip online, expect to be held accountable for how responsibly you travel and not just where you ride.

 

More empathy. As riders head out this summer there will be a heightened awareness of their privilege to be able to do so. To show their gratitude many may support NGOs working with the marginalized or take up a local social cause. The recent past has made it clear that even the smallest act of kindness can make a massive difference. Leaving only the paid professionals to navigate through the post-pandemic wreckage isn’t an option for the healthy, no matter what their profession. And as bikers pave the way for other tourists to return, the hospitality industry will hopefully begin to view them as partners in reviving tourism and there would also be more unity in the adventure motorcycling ecosystem.

 

These are sobering times, especially as India and Nepal continue to wrestle with the second wave of the pandemic. Much has changed, a lot has been pruned and shaken off and most of us have come to some conclusion about what we want to cherish and nurture. Besides family, community, and our vocation, one of the things many of us hold onto is the inexplicable desire to ride out on a motorcycle adventure once again.

You’ve made the decision to cut the cord for a year and are ready to circumnavigate the globe at ground level. You’re handed the keys to two vehicles: A kitted out Unimog RV offering all of the comforts of home and a well broken-in, purpose-hardened BMW GS. What do you do?

The debate amongst overland adventurers as to the vehicle best suited to the task of crunching kilometres across every conceivable terrain has raged for years. The chosen tool for the task has cut across the vehicular spectrum ranging from the sublime to the absurd. A Tuk-Tuk, a bicycle, a Suzuki Hayabusa, a London Taxi, a Vespa scooter and a cracked out minvan, to name but a few, have survived to tell the tale.

No judgment can be passed on any of them because each has carved out its own little niche of utility and character. But I think the essence of the debate really comes down to a simple question: two wheels or four? Well, let me count the ways of how the debate leads to a simple result. The answer is two.

 

1. It’s (relatively) portable – I was on my 3^rd straight day at Istanbul airport being led through the catacombs of the dark, dank cargo building by my paid fixer as we worked desperately to get my Triumph Tiger I’d ridden from Los Angeles onto a plane to Kuala Lumpur. When the final bribe had been paid and the last document stamped, all that remained was to get it into the ramp-less building. The diabolical solution was a long, 2” x 10” plank spanning from street level up 1.5 meters to the loading dock. Naturally, riding the 450lb bike up a narrow, flimsy stick of wood was quite terrifying but the angry cargo workers told me to do it or the bike stays in Istanbul. Trousers soiled, the bike was up the ramp and loaded into a container for the Turkish Airlines flight. Try that with a car.
   

   Uncrating the GS at Kathmandu Airport

2. It’s cheap (or can be) – Sure, you can spend USD30k on a kitted out BMW R1250 Adventure and you can spend $500 on an old VW microbus. But odds are the bike you choose will be cheaper to buy, maintain, import, export and fill with fuel. A better return on your adventure investment 9 times out of 10.
3. It’s quite easy to fix – Again here, depending on the machine you select, the difficulty of repair can be comparable. But even with a bike and a car from a similar technological era, the bike wins here simply because there are fewer things to break. Fewer wheel bearings, simpler drive train, fewer suspension components, simpler cooling & lubrication system and two fewer tires to puncture.
   

   Servicing in Shiraz, Iran

4. It provides the exhilaration of risk – There’s no way to mask the reality that motorcyclists are cut from a different cloth. One of the reasons we gravitate toward bikes is the lack of protection and exposure to the elements. The risk of dying is part of what makes us feel alive.
   

   Riding my Bullet in the Thar Desert

5. It connects you with your environment – One of my saddest experiences riding a motorcycle in India was while cruising through the stunning scenery in the Thar Desert on a searingly heat hot day. Surrounded by the beautiful chaos of a swarm of camels and goats at a railway crossing, I peered up into the windows of the bus jostling next to me and saw the faces of plump tourists in their air-conditioned capsule. Sure, they were comfortable, but that’s not the point. I was on my bike as part of the scene. In their tour bus surrounded by a sound and heat-proof buffer of steel and glass, they were merely spectators. The moral here: If you want to experience our world, bust out of your cocoon.
6. It’s agile – Riding my GS one fine day on a dirt track along the Mekong River in Cambodia, I encountered an obstacle. A tributary feeding into the river necessitated negotiating a steep decline, crossing the stream and then scrambling up an incline of similar gradient. The only way out of that ravine was manpower: a half dozen villagers pushing me up the slippery slope spitting off mud from the rear tire like an angry gatling gun. No number of villagers could have managed to push a 2,000kg SUV out of that ditch. Advantage bike.
7. It feels so good – Yes, the grin factor. Do you remember the first time you rode a motorcycle? The first time you did a long road-trip? Your first wheelie? The first time you launched a dirt bike through the air or got your knee down on a racetrack? We ride because it feels good, because it makes us feel free. And no amount top-down driving in a Ford Mustang will ever touch that. As a wise woman once said, four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul.
8. It connects you with people – In the developing world, ‘two-wheelers’ vastly outnumber cars on the road when you’re outside of cities. Local people you meet while riding down country lanes or when you take breaks in villages will more than likely be motorbike riders and as a result, be naturally curious about the foreigners exploring their part of the world. This is where the magic happens. It’s where the bike creates the connection between you and the people you meet as you explore. And isn’t this why we came in the first place?
   

   Making friends in Rajasthan

Colour me biased; I don’t care. After riding motorcycles through 40 countries and being blockaded by Maoist insurgents at the Nepali border, tracked by the religious police in Iran, escorted by the Pakistani military, lashed by a hurricane in Florida and enveloped in a blizzard in the mountains of eastern Turkey, I’ll surrender my right to comfort, protection and anonymity any day. Give me the bike.

Two Wheeled Expeditions offers adventures through Nepal, India and Sri Lanka.

Roro’s Picks

 

‘Lone Rider’ by Elspeth Beard

The Gist

It’s not your everyday 23-year-old, woman or man, who decides to temporarily ditch their academic pursuits and set off on a 2-year circumnavigation of what, in 1983, was a very unstable world. But this is exactly what Elspeth did and in doing so became to first English woman to complete a feat that has consumed many. It was not an easy journey, it seldom is, but accidents, misogyny, bureaucracy, theft and illness did not dampen her pursuits. 30 years after the deed, she found the inspiration and opportunity to publish her story and a beautiful read it is.

Why it’s on my list

My daughter and wife are both life-long riders and through TWE, we support spreading the passion of adventure motorcycling to as many women as possible. I met Elspeth on her book tour in San Francisco last year and was captivated. She was so young, inexperienced and vulnerable on the road but she embraced the challenge fully and learned things that will remain elusive to most of us: Once you have ridden a bike around the world, there is nothing you can’t do.

 

‘One Man Caravan’ by Robert Edison Fulton Jr.

The Gist

The cover photo says is all: A gent clad in Humphrey Bogart safari gear including the period helmet plows through deep desert sands on his underpowered 1930 Douglas. A Harvard graduate of privilege, Fulton bolted for the door at the age of 23 with the mission of riding 25,000 miles from London to Tokyo at a time when the world was unrecognizable from the one we live in today. He did it alone and with nothing more than his instincts and a 25-calibre revolver to see him through.

Why it’s on my list

Most of my reading of this topic, including Jupiter’s Travels by Ted Simon, could be considered ‘contemporary writing’: the authors are still living, the bikes are still readily available and the world they write of, more or less, is the same as one we can explore right now. But the planet in the pre-WW2 era was a very different place. Everything from infrastructure to geopolitics was unrecognisable from our current world. Fulton is the Indiana Jones of adventure motorcyclists and his stories convey that in every way.

 

‘10 Years on 2 Wheels’  by Helge Pedersen

The Gist

A Norwegian guy spends a summer abroad in LA where he meets lots of other exchange students. The experience fuels a desire to visit all of the places his schoolmates hail from. After a stint as a photographer with a Norwegian rescue helicopter outfit, he buys a 1981 BMW R80GS, weighs anchor and heads toward Africa. There he crosses the Sahara, rides the length of the continent and decides that exploring the world on a motorcycle is now in his blood. His travels would take him through 77 countries and have included such excruciating challenges as crossing the 80 mile Darien Gap, a dense, roadless jungle across the Panamanian isthmus that entailed weeks a hacking a path through the jungle and dragging his bike meter by meter.

Why it’s on my list – The 1981 BMW R80GS

Three reasons. Firstly, with the addition of The Investment Biker, these were the first books I read on the subject of motorcycling the world and they ultimately led me to ride around the world myself. Secondly, as a lifelong photographer of the National Geographic genre, his beautiful photographs visually catapulted me to wherever he happened to be riding. And thirdly, the bike. I graduated high school in 1981 and I had a pic of that very bike on my wall with the objective of riding from the East Coast of the US to Alaska. I’m still waiting..

 

Josh’s Picks

 

‘Running with the Moon: A Boy’s Own Adventure: Riding a Motorbike Through Africa’ by Jonny Bealby

The Gist

Heartbroken guy needs to get over his fiancé’s sudden death. Two years of wallowing solves nothing, so he opts for the age old cure. Adventure motorcycling. Rides out from the UK to Africa and back to find his mojo and much more.

Why it’s on my list

This was the first motorcycling book I read and since it begins in Kashmir, India, the place I’ve often ridden through, it has a special place for me. And starting the first chapter with a devastating tragedy meant it could only get better from there on. It’s not your usual Cape to Cairo story but covers both east and west Africa. The grit, beauty and raw adventure sits in contrast with fair doses of melodrama which I don’t mind.

‘Revolutionary Ride: On the Road in Search of the Real Iran’ by Lois Pryce

The Gist

English woman ships her bike across to Iran to ride 3000 miles from Tabriz to Shiraz. Why? Because some guy leaves a note on her bike outside the Iranian embassy saying “I wish that you will visit Iran so you will see for yourself about my country. WE ARE NOT TERRORISTS!!!” Of course, Lois takes this serendipitous note as a confirmation to go find out what the real Iran is all about. Resulting in a book filled with various shades of Iran through the people Lois meets.

Why it’s on my list

As an artist I tend to judge books by their cover and I must admit I had to push past the poor design and font choice for this book. I am glad I did because it confirmed what I’ve always heard from overlanders, that Iran is a must visit country. And having had few Iranian friends over the years, this book is what keeps the dream alive to someday ride my bike on the same route as Lois.  

 

‘Uneasy Rider: Travels Through a Mid-Life Crisis’ by Mike Carter

The Gist

This one is another broken-hearted biker who rides off to find if life’s worth living. Mike writes “the nadir of a man’s life is 42”, after which it’s a slide down to oblivion. Unless of course you’re riding your GS for the next six months. Mike isn’t out to win the Booker prize, he’s out to have a good time. An entertaining book with plenty of laughs, this is an easy read.

Why it’s on my list

On my list because Mike isn’t trying to come across as a hardcore adventurer. He’s happy to have us laugh along with him or at him. The reward at the end of this 352-page paperback about a 20,000-mile adventure is that Mike actually gets envisioned to move on in life. For those in doubt about the power of adventure motorcycling, Mike makes a great case in its favour.

We had reached the furthest westward destination of our March ride through Rajasthan, the dusty, 15th century citadel town of Bikaner, when the walls of Covid-19 started to close around us. We were still three days ride from our end destination in Delhi and Josh radioed to me through our helmet intercoms that the window to leave the country before lockdown was closing. It was now clear that we were going to have to pull a couple of long, gritty days to make the looming deadline and get everyone to the airport and on their way to their home countries by then. Since that final day, the 21^st of March 2020, Two Wheeled Expeditions, like every other travel company on the planet, has been idled.

It was two years earlier at my last employer’s corporate offices in Silicon Valley that the wheels to ditch my career in the IT consulting world and start this company were set in motion. The firm where I was employed as a business unit lead managing 500 people and a $20m sales target was consolidating and generous payouts were being offered to those who decided to leave. The fact that I had an unused business class ticket from San Francisco to Delhi sealed the deal: I took the money, shaved my head to a Mohawk, dyed what remained pink, flipped the corporate world a big middle finger and registered Two Wheeled Expeditions as limited liability company. 22 years of adventure riding and one and a half circumnavigations of the globe provided the street cred. From that day on, passion would become livelihood. Six months after launch we hit our stride. The new bookings every month put us on target to fill our 12 tours for the year, the great reviews were rolling in and the team and I got the validation we hoped for: we got the balance right. Price, tour quality and excellence in service delivered the experience our clients had thirsted for. The trajectory was unabashedly upward.

Then came Covid 19 and we all know what happens next. The collective civilization of our planet has been upended, economies have seized and hundreds of thousands have died. We have not had it easy; no one has. But if there is anything that this teeth-kicking pandemic has provided us with, it is time. Time to master baking, to perfect cocktails and to reflect on everything that is going on around us. This article is a collection of thoughts and learnings extracted from the experience and implemented as we do everything in our power to keep our dream alive.

• Don’t Back Down – The old song by Tom Petty accompanied me through the toughest days on the road during a seven-month ride around the world. Not even Talban drug smugglers who stood in our way in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province could withstand the mantra. The message is simple: every day a tide of doubt and even despair gathers around our feet. The stream of negative reports on the future of the economy is relentless and each one of them drives you deeper into a mire of hopelessness. But we humans are resilient and the yearn for adventure is nestled deep in our psyche. That truth keeps our motor torqued and our momentum unfettered.
• Set achievable, near term goals that support the grand vision – Being consumed by everything that cannot be controlled affects so many people right now. But if riding a motorcycle around the world taught me anything, it’s that breaking down any problem into small, manageable chunks helps you overcome being overwhelmed. Stay the course on your vision and make plans, even in the tiniest increments, to maintain momentum.
• Reset, retool, pivot – When we’re boxed in, we have to play the hand that has been dealt and find a viable path forward that leverages our strengths: the assets, skills, capabilities, and market position we have built. In our current world, we have to accept that fact that the overwhelming majority of the public will not be getting on a plane any time soon. Whether and for how long this is true is beside the point. Being successful entails taking risks and also hedging against risk. Looking for business opportunities that leverage what you are good at in new markets is a strategy for survival.
• Your people are your most valuable asset. Protect them at all costs – The airlines are facing an unprecedented dilemma. With massive fixed costs and passenger volumes down 95%, logic says they should reduce their personnel costs in equal measure. But the fact is, there is a staffing level below which business becomes unviable and a rebound impossible. With small companies like ours, the team is everything and without them you have nothing. Fight to keep them with your last dollar.
• Balance the excessive focus on problems with a regular inventory of everything that is going well – Many of us are in pain right now. There are so many uncontrollable, negative forces impacting us and it is very easy to get sucked into the vortex. While riding my motorcycle a couple of weeks ago, my mind stuck in the quicksand of negativity, I turned my attention to taking an account of all of that is good right now and my mood turned upward. Positive thinking is an immensely powerful force so harness all you can.
• Keep yourself mentally and physically strong, even when it seems impossible – The battle is only beginning, so better toughen up. My routine now includes daily meditation (an app), yoga (via Zoom), running (on the street) and weight training (shopping bags laden with books), all in the comfort of my small flat in London. Nothing can beat you when you feel ready for the fight.
• Seek out the sources of positive energy in your life – On dark days, and many of us will have them, seek out the people in your life who radiate positivity. People like this can help put things into perspective in a time when clouds may be obscuring yours.
• Stay connected with your audience and provide them with hope for future adventure – You have spent a great deal of time and money identifying and connecting with your customer base. Even if people are currently not buying what you’re selling, constantly remind them of why they sought you out in the first place. Eventually normalcy will resume and the world will once again take flight.
  

  Our last ride group – Friends for Life

• Manage cash wisely – Like almost every business except those selling designer surgical masks, we all need to manage costs. This has not stopped us from paying full refunds to all clients who had to cancel. Our company was founded on a principal of treating customers like friends. We actually, literally actually, love our clients and the last thing we want to do to people we love is alienate them.
• Ride your fucking motorcycle – When in doubt, I fall back on two wheeled therapy. Whatever your escape is, do it.

 

These are the shittiest of times, my friends. We all long for something: the touch of another human, to visit someplace new, to enjoy a meal at our favourite restaurant or a pint at our local pub. But even on the darkest days I can still see a light even if it is sometimes hard to find. We will ride again because we must. There is no option because as adventure bikers, it is the dream that makes us feel alive.

Two Wheeled Expeditions will resume operations with our 01 October 2020 ride through Nepal. To get the details on all of our upcoming rides and plan YOUR escape, check out our Expeditions page. Thanks!

‘Chai’ or tea stops are an integral part of any motorcycle ride across India. However remote the route there’s usually someone who has put their bet on opening a shack for the wandering adventurers out there.

In the Himalayan circuit, often the epic ride up to Khardungla Pass in Ladakh can be overwhelming for first timers. You’re high on adrenaline and thin on air as you go from 3500 to 5359 meters. By the time you’ve clicked that mandatory photo in front of the signboard the weather can go from sunny to a snowstorm.

As one descends to North Pullu check post, all you want is that hot cup of chai. And the Ladakhi lady I call “Didi” or elder sister is usually ready to hand me that sweet concoction after scolding me with, “where were you all this time?” I am not sure if this is her business tactic but it ensures I drink at least two cups.

Then there is Mr Dharmalingam in South India who has set up his stall on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In his heyday he was a mechanic who raced motorcycles. I am not sure exactly what happened that caused him to leave the city and live in the high ranges. One thing he does say is that running his teashop has enabled him to live a more fulfilled life.

All teashops are not alike. They are less a franchise and more a way of life, especially in rural parts of India. This is the social hub where you gossip, share & gather news, sell local produce and make ends meet with dignity. It doesn’t matter whether you are in snowy Ladakh or scorching Rajasthan – chai is always in demand.

As I found out, in spite of the sweltering humidity in northeast India’s state of Assam, I couldn’t help myself from trying out a delicious cup of you-know-what made over wood fire by another “Didi”. Thankfully she didn’t scold me even once. She couldn’t: her mouth was full of paan, a betel leaf and areca nut combo that’s popular in these parts, besides…chai, of course!

I could go on but let me end with another hot spot I like to frequent on my motorcycle trips. The western most corner of India is scarcely populated but wherever you find a small settlement, you’re sure to find a teashop. The marked difference between chai served here and rest of India is the size of the cup. They’re more like a bottle cap, which means you have to drink at least 6 cups.

Ok, that’s it folks. If you have absolutely no idea of what I’ve been on about, you can check out Roro’s how to make masala chai video. Or better still, ride across India and taste its goodness served in a cup anywhere and everywhere. And if know of a must-visit chai shop anywhere in India then please comment below and lets keep that chai love overflowing!

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Rajasthan, arguably the most exotic of India’s 29 states has been a fixture on our expedition calendar from day one and it never, ever gets boring. Goats grazing on the roof of a bus, a cow roaming down the middle of a busy highway and a face full of colored powder during Holi keeps things interesting. It may also be that leaving Delhi during the rush hour heave and arriving in the open Thar Desert is the closest thing to teleportation available. One moment you are engulfed in the throng of microcars and Tata trucks and the next you’re gliding past camel carts guided by saffron-turbaned farmers. But all bets were off in the age of Corona Virus, as every human being on the planet is now painfully aware.

The decision to proceed with the tour group of eight was made at a time when, with the exception of China, the world still seemed relatively virus free. India’s population of 1.3 billion had only a handful of confirmed cases and they were confined to the southern state of Kerala. The 22 infections being treated there where cause enough to cancel our Southern India ride, but the rest of the vast country was still untouched and so all systems were go. It only took two weeks for the world to change completely.

Barreling down a dusty highway on a motorbike with seven of your new best friends while camels and goats stream by can provide the ultimate distraction from a world that seems to be melting down by the hour. As a group we made a pact to ignore news apps on our phones as much as possible. But since the new best friends were also clients, Josh and I had an obligation to remain on top of the situation and alter our plans as the situation necessitated. More challenging than keeping track of the deteriorating situation, however, seemed to be maintaining a buoyed mood in the group. This is a bucket list ride and our job is to deliver that experience. Despite our efforts, the sense of gradual emotional degradation was palpable, and we just had to give people the space they needed.

It only took a face full of paint to kick the mood back into positive territory. Lunch and chai breaks during each day’s ride are a highpoint of every ride. We blow off some steam, exchange stories about all of the bizarre things we’ve witnessed, and the group dynamic strengthens. After the sweet chai was done and we were ready to blow the alarm to gear up, a posse of 20 somethings rolled up in full-on Holi face paint glory and it didn’t take more than a minute for our untainted group to become a target. After 15 minutes of colored-powder warfare and endless belly laughs, the stress levels were reset to zero and we were on our bikes again.

Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer were their gorgeous, exotic selves and the group could not be happier: Stunning surroundings, delectable cuisine, beautiful hotels, awesome biker friends from around the world..adventure motorcycling bliss. It wasn’t until we hit Bikaner in the far west of Rajasthan that things began to unravel. What started as a complaint to the bureaucratic front desk manager about the construction underway on our floor turned into an issue about a notice they had just received from the government of Rajasthan. The directive was that all citizens from a long list of countries were to leave the borders of Rajasthan by midnight, 6 hours hence, or be subjected to a mandatory 14-day quarantine in the hotel. One of the countries on the list, the UK, was the home of one of our guests. We broke the news to him and the rest of our crew calmly and with purpose: we had already started the process of booking him a taxi for the 9-hour ride to Delhi airport fearing that other states may soon follow suit. The frenzy that ensued to get him packed, loaded and on his way was surreal for all of us: after 10 days together, with one stroke of the government’s hand only 7 of us remained.

We were two days’ ride from Delhi and, with the sense that the escape window was rapidly closing, we decided as a group to cut the remainder of the tour short and head to Mandawa the next morning. It was the right choice: the mood deteriorated as all the guests struggled with reservation agents to reschedule their departures. The Indian Government had ordered that all flights into and out of India would be suspended in a week’s time and flights were being cancelled in droves.

Our last night on the road was arguably the best. Our favourite hotel in India was waiting for us in Mandawa, the bar was fully stocked, and the pool was ours alone. We had no idea how horrible the state of the world would be in only three weeks’ time, but our party vibe definitely had an ‘end of the world’ celebratory tone and rode a wave of music and Kingfisher Beer into the wee hours.

The morning’s anticipated translucent haze mired the departure preparations only a bit. The team had internalized the daily ritual and knew we had a tough, long, chaotic ride back to Delhi. We were only 10 minutes into the ride when we hit the first roadblock.  With Josh at the lead and me riding tail, he gave me the news via our intercom: the Rajasthan government was sealing the border with neighbouring Haryana and all traffic was being turned back. We kept calm and kept probing the periphery of the state, but we are denied exit repeatedly. We toyed with going back and waiting things out at our beautiful hotel – but we sensed this was not going to be a short-term event and pushed on. Taunts of ‘Corona’ accompanied our ride through densely packed town arteries, and I sensed an uncomfortable tension. India has a reputation for spreading malicious rumours like brushfire via WhatsApp and those frenzies have been known to turn violent.  Ultimately Josh turned to his Malayali charm to tap local intel on the best ‘agricultural’ routes across the border. The circuitous track took us through the back alleys of villages, over wheat field cow paths and finally to a beautiful, treelined country lane that led us six hours later to the national highway and back to Delhi.

When everyone managed to depart India by the 19 March lockdown, the government stated the freeze would last 7 days. Of course, we know now that was excessively optimistic and tourists who decided, voluntarily or not, to remain likely find themselves sheltering in place in India to this day.

We are hopeful that measures taken to stem the contagion will bear fruit in India. India is our home and the epicentre of the most exciting adventure touring on Earth. We count the days until we are back in the saddle, doing what we love.

The one thing most of us take for granted is a decent place to rest at the end of each day. The times we may have found ourselves without a roof could be by choice or sheer foolishness. Like spending a night beside a freezing lake high in the Himalayas without a tent. Or riding through torrential rain and not finding a place to sleep till late into the night. We may call it adventure and once we’re back home with a roof over our heads and a warm bed under our weary bones, we can laugh about it.

But when we pause to consider the people we ride past who often have no choice but to sleep out in the open or in poorly constructed slums we dare not call it their “adventure”.

With this realization we decided to do our part to give back to the country that provides the incredible backdrop for many of our rides. So a few months ago, Two Wheeled Expeditions founder Roro La Velle and I began searching for a suitable charitable organization to partner with in the area of home construction for the needy in India. This led us to Habitat For Humanity India, an NGO that has been doing just that for nearly four decades. And this year, they even won the prestigious ‘Mahatma Award for Social Good’ in India for their noble efforts.

It also made sense to collaborate with the local motorcycling community including the decade old “Delhi Bikers Breakfast Run” (DBBR) and our friends and local motorcycle leather artisans at TripMachine to champion this cause and ensure that more people got involved. DBBR had already volunteered for few building projects in the past with Habitat and it was time to renew that commitment.

 

Thus ‘Ride For Habitat 2019’ got kick-started on 12th October as a long line of motorcycles rode nearly 70kms out of Delhi. School kids waved out of their buses while those in cars had their phones out to video us. Closer to our destination, the village kids ran out of their huts, laughing and waving at this peculiar sight.

 

Check out the quick vid from the ride!  Video from our Ride for Habitat fundraiser.

 

Once we reached the Aravali Orchard, our destination for the morning’s post ride activities, helmets off and chai tea in hand, we sat around the manicured garden to hear about the significance of this ride and its implications into the future.

While Two Wheeled Expeditions donates $50 for every booking to Habitat, the company also invites international riders to volunteer for building projects. Such on site experiences often enrich and help shape our ideas about what really matters at the end of the day. And while adventure motorcycling is still a privilege, it can also be an opportunity to give back to those in need.

Pramil Aruldoss from Habitat shared passionately about why they do what they do. He said, “for families that end up receiving their home from Habitat For Humanity…when they have a place of belonging, a place to go back to sleep at the end of each day…they are then able to focus on other things like education, health, livelihood, hygiene and sanitation…the long term impact on such families is incredible”

 

The vision of Habitat For Humanity to ensure “a world where everyone has a decent place to live” profound. And it requires unique partnerships and initiatives such as ‘Ride For Habitat’ to pursue it. The invitation is open to all of us from across borders and from all backgrounds. Maybe for some of us, it may just take a night out on a cold mountain without a tent or getting stranded in the rain to make us realize what a difference a house makes to our wellbeing.

Often curious friends and bikers ask me if they should or could become a motorcycle tour guide. Some have clocked wild miles, vlogging, blogging and accumulating their fair share of fans along the way. Now they wonder if this could be a career option. Many also add they hate their current job and need a change. Over the years I have given all sorts of answers but here are five clues to knowing if being a fulfilled tour guide is in your future. You enjoy people, you are patient, you are curious, you have credibility and you are a grateful person.

You enjoy people

Motorcycle tours are only about motorcycles. At least that’s what everyone thinks. But a tour leader’s ultimate goal is to fulfill what was promised to the guests. And that goes beyond handing over a sound motorcycle and riding in the front.

If you genuinely enjoy people you will not be partial towards your ‘type’ of folks but be able to connect with pretty much anyone you meet along the way. You will also need to be instrumental in bringing a sense of camaraderie among the diverse bunch of riders from across various cultures and nationalities.

From restaurant waiters to hotel staff, ticket operators to guides, from shopkeepers to mechanics, wherever you go, you are dealing with people. If they aren’t happy to see you repeatedly, tour after tour, it could be that you view people as a means to an end. As mere service providers, human resource and business opportunities. And less as persons who deserve dignity for just being.

If you enjoy people you will be able to develop the right tension between caring with excellence and inspiring the same in others and never belittling anyone.

You are patient

Chances are in any tour group there will be those who will test your limits more than others. The guests could be total angels but how do you handle random tourists out to ruin your vibe? Unforeseen events like a roadblock, sudden change in weather, fuel shortage or your own mistake and oversight.

If you are the edgy type who must perpetually be in control, then being a tour leader is probably not for you. To keep leading tours you need patience. Lots of it, all the way, every day!

Patience comes as you seek reasons to celebrate people and not just endure them. Patience is not passively waiting for things to improve but taking the initiative to intervene wherever necessary. Patience requires being courageous and calm under pressure for the welfare of others, in this case, for the sake of your guests and team.

You are curious

You cannot take people where you haven’t been. For that, you must nurture a sense of healthy curiosity and keep learning. And I don’t mean you simply carry your phone around to Wikipedia everything when someone asks a question.

How do you maintain a sense of wonder for a place you may have visited dozens of times? By expecting to discover something new. Also by attempting to do something you have never tried before. It could be trying a new dish or learning the nuances of the local language or belief system.

Many years ago a bunch of Australian riders dared one another to climb up a nearby mountain to a waterfall and stand under its icy shower. It wasn’t part of the plan but I did it and you know what? It was utterly refreshing, hilarious beyond words and completely changed how I saw a familiar route.

Don’t just direct people from the sidelines like a bored school teacher, join the class party! Pay attention to the details around and to the questions that are being asked. Being curious doesn’t just happen, its nurtured daily, especially through traveling and reading. And nothing engages people like being asked to share their life and worldview.

You have credibility

The sense of connection a group feels with one another and with a place has a lot to do with the guide’s credibility. And credibility cannot be bought or earned with a swipe of a card. It is trust, respect, and authority, gained over the long haul.

Credibility is intrinsically linked with generosity. The generosity of our time, talent and our treasure. As each one of us is different so are the ways in which we can be generous. But without exception, someone with credibility is usually a generous person. They have gone above and beyond the bare minimum requirement and invested in an intentional and consistent way.

Credibility is nurtured within us before it is acknowledged and endorsed by others. Our inner conviction regarding the price and the sacrifice we are willing to make for what we value matters. Being a tour leader is an unconventional vocation and there is a price to pay to pursue this passion.

And it is strengthened as we also know that no matter what, there are things we won’t compromise on. As someone once said, “if you stand for nothing, you fall for anything”. Credibility isn’t cheap and over time it makes you a far sharper tour leader than someone who is in it for the quick thrills and cool photo ops.

You are grateful

A grateful person maximizes what they have through innovation and by inviting collaboration. A complaining person will always find fault and focus on what they don’t have. All of life is a gift. And if by some chance you get to ride a motorcycle for leisure, seize the opportunity!  Gratitude keeps a check on our sense of entitlement. It keeps us on course when things don’t go our way and keeps us humble when we are winning.

When you are grateful you don’t waste time comparing yourself with someone else’s journey. You’re glad you are where you are without perpetually chomping at the bits to be elsewhere. Gratitude for the past and the present fills us with hope for an adventure-filled future.

There are many other practical skills and requirements that I have omitted but the above 5 traits will ensure that you are truly fulfilled as a motorcycle tour leader.

Do let me know your thoughts and feedback and happy riding! Even better, join us on an expedition and experience the magic for yourself!

Ladakh is big, bold and beautiful. It is a stunningly sublime landscape pitched high in India’s Himalayas that boasts the largest peaks on Earth, majestic Buddhist monasteries unrealistically perched on dizzying cliff sides, and an indigenous people with hearts that match the grandeur of their mountains. But it can also spank if you let your guard down. Ladakh will not be tamed. In fact, it is Ladakh that tames you.

Let’s start with a most critical fact. Unless you are planning to ride there from Delhi via Srinagar or Manali, like most visitors to the region you will be deposited via airliner in its capital, Leh. Leh sits at an elevation of 11,570 feet (3,500 meters). This is more than double the elevation of Denver and on par with some of the highest mountains in the Rockies or the Alps. If you’re like most people, you will not feel very different when you step off the plane. But as soon as you command your body to do anything strenuous – climb stairs for instance – you will understand. The lack of oxygen is very palpable. And if you are very unlucky (and forgot to take your altitude sickness medicine), you may find your first 36 hours to be an intensely miserable affair. Think intense headaches, endless nausea and hours in bed.

Now before you close your laptop muttering something to the effect of  “f— that s—“, there is a flipside to the misery. With the proper precautions – taking Diamox for 2-3 days prior to arriving, for instance – this potentially experience-ruining side effect can be mitigated. And once you’ve crossed this bridge, your new universe of exploration awaits you.

Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let the fun begin. Leh, your landing point, feels like an outpost on the fringes of civilization. Its desert periphery teems with military bases given its proximity to Pakistan and China but its center is all charm. Its epicenter – the imposing 16th Leh Palace – dominates the skyline from its rocky promontory and fixes a point in time when the Kingdom of Ladakh held sway over the entirety of the southern Himalayas. The place swells over the summer months with tourists and trekkers from around the world giving the town an exotic cosmopolitan buzz all its own. But when the roads close to the outside world in October, Leh reverts to its bleak, isolated, insular self.

Most exploration itineraries for Ladakh use a hub and spoke approach, that is an excursion to the northwest and a return to Leh, then a ride to the north and back to Leh, and then finally a run to the southeast before heading back to Leh for the last and final time.

The first spoke and the easiest ride by far is the trip up to Lamayuru followed by a short stint to Temisgam. Three and a half hours on National Highway 1 from Leh and you arrive at one of the most magical villages on earth. It is home to the 900 year old Tibetan Buddhist Lamayuru Monastery, the oldest and largest in the entire region and home to 150 Buddhist monks. Dusk spent on a hotel terrace provides a spectacle of cinematic quality as the setting sun plays over the architectural details of the monastery painting it yellow, then orange and finally a purple hue that contrasts against the deep blue sky and the mighty mountains in the backdrop.

The next morning ‘ease in’ ride brings us to the lush Temisgam valley, its verdant pastoral calm only interrupted by the soaring heights of the 20,000 foot peaks in the distance and the lofty perch of the Temisgam Monastery. The ride up to this sacred place provides an iconic view of the winding, cliff’s edge road ascending to the site: the monastery occupies the middle ground and the jagged peaks of the Ladakh Range jut skyward in the distance.

The first retreat to Leh for a night provides an opportunity to plan the next spoke of the journey – the ascent over the Kardung-La Pass.

The gradual 7,000-foot climb from Leh begins almost immediately upon breaching city limits. Endless hairpin bends characterize the profile of the ride and the terrain evolves as we move toward the heavens: pavement and vegetation ultimately give way to gravel, snow and a rocky landscape. 3-5 hours later, depending on the flow of military and tourist vehicles jostling for space on the narrow road, you are deposited on the Top of the World – the highest motorable pass on the planet. At an elevation of 18,400 feet above sea level, we are a mere 1,600 feet below the altitude of Everest Base Camp. Especially early in the riding season when patches of snow still mottle the road and massive snow banks line our path, there is an enormous sense of satisfaction in having reached this foreboding and inhospitable place. As with all five of the 17,000+ passes we conquer during this ride, vigilance is necessary. While trekkers have ample time to acclimatize during their very gradual ascent, bikers need to heed the fact that the oxygen levels up here are half of what they are at sea level and spending any more than 15-20 minutes at the top can invite the effects of altitude sickness – a perilous proposition when a motorbike is the only way down.

Safely on the north side of the range and nestled in the Nubra Valley, the next couple of nights bring the small towns of Hunder and Sumur, literal oases in the mountain desert nudged up against the sacred Indus River. This region of stunningly dramatic beauty is home to wild horses that graze in the deep green meadows that straddle the river, is a base for mountain treks & river rafting and the exploration of nomadic herder settlements in the high valleys.

The ascent over the Chang-la Pass on the way back to Leh might seem a more laid back prospect: its elevation tops out at a mere 17,858 feet (5,360 meters). Surprise! The mostly unpaved serpentine route is more challenging but also a great deal of fun.

After a final recharge back in Leh, the third and final segment of this adventure brings us southeast, to the lake region of Tso Kar and Tso Moriri. This area instills a sense of the austere like no other area in Ladakh: a desert landscape situated high upon the Tibetan Plateau – townless and almost devoid of any traces of civilization except for a few scattered military bases and the distant specks of nomadic herders and their flocks sprinkled upon the mountainsides.

Of course, it is these distinctive, almost otherworldly features that bring us here, a place like nothing we have seen before. Tso Kar, the great salt lake that becomes a surreal salt flat in the spring time, is a mere teaser to tide you over until you have traveled further south across open plains to reach Tso Moriri. With only the small town-slash-military base of Karzok to blemish its otherwise pristine shoreline, you can only stand mesmerized in the evening as you soak in the sublime beauty of this deep blue lake as a setting sun casts its evening orange hue on the snowcapped peaks. At this point, only the mighty 17,500 foot Tang-la pass stands between you and your flight back to lesser elevations.

Adventure is a word that is bandied about these days with little to tether it to its roots. If you are looking for the purest distillation of adventure, it isn’t too hard to find. Just point your front wheel toward Ladakh.

Two Wheeled Expeditions offers rides through Ladakh between June and September every year.