I Confronted Mud and Dismay—Even Loss of life—on This Unbelievable Himalayan Bike Journey, However It Turned Out to Be the Journey of a Lifetime

Would you moderately threat near-certain demise, or spending the following 5 years of your life in a international jail? It’s not a query you’ll face too usually from the consolation and security of residence, however do you have to select to go to India and trip a bike to the best motorable cross on this planet, it’s a call you’ll should make 4, possibly 5 instances a day.

I ought to most likely clarify.

Right here’s the state of affairs: You’re going round a blind gravel nook at 60 miles an hour. To your left, there’s a sheer cliff and a 100-foot drop right into a boulder-strewn river. To your proper (the place you’d usually discover a shoulder), the street ends abruptly in a jagged wall of granite. Between these two extremes, three vacationers share a one-lane street: there’s you in your bike, there’s a fully-loaded semi-truck coming in the wrong way, after which there’s a fully-grown bull standing in the course of the street, utterly oblivious to the dilemma.

Go left, and also you’re leaping your bike off the excessive dive right into a watery grave. Go proper, and also you’ll endure a fair grizzlier destiny within the grill of a diesel truck. Do nothing, and also you’ll significantly injure each your self and a few poor harmless cow, the latter of which is a severe crime right here in India punishable by as much as 5 years in jail.

The one viable answer to this dilemma is to string the needle between demise and imprisonment, narrowly sliding your bike between business and agriculture with solely inches to spare on both facet.

The primary time you expertise this manuver, it’s the kind of factor that’ll damage a pair of underwear. By the top of your third day of the Royal Enfield Himalayan Odyssey, nevertheless, you’ll be so good at making your means by way of India’s chaotic visitors that you just’ll hardly even discover it is occurring.

That’s simply one of many many issues this unimaginable trip will train you, and one of many many causes I’m satisfied each journey seeker with a bike license ought to have this  journey on their bucket checklist.

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It’s an Journey, Not a Trip

I take pleasure in sipping cocktails with my ft within the sand as a lot as anybody (most likely a very good bit extra, fact be instructed), however seaside holidays by no means actually scratch the journey itch. I’ve all the time checked out actual journey as a window to risk, one thing rife with uncertainty, romance, and the ever-present risk of stumbling upon some new formative expertise.

In different phrases, I would like an journey, not a getaway, and Royal Enfield’s Himalayan Odyssey is an journey in each sense of the phrase. So what makes this trip such an epic?

It is rain, it’s warmth, it’s chilly, and it’s mud. A lot mud. The white, chalky sort of mud that billows out of your garments with each step in a seemingly countless provide. The sort of mud that coats all the things you personal within the first 24 hours: your bike, your boots, your helmet, and each inch of uncovered pores and skin in between.

Nevertheless it’s additionally grace. Grace when clear skies and heat solar lastly break by way of after six hours of driving rain and flooded streets. Grace when there isn’t a practical ATM inside 100 mile radius, however somebody you simply met loans you a number of thousand rupees to get you into the following metropolis. Grace when a protracted night time and an excessive amount of whiskey transforms a handful of full strangers into lifelong connections.

It’s watching your self get higher on a bike with every passing day, by no means thoughts the truth that you’ve already been using for the higher a part of twenty years. It’s studying to grasp probably the most batshit loopy visitors on probably the most batshit loopy roads you’ve ever seen, and its utilizing your horn extra instances in any given hour than you’ve used it your whole life up thus far.

Oh, and it’s the meals. A lot meals. It’s recent naan served straight off a smoky grill. It’s that teaspoon of chutney that’s sizzling sufficient to depart your nostril working a full hour after your plate is clear. It’s the consolation of heat mutton on a gentle mattress of rice after using by way of 100 miles of freezing rain.

And it’s the chai. Oh, blessed chai, equal elements black tea, recent ginger, crushed cardamom, and the richest, freshest milk you’ve ever tasted. Go heavy on the sugar.

And it’s the views. The sweeping expanses of mountains that begin on day one and don’t let up for 2 straight weeks. The surroundings adjustments dramatically, from countless deserts and clear skies to rolling fog and emerald cliffs, however the Himalayas are a relentless for the whole journey.

And it’s the cities. Soiled, crowded, and completely teeming with life. Pleasant faces are the one variety you appear to see right here, even if you’re the lone vacationer misplaced on the streets of Delhi lengthy after final name.

Oh, and it’s the trade price. A mere $25 American will get you a king-size mattress with a mountain view, two chilly beers, and a plate of meals you’ll by no means see the underside of. The truth that this whole Odyssey solely prices about $2,000, rental bike included, is purpose sufficient to make the journey.

And my god, it’s the bike. The Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 is a revelation in journey gear. Filth low-cost and useless dependable, snug for days on finish, highly effective sufficient to maintain your coronary heart price up on a twisty street, and so rattling good within the filth it’s actually no surprise sellers can’t hold them on the cabinets again within the States.

And it’s the canines. The untold hundreds of untamed canines dwelling the dream roaming the streets, cities, and boundless wild locations scattered all through the Himalayas. Canine that by no means have to fret about baths, journeys to the vet, the mailman, or anything. They’re all kind-hearted strays who will comply with you anyplace you lead as long as you retain their ears scratched and their tails wagging.

A number of scraps from the desk doesn’t harm both.

It’s additionally the uncooked, unfettered pleasure on each face within the group when the journey crescendos at 19,024 ft of elevation and end up standing on the high of Umling La Move. This legendary 1,600-mile odyssey by way of the Himalayas is a lifelong dream for each motorcyclist within the nation, and if you be a part of up, you get to share it with them.

After which there are the guides, the planning, and the sheer group of the factor. The journey is hosted by the oldsters at Royal Enfield, who’ve a whole sector of their enterprise devoted to planning, main, and supporting these group rides across the nation yearly. Help autos are included within the worth of admission, and embody mechanics, medical personnel, and even a digital camera crew to doc the journey in your behalf.

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Dedication Decides Who Can Hack the Odyssey

What makes Royal Enfield’s Himalayan Odyssey much more particular is the truth that riders are solely allowed to register for the journey as soon as each 10 years. Demand is so excessive that ought to you succeed and full all 18 days, your title goes on a blacklist for the following decade to present as many riders as potential an opportunity to beat the problem.

There’s, by the best way, a really actual risk of failure right here. A number of members of this yr’s working by no means skilled its bitter candy end resulting from crashed bikes, associated accidents, or just chucking up the sponge when the going received too robust or the homesickness grew too heavy.

There was definitely a time when it felt prefer it would possibly by no means finish. About midway by way of the journey, a rock slide on a slim mountain cross left untold lots of of vacationers sitting on the facet of the street, ready on development crews to clear the particles.

After about six hours of ready, our group needed to reduce its losses and double again to the closest lodging, a 100-mile race towards the setting solar down a winding ribbon of slim switchbacks and tough pavement. About 5 miles into that journey, the rain began. Ten miles after that, the group was using in pitch darkness, and the temperatures began falling quick. It was, fairly probably, probably the most grueling two hours of using I’ve ever skilled.

And but, upon arriving at an totally bare-bones homestay, crowded 20-deep right into a room that was by no means meant to carry greater than 10 individuals, I discovered we have been all in good spirits. It was all smiles and laughter, swapping tales of shut calls and frozen fingers, and heads shaking in profound disbelief. We’d all shared in a correct journey, and all of us knew it.

When the new chai lastly got here out from the kitchen, you’d suppose each particular person within the room had simply gained the lottery. I’ve slept in some fairly good resorts over time, however that night time I had the most effective sleep of my life in a shared room on a twin mattress with a single blanket and an overstuffed pillow.

A Rhythm Emerges After Days on the Street Dwindle

Then, it’s a brand new day. The solar is within the sky, the clouds are gone, and the information is nice: The rubble is evident, the roads are open, and there’s nonetheless loads of time for a correct breakfast earlier than we have to hit the street.

The using retains getting higher on daily basis. The group falls right into a pure rhythm, with one half racing by way of the corners up entrance and one other half having fun with the view on the rear. On daily basis is a recent new expertise. In some unspecified time in the future you understand you possibly can’t bear in mind the final time you bothered glancing at your cellphone. You’re caught within the second, and also you’re pleased to be there.

After which, with out warning, the odyssey that appeared prefer it would possibly by no means finish reaches its remaining vacation spot. It’s throughout. The sweat, the mud, the rain, and the Himalayas themselves. The stops for tea, stops for cigarettes, stops for home-cooked meals on the facet of the street, eaten on picket benches over earthen flooring.

It’s again to life as you knew it, simply as you have been getting the cling of an entire new approach to dwell.

Spoiler alert: The HImalayan Odyssey ends with you and your new associates sitting round a banquet. You get your certificates, you get your image taken, and also you get a rattling good meal.

Possibly you keep up a little bit too late with some rattling good firm consuming a little bit an excessive amount of of that rattling good rum they’ve turned you on to. In some unspecified time in the future, you understand the solar will rise, and also you’ll should get again on the airplane, however an additional hour of sleep simply seems like an hour wasted.

After which it’s the query: how lengthy till the Himalayas begin calling once more? As you climb on the airplane, you understand you’ll be again right here some day, and even when it’s important to wait a full 10 years, that day can’t come quickly sufficient.

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This story was initially reported by Males’s Journal on Sep 12, 2025, the place it first appeared within the Gear part. Add Males’s Journal as a Most well-liked Supply by clicking right here.