Valley of the Gods

The first day of our tour gets everyone together in the vast and utterly unique city of Delhi. If you’ve never been to India before, the sights and sounds from the moment you leave the airport are a true assault on the senses. It’s frantic, noisy, fragrant, colourful and chaotic all at the same time and we love it!

After checking into the hotel it’s a chance to meet your fellow riders and for your Ride Expeditions tour leader to give you a full briefing of the adventure ahead. After that we’ll head out for a welcome dinner at an excellent restaurant.

• Accommodation: 4* hotel.
• Included Meals: Dinner.

After breakfast at the hotel we will board our private coach/minivan and head for the hills! The journey to Shimla is a comfortable 9-10 hour trip on good roads. Sit back and enjoy the views as we begin the climb into the Himalayas.

Shimla is simply a beautiful and fascinating town that was the old summer capital of British India. We’ll arrive at the hotel mid-afternoon where our support team will be waiting with welcome drinks on the front lawn.

• Accommodation: Hotel.
• Included Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

The first day of riding on this Himalayan motorcycle tour and boy. is it a good one! We leave the chaos of Shimla behind and quickly find ourselves on beautifully paved winding roads that are simply a joy to ride! We descend 1300m to a river valley for a delicious lunch in an air conditioned restaurant (it will be hot down in the valley!).

We follow the river upstream towards Sarahan, the gateway to the Kinnaur region. The road hugs the side of the enormous cliffs, with massive overhangs and tunnels through the rock. With a deep valley to the left of the twisting road, this is one of the roads you see on YouTube and wonder whether you would ever ride such a stunning road – and now you are right there!

Before dinner there’s time to chill out, visit the intricately carved Bhimakali Temple, do a bit of shopping in the packed and fascinating village shops, or even go for the local barbers/head & face massage experience!

• Accommodation: Hillside hotel.
• Included Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Dropping back down into the valley, we follow the crashing river all the way to the vast hydroelectric dam at Karcham. Leaving the main road, we cross the river here for a truly awesome climb up the side of the valley towards our lunch stop at Sangla. After a delicious lunch of Tibetan mo-mos and noodles, we retrace our steps back down the hairpins in the afternoon, dropping down to the valley floor to follow the Sutlej River towards Kalpa.

It’s another climb to get to the Kinner Villa Hotel but again the views are worth it. After dinner the hotel will light up the altar fire on the terrace – perfect!

• Accommodation: Hotel.
• Included Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

With such a scenic backdrop, Kalpa is a good place to spend a rest day. We also need to take a trip down into the town to get our permits sorted for entering the Spiti Valley region ahead of us, so it’s a chance to shop and try out the local restaurants while we wait for the wheels of Indian bureaucracy to turn. They turn, but sometimes they turn quite slowly!

The views across the valley from the hotel are breath-taking, with the sacred peak of Kinnaur Kailash piercing the skyline at 4,650m. A walk around the hills surrounding the hotel is a rewarding way to spend your time before resuming the riding the following day.

• Accommodation: Hotel.
• Included Meals: Breakfast, dinner.

Refreshed and bushy-tailed, we’ll be on the bikes nice and early for the next stage of our journey. Following the river for a good while, it’s through the border check for those important permits before we then start to climb, and we don’t stop until we reach a staggering 3,600m above sea level, where the air is thin and pure, providing you are not behind an Indian truck!

The ever-present roaming cows that will have been a common part of your journey up to this point have now been replaced by wandering donkeys and goats, so it’s best to look well ahead as you take in the scenery. Our destination is the incredible village of Nako, a green jewel in a barren landscape and a place that feels locked in another time. Narrow streets are lined with ancient houses where the livestock live below the family dwellings and bright faced children play in the tiny lanes that dissect the village.

We’re staying in big safari style tents and after dinner in the cosy clubhouse we’ll sit around the fire pit under a vast star-filled sky.

• Accommodation: Safari-style tents.
• Included Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Leaving this beautiful village behind, we hit the road and climb for an hour or so before plummeting down a set of hairpin bends to the valley floor again.

With beehives lining both sides of the roads, we head west through more epic scenery before stopping at Tabo. This village has the oldest recorded monastery in India at over 1000 years old and it’s an incredible building that is well worth stopping for!

Back on the bikes, we follow the river as it opens to an enormous flood plain, the water nearly half a mile wide at times. We’re heading for Kaza at 3700m, another village that gets snowed under in the winter.

We arrive at our hotel in time for lunch, but the riding day is not over yet… You are of course welcome to spend the afternoon relaxing or strolling the characterful streets, but the afternoon ride we have planned for you is an absolute corker!

The route is a loop up to Komic – the highest motorable village in the world and a chance to post a letter from the highest Post Office too (if time permits). The climb is incredible as we scythe up the valley walls before the terrain opens up to high plains scattered with tiny houses with their traditional buckthorn stacked roofs. The area is also littered with fantastic fossils, so don’t be surprised if the enterprising children are ready to sell you souvenirs! For a few rupees and those winning smiles – it’s hard to resist.

We’ll stop for a drink at Komic, officially the highest motorable village on the planet and then drop down again taking a different route that will take us past a huge Buddha statue that overlooks the valley. Selfie Time obviously…

• Accommodation: Town hotel.
• Included Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Without doubt, this will be one of the most epic days of riding you will have ever experienced. We leave Kaza nice and early, cross the Spiti river and start heading west for the money shot of the trip. After passing through a tiny checkpoint, we start an incredible climb through a truly beautiful valley. As the altitude increases, the temperature drops, but the scenery keeps getting better.

At the very top of the pass there is a vast Buddhist shrine and, if we are lucky, Yaks for those selfies! The road drops swiftly down to the valley floor and a hearty lunch at a tiny stone café. But don’t be thinking the superlatives are over because in the afternoon we’ll be following an amazing route alongside the river, through water splashes, boulder fields and actual rivers are part of the road. Climbing again through a valley that could be straight out of Lord of the Rings’ Middle earth, by the time we reach the main road again you’ll know you’ve ridden something special.

• Accommodation: Town hotel.
• Included Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

After yesterday’s big ride we’ll depart a little later this morning. We do not have a massive distance to cover today but we are ascending to some big altitudes so, while you’re body should be fairly well acclimatised already, it’s a good idea for us to take things a bit slower.

We’ll ride smooth tarmac in the morning that curves its way up to the scenic Baralacha La pass which sits at a whopping 4,883m above sea level. We stop for lunch on the other side before continuing to our campsite on the Sarchu plateau. It’s a gorgeous valley and, for the more energetic members of the group, we’d recommend a short hike up the side of the mountain to sit and admire the spectacular views.

After enjoying a buffet dinner in the food tent we will light a bonfire to keep our toes warm and toast marshmallows! Perfect.

• Accommodation: Large tents with attached WC and proper camp beds.
• Included Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

After breakfast we will saddle up for what might well be the most beautiful days riding you’ll have ever experienced – this is certainly the opinion of Toby, one of the Ride Expeditions owners!

A great start to the day as we ride up Gata Loops – 21 hairpin turns that snake up the mountainside. Riding towards the Upper Indus Valley and over two more of the world’s highest passes – Lachalung La at 5,085m and Tanglang La at 5,330m – the winding roads are joyful to ride and there are breathtaking views around each and every corner.

We do have a larger distance to cover today, but the road conditions are excellent (with exceptions of course – we’re still in the Himalayas!) so we’re able to increase the pace.

Our destination is the town of Leh which is the capital of the beautiful Ladakh region. It’s an incredible place to finish such an incredible tour. Celebratory beers and a farewell diner will round off this epic adventure!

• Accommodation: Hotel.
• Included Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

After breakfast at the hotel we will say our goodbyes and transfer you to Leh airport (airport code: IXL) where you can fly back to Delhi (airport code: DEL), or other major domestic airports. Buckle up for an exciting flight – no fighting over the window seats – which passes over numerous mountain tops and glaciers.

• Accommodation: Not included.
• Included Meals: Breakfast.
• N.B. The Leh-Delhi route is operated by GoAir, SpiceJet and Vistara. Flight costs vary from £38 – £160 depending on when you book… earlier is of course better! Flight departure times vary from 7am to 12pm and the duration is approx 1hr30.