After a very tiring day riding we just wanted to
have dinner and go to bed, but all we could see
up ahead was a tent site. Surely this wasn’t where
we were staying? But yes, that’s exactly where
we were to stay, but thankfully it wasn’t what
we thought. These tents are luxury ‘tents’ and
what I imagine would be the tents you’d be in if
you went on a safari in Africa. After dinner and a
beer in the dining tent, we were ready for bed.
The next day we rode to a village high in the
mountains called Leh, which may well be the highest
village in the mountains and is completely cut off
from civilisation in winter when it snows, so any
locals that don’t want to be there in winter get
out before the road is closed. By this time, we’d
got used to the riding so we could concentrate
a bit more on the stunning scenery. There were
times when we were parked on the side of the
road that we felt like tiny dots in the vastness
of the landscape; the only living or moving
things there, in total silence with the towering
bluffs and massive ravines laid out before us.
EXPLORING THE AREA
It’s hard to imagine being snowed in when we
arrived in Leh, as it is dusty and hot. After a beer
and a hot shower in a comfortable hotel we walked
KIWI RIDER 61