Have bike will travel
Times of India

Naseer Lalljee meets R Subramanian, a bike maniac who organizes road trips from CBD to the Himalayas

R.SUBRAMANIAN, an enthusiastic biker from CBD, is at it again. Last month, he did a Belapur to Himachal ride, and now he is engineering a bike trip from Belapur to The Land Of The Lamas!

Subramanian organizes three bike trips a year. These comprise friends and just about anyone else who cares to come along and pay for individual expenses. For instance, the trip to Himachal where he and Hanif, a friend from Bandra, took for 15 days, cost them Rs 7,500 each, he says including petrol, food, accommodation and expenses.

The journey began from Belapur, and went on to Nasik, Indore and Gwalior, where they stayed overnight to watch the fort and other scenery. They then moved on to Delhi, Chandigarh, Kasauli, Bilaspur, Mandi, Dharamshala and Mcloyd Ganj, which is past Dharamshala. This place houses a Buddha temple. Says Subramanian, “The locals are fantastic people. So kind and gentle, it is heaven to be with them. The entire stretch is a canopy, with fantastic sidewalls containing scenery of a varied kind. Flowers, trees, mountains, valleys… The scene keeps changing all the time. It is fascinating. Mandi is one of the oldest towns in Himachal, and it make you feel a part of it’s history.” He adds, “We moved at an average of 60 km per hours a day. And now, we are going to The Land Of Lamas. It’s one of the most challenging trips in the world. I feel the need to do these things, since these places are in my homeland, and this circuit has been only by foreigners so far.”

We will be covering a distance of 1,800 km over a period of 14 days in an A – grade safari. It will include long hours of challenging rides, and stamina is a must on this motorbike safari. From Belapur, we have to get to Delhi and after that, on to Parwanoo – Narkanda – Kalpa – Kaza – Jispa – Sarchu – Tsorkar – Tsomoriri – Leh – Khardung La Top – Nubra Valley – Leh.

The chief attraction of the The Land Of Lamas motorbike safari is the Alpine valley vegetation, consisting of Deodar, pine and silver fir. “We will also be riding to the world’s highest inhabited villages and along various and circuits, and border areas, under varied road conditions. We will be going through the world’s highest motorable passes, including Kunzurnla, Baralachala, Lachungla and Khardungla.”

And after that? “Ride somewhere else. As long as I have a bullet, I will ride anywhere.”