Are rented Royal Enfields good for your Ladakh trip?

As you have consciously landed on this page, it is apparent that either you pet love for Ladakh, or Royal Enfield motorcycles. Ladakh, the barren beauty of Kashmir Valley has become the dream destination for motorcyclists since the last decade. The challenging altitude of the plateau coupled with its rugged terrain beguiles travellers from all around the globe. As the winter sets in Ladakh gets temporarily isolated from the rest of the subcontinent for good six months, except through the aerial route. Only after the winter recedes and Border Roads Organisation reconstructs the snow-eaten roads, two prominent land routes to Ladakh are opened for tourists. Hold on buddy, this article is of little use to you if you belong to any of these groups: happy Royal Enfield (RE) owners, riders who have explored the Himalayas on a Royal Enfield motorcycle in the past, and diehard RE fans. You may still read this blog, but do not shout at me for writing what you already know. 

To be specific, today's target audience is any traveller who is aspiring to ride to Ladakh and wondering if a rented Royal Enfield model would be the perfect choice for taming the wildness of Ladakhi landscapes. It is not just the call of enigmatic Tibetan Plateau, but the breathtaking road journey from Manali (2,050 m), or Srinagar (1,585 m) to Leh (3,500 m), which traverses through few of the world's highest passes (highest point being Taglang La at 5,328 m), countless kilometres of dirt roads, deadly turns and multiple water-crossings is the reason why every traveller prioritises a road trip to Ladakh in his top ten bucket list. Once you start planning for your dream Ladakh ride you'll certainly come across a pushy school of thought- only a Royal Enfield bike can endure the roughness of the high Himalayan terrain. I've been there, done that, gathered the necessary experience to share with you on how good do rented Royal Enfields behave in a Ladakh ride. In another 4 months the "ride to Ladakh" season shall begin and countless motorcyclists will board the bandwagon. After reading this post I believe you'll be able to take an informed decision whether to opt for a RE bike in your upcoming Ladakh trip.

7 reasons for every Backpacker to visit Sri Lanka

In last four months or so, I have visited Sri Lanka twice. I was supposed to visit this beautiful neighbouring country at least a couple of years back. Unfortunately you can't paint every canvas with the same perfection your heart wants. Some plans are just fated to die in the womb. This time I managed to experience this wonderful pearl of the Indian Ocean, of course only to intensify my remorse of not visiting her earlier. Although tourism was not the purpose of my visits, I made it a point to utilise whatever spare time I had in exploring the island. Truly, Sri Lanka is a tropical paradise, exhibiting an extraordinary fusion of landscapes- from pristine golden beaches to lofty green mountains, to picturesque tea plantations, cocooning a rich biodiversity within a tiny teardrop shaped landmass barely visible in a compact world map!

Embedded within this small island are eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites, more than 1,300 kilometres of alluring coastline, densely populated wildlife sanctuaries, exotic flora, expansive tea gardens, myriad water bodies and omnipresent aroma of an enriching Buddhist culture. Sri Lanka with its full-circle coastline is a perfect destination for all sorts of water-sports like surfing, sailing, scuba diving, snorkelling, water skiing, windsurfing, kayaking, canoeing, rafting etc. Depending on your preference the island can mesmerise you with serenity or an adrenaline rush. Not many would know, this petite island has the widest variety of precious stones among the world's gem producing countries. There are countless reasons why every traveller should experience backpacking in Sri Lanka. A brief web-search shall fetch you hundreds of articles promoting Sri Lankan tourism, highlighting unforgettable travel experiences in the island, but mostly in a generic form. So, here I'll tell you only those things which are important from a backpacker's point of view, especially an Indian backpacker.

Getting Sri Lankan Tourist Visa for Indian Nationals

At some point or the other, if you're traveller you must have had wished for a world without borders, right? This is probably due to those endless bunch of papers you had to aggregate before appearing for an edgy visa interview, or the long unforgiving queue you had to endure before an immigration counter. Frankly, we are too damaged beyond repair to be set free with friendlier international regulations. We completely deserve to be monitored, chained and muted as and when required. This has nothing to do with the corrupt Government, and trust me I'm not being sarcastic. The darkness deep inside our minds is ever expanding. I guess today's topic is pretty elementary and has nothing to do with the erosion of humanity. Those of you who do not know this tropical paradise- Sri Lanka beyond a teardrop shaped island barely visible in the world map, will be amazed to learn the rich diversity this country offers to its tourists. 

Sri Lanka is blessed with her pristine natural bounty, highly interesting geography, inviting sunny beaches and myriad wildlife. To top it all, Sri Lanka is the home to an ancient Buddhist culture that dates back to 2,500 years! In my coming blog post I'll give you seven unbeatable reasons why you should choose Sri Lanka over any other country as your next backpacking destination. We Indian passport holders are seldom obliged with easy visas. Don't know if we just smell bad, or our passport documents carry Tuberculosis infection in them. Thankfully, getting a Sri Lankan tourist visa is very simple for Indian nationals. I've travelled twice to Colombo in last four months. Ten minutes of easy online formalities can  guarantee your tourist e-Visa for Sri Lanka. Neither do you need any agent's assistance, nor queue up for the visa on arrival.

Tracking a Toy Train along the steamy Hill Cart Road

My cryptic connection with Toy Train, or Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) dates back to January 2008, and I tell you it has been a medieval love story ever since. The prologue to this never-ending tale of longing versus lure comprised two characters: me and my father, who had much enthusiastically boarded an early morning toy train at New Jalpaiguri railway station, after an overnight train journey from Bardhaman. Darjeeling, Kurseong  and Kalimpong could finally make it to our small travel menu. 

I can serially recall every second of that winter morning. Yes, the protagonist was so damn yearning for that toy train ride! He had recently updated his knowledge with a bunch of facts regarding the engineering marvel of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. All travelogues he had read so far had one thing in common- grand mention of the magical toy train ride from the picture-perfect foothills of Bengal to the land of mystic thunderbolt (intended Tibetan translation for 'Darjeeling').

Perky Pigeons and that evocative December afternoon

I hope you've had a great Christmas. I hail from the southern plains of Bengal, a region known for its unpleasant heat and humidity. For us, December is an orgasmic month. December brings winter thrill, enhanced drooling (credit goes to the proactive digestion) spree and sweet anticipation of Santa's surprise sledge. You feel relieved that you survived another egomaniac year. Best thing about winter season is the abundant energy you're left with. You can actually pamper yourself with delusions such as: A happy and prosperous new year is waiting just outside your door! 

I'm too lazy to do it, but I've seen many drafting their new year resolutions and publishing those over social media platforms with meticulous hashtags. Well, I too have ticked off a small travel plan successfully in the middle of this departed December leaving all other works aside. It was a motorcycle ride to Darjeeling followed by a multi day trek up to Sandakphu, the highest point in the map of West Bengal.