Kota Kinabalu Harbor
After our diving experience we spent a week in the cultural and artistical town of Ubud. We rented a motorbike to be more independant and we visited really nice temples, rice fields and the famous monkey forest ( Patrick didn’t feel so confortable with these quite agressive monkeys around us!). We also saw a dancing performance where the women can move amazingly! Last but not least we did rafting through dense rainforest and that was great!!
We are now in Legian, Bali, where the waves are ideal for learning how to surf. Now you can call me ‘Kelly Slater 2‘… hehe, I have to stay I also had a great instructor alias Patrick!
Today is our last day in Indonesia so we are going to kill the wave before continuing our journey!
Hang loose;)
After Pangong lake, our goal was to reach the highest motorable pass in the world. We were waiting for an improvment of the bad weather conditions. After a couple of days we tried to go up and we were really optimistic but at 14km from the pass the road was closed!! Such a pity and it was bloody cold driving up there by bike! The only award was the landscape, snow around us, yaks everywhere….aaaah just great. After this attempt we decided not to stay longer in Leh and drive to Dehli to catch our flight. We traveled with Laurence and Sam, the two English guys.
Once again the road to Dehli was just amazing. Our first stop was in Dras close to Pakistan. I must say, this was not really pleasant due to the number of army around us to prevent or try to prevent any attack. For your info, Dras is located in the region of Kashmir where some people claime their independance or prefer belonging to Pakistan instead of India. That’s why there is this big tension in this region. Anyway, we left at 5am to go to Srinagar the next day. This was the 2nd worst road after our Rothang La pass experience. The road was just wide enough for one bus/ truck at a time and in really bad shape. Additionally scary as on one side there was a steep decent approx 300m sraight down. We arrived all in one piece at Srinagar where we rested in a houseboat for 2 days, that was great. We had a small boat to cross the lake or just chilled!
It took us 5 days to get to Dehli and we were happy to give the motobike back, enough driving for a bit and my bum thanks me (Emi) as well :) In Dehli we were sleeping at Ajey’s for 4 days. That was a lot of luxury for us. We had our own bedroom and bathroom (with hot water!) a cook and personal driver. That was fine to have a proper bed (actually the best one since 3 months) and a daily shower (we were not used to anymore). Thank you Ajey and Anki!
In Leh we met again with Masa and David ( a friend from France we met in Vashisht). After a couple of relaxing days in a nice hostel all together we decided to go to Pangong lake next to the Chinese border. Masa, David, Andrew ( from Canada) rented a bike and they joined us to go there, all in all 8 different people on 7 different motor bikes- a great group!!!!!
We passed the 3rd highest pass in the world on the way and got to this amazing lake with great colours.
Now we can say that we have been swimming at 4.380m hight! That was bloody cold and everything shrinked :) (Patrick)
Enjoy the pictures.
What an adventure and highlight of our trip these last 5 days have been!Initially very difficult, we thought never to make it to Leh because the motor bike(s) we rented broke constantly down on us and we spent 134h at the mechanics, crazy… we woke up twice at 5 am and 4 am to be ahead of the traffic to the Rothang La pass and both times before even reaching the first climb our bikes had severe problems…arghhhhh!!! Why ahead of the traffic? Well, every Indian of this planet wants to touch the snow and drive to the pass – the result is 1 billion jeeps, cars and minivans wanting to reach the pass – MADNESS.
So after all this start up issues, we finally had our 2 nd Royal Enfield ready to take us to Leh. We made it in 5 days, 475 km.
Day 1: from Vashiht to Keylong. This was the most difficult part of the trip. Meters of snow, melting and creating mud and deep rivers to cross, big stones, bumpy roads – we had it all! This was so hard that we even thought to drive back to Vashisht if the roads continue to be so though.
We stayed 2 days in Keylong to rest and at the same time the bike got checked. Result: engine problem!! The mechanics from Vashisht had to bring our 3rd bike to Keylong! Crazy that they gave us such a shit twice! We were really frustrated. In Keylong we met 2 really nice guys, Ajay and Jatin who were in the same Guesthouse and we had the same destination. So after the 3rd bike arrived we continued our trip all together.
Even if the roads were still in bad condition, the scenary was breathtaking. It is one of the most beautiful motobike routes in the world. We were most of the time alone on the road… What a sensation that was and easy to forget all the problems we had in the beginning!
Day 3: we met Sam and Laurence at Sachu. These 2 guys are making a trip from Australia to UK by small postal motobikes!
Day 4: from Sachu to Pang. This was one of the most beautiful and interesting parts of the trip. On the way we had to cross a bridge which collapsed couple of hours before:
Solution 1: waiting 2 days – actually not an option because we were short of fuel
Solution 2: pay a 1000 Roupies to Indian road workers who carried our bikes on the other side of the valley. Everything worked really well except that while our bike was carried to the other side my camera got stolen and I was really upset! ( Emi)
Day 5: we passed the 2nd highest pass in the world and we were realllllly proud having done that! The same day after a long downhill descent we arrived in Leh.
We will never forget this trip: a challenging but unforgettable journey where we met great poeple and had mindblowing sceneries and views!!!
What could be better than fresh mountain air? We are now at the feet of the Himalayas. The nice village is called Vashisht next to Manali in the north of India. Every day we breath deeply and take a natural hot bath (at 5 am!!) to get new energy and built up strength for the months to come. The temperatures are pleasant (less than 45 degrees) the village calm (no cars and tuk tuks are allowed) and we enjoy the relaxing atmosphere surrounded by waterfalls.
One more week here to rest, do some trekking and yoga, before the biggest adventure in India begins: driving a Royal Enfield motorbike through the Himalayas!
For now some pictures from Vashisht!
After the blue city Jodhpur we went to the brown one – Jaisalmer. We got a cheap hotel for 3 Euro and afterwards found out that it was a Mafia hotel (cheap rooms but forced to buy expensive camel safaris) Luckely though we didn’t have to play their game and organised a different tour:
The dream was a romantic camel safari sleeping in the dunes with camp fire and the sky full of stars……the reality was a sand storm, strong wind, no stars, no fire, rain and a lot of sand beatles and wild dogs around us….well, an unforgettable night. :)
Next and last stop in Rajasthan was Pushkar, a holy place where we met Masa from Japan. We had a really good time relaxing.
Today we are in Agra and saw one of our highlights so far – the Taj Mahal! Really amazing and a must-see in India!
Here the pictures and more on PORTFOLIO I // RAJ&TAJ
Sightseeing tour continued in the freezing and inspiring city of London. Thanks to our good friend Manuel we met kind, interesting and international people. Between Picadilly Circus, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Big Ben we drunk a cup of tea to recharge our batteries. In 10hrs our flight to Mumbai leaves and one thing is for sure: we leave Europe with extra luggage in our bellies!!
Final preparations for the trip, packaging list and our stuff lying on the ground. Quite a challange to get everything in 35 and 38 L backpacks. But we did it! Emilie & Patrick
