The 2016 Royal Enfield Himalayan Odyssey is currently underway where riders from across the country get together for a ride to one of the best locations to ride to – Leh. This year's Himalayan Odyssey though is a bit different as the riders have an all-new bike to put to the test in the form of the Himalayan, which promises to be a true-blue purpose-built adventure tourer at a price range that sets it apart from all the other offerings in the Indian market.
Here's how Day 5 was in pictures.
One of the highlights of the day was the wonder that is the More Plains. After days of zigzagging through winding mountain roads, More comes as a revelation to you. After Pang, the road suddenly opens up to the plains in the form of a 40 kilometre straight stretch of fresh tarmac. Oh, and all this at an average altitude of 4800 metres.
The ascent to Tanglang La begins where the More Plains end. We had left the last trees behind a while now. But ever creative, nature has painted the high altitude grasslands in a thousand different shades.
Many have tried to put to words the stirring beauty of the Leh valley and failed. So will I inevitably. All I can say is never have I seen a shade of pink this deep on a mountain.
The town of Upshi has a Western, frontier town feel to it. It is comprised of a series of momo shops lining a dusty street. A tumbleweed or two would not be entirely out of place in Upshi. Best of all, the mythical Leh is now a straightforward 50-kilometre tarmac ride away.
Beyond Upshi, the road to Leh is exactly what it is played out to be. A perfect black tarmac (read red carpet) welcome to the land of the high passes.
This is why people come to Ladakh year after year. It is this promise of stark mountains playing easel to the sun's paintbrush and the adventures it promises on the roads. Or in this case, even off it.
The land of passes is also a land of a thousand monasteries. Nothing can prepare you for the sheer Tolkienesque grandeur of Ladakh's monasteries.
(Royal Enfield Himalayan Odyssey is currently underway. Watch this space for daily updates as we take you from Delhi to Leh on an RE Himalayan.)
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