Introduction
It is 04:30 on the night of July 10th, 2025, and I am at the Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, waiting for my Ethiopian Airlines flight to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, with continuation flight to New Delhi, India, where I expect to begin a once-in-a-lifetime experience: Riding the Himalayas on a motorcycle.
This journey meant to me a triple departure from my long acquired comfort zones. First, India, which I haven't visited since the end of the 90s when I led a project with Indian programmers, and which I thought I would never visit again; then, riding a foreign country in a large group, something that in the last 14 years I prefered not to do - it was more rewarding for me to prepare my own trips than to deal with the whims of each of the 15 participants in the journeys; third, participating on a journey which is at least 60% offroad riding, when I am in principle a road tourer. I did not know how this journey was going to end, but despite all the fears, the thrill was the main feeling in my heart.
Let's return 7 months in time: on December 2024 I decided to join the RideTheHimalayas.com tour of July 14th this year. The decision took into account that my wife couldn’t go out in a vacation with me in July (taking care of our grandchild), so I chose something that she wouldn’t do anyway and promised her we would go together abroad later in the year.
The journey from Manali to Umling La represents one of the most challenging and rewarding motorcycle adventures on Earth. This 14-day expedition takes us through some of the world's highest motorable passes, ancient monasteries, and landscapes so surreal they seem extraterrestrial. At 5,798 meters, Umling La stands as the world's highest motorable pass, making this journey a pilgrimage for every serious motorcycle adventurer.
It is 04:30 on the night of July 10th, 2025, and I am at the Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, waiting for my Ethiopian Airlines flight to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, with continuation flight to New Delhi, India, where I expect to begin a once-in-a-lifetime experience: Riding the Himalayas on a motorcycle.
This journey meant to me a triple departure from my long acquired comfort zones. First, India, which I haven't visited since the end of the 90s when I led a project with Indian programmers, and which I thought I would never visit again; then, riding a foreign country in a large group, something that in the last 14 years I prefered not to do - it was more rewarding for me to prepare my own trips than to deal with the whims of each of the 15 participants in the journeys; third, participating on a journey which is at least 60% offroad riding, when I am in principle a road tourer. I did not know how this journey was going to end, but despite all the fears, the thrill was the main feeling in my heart.
Let's return 7 months in time: on December 2024 I decided to join the RideTheHimalayas.com tour of July 14th this year. The decision took into account that my wife couldn’t go out in a vacation with me in July (taking care of our grandchild), so I chose something that she wouldn’t do anyway and promised her we would go together abroad later in the year.
The journey from Manali to Umling La represents one of the most challenging and rewarding motorcycle adventures on Earth. This 14-day expedition takes us through some of the world's highest motorable passes, ancient monasteries, and landscapes so surreal they seem extraterrestrial. At 5,798 meters, Umling La stands as the world's highest motorable pass, making this journey a pilgrimage for every serious motorcycle adventurer.
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