Ours , depending on terrain , gives us around 300km per tank .
Built originally for the Indian Army , these machines can be basic although the new models include much appreciated additions . With high clearance for going over rough terrain and floods , relatively few things to go wrong , they prove to be the best workhorse for adventure motorcycling .
Still on the choice of machine , sometimes it is a matter of emotional attachment . On another ride , we spotted a fully loaded Africa Twin in Kajuraho . Meeting the riding couple later over a few beers , we found out the bike was 28 years old and had ridden all the way from Italy to India AND not for the first time … Twentyeight years old and looking great . Battered , covered in dust with spare wheels hanging on either side , it was a legend in motion . Coincidentally , we met the happy couple again a few months later in Kathmandu . It is a small world .
Let ’ s get back to Nagaland and the old head-hunters who are dying off . There was a time when these warriors battled for the territory of other tribes . Contrary to belief , they didn ' t set out to cut heads off . It was only after you killed an enemy in battle that you could cut his head off and bring it back as a trophy . This would earn you a specific tattoo . The more tattoos , the more heads you had cut . The western world and Christianity saw a great window of opportunity to ‘ civilise ’ these tribes and make converts . American missionaries were deployed in numbers to this remote area lying next to the Burmese 1 Border . This , and modern Indian laws , put an end to tribal wars and therefore tattooing . No trophy heads equal no tattoos . End of story .
To bring the tradition a step closer to modernity , the old head-hunters now wear necklaces with bronze heads representing the numbers they
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