Into Thin Air skirts the Chinese – Tibetan border , Gompa ’ s line the roads as do military installations . It ’ s clear there ’ s a tension between neighbours , numerous checkpoints provide a chance to stop and take it all in , the Motorcycle Expeditions guides help with processes and translation .
The Indian state of Himachal Pradesh provides a motorcycle riding utopia , roads give way to tracks that do similar with dry riverbeds and the occasional wet crossing . It ’ s part of the adventure and bypassing the regular tourist traps you ’ ll discover villages untouched by time , temples in the unlikeliest of places dating back thousands of years . The chants of a Buddhist monk echoing through tight valleys and ravines , and others asking you to sit while offering tea and biscuits .
The remote locales play host to roadside ‘ tea tents ’, Masala Chai a favourite , an addiction easily fed , a chance to meet the people and learn of their life , all with the greatest sense of humour .
Crossing the Shinku La ( 5,090 metre pass ) you ’ ll enter the region of Ladakh and the state of Jammu & Kashmir , the same disputed territory of Kashmir . The lands are the same , high-altitude deserts scattered with villages and religious temples , Hinduism giving way to Islam as you ’ ll discover the Pakistani border is ‘ just over the hill ’. Kargil , the second largest city in Ladakh , is the furthest north of
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