their bikes . We had a briefing from Ravi about the controls which were the same as European bikes except for one control which caught me out a few times . The Bullets were fitted with both a normal gear shift and a heel operated shift . Several times , my heel accidentally rested on this gear shift popping the bike into neutral or first . A bit scary when I wasn ’ t expecting it !
The road from our hotel was a dirt road with huge boulders and a few concrete manhole covers rising from the dirt . A few cows ambled about adding to the melee and a JCB was ineffectually digging around . I cautiously set off into this health and safety nightmare whilst Sandy , with a whoop and a yell shot past the JCB , riding up the berms like a wall of death rider !
“ C ’ mon Mum ”, he yelled in my intercom . “ Just keep the power on and go for it ! Don ’ t stop ! Don ’ t stop !” Thus it was my first lesson in offroading ! We reached the tarmacked main road and weaved our way through the chaotic traffic , then out of the town and up the hillside to the large stupa towering over Leh .
Stupas are Buddhist monuments usually containing a relic from a Buddhist monk . They can be small roadside shrines or huge ostentatious landmarks . One must always walk around them in a clockwise direction , and we respected this
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