Conquer Himalayas on Royal Enfield (Ladakh, India)

Ten nights through Ladakh, guided, on a Royal Enfield, covering the classic circuit without the Zanskar crossing.

This is the shorter of the operator’s two Ladakh tours and the more straightforward: the same monasteries, the same high passes and the same lakes, with no off-road detour into Zanskar.

A flight reaches Leh at 3,500 metres with a day to acclimatise, then Hemis and Thiksey, the largest monastery in Ladakh and the twelve-storey one on the highway. Lamayuru follows, then Kargil over the Namkila. Temisgam comes next in the valley around Dah and Hanu, home to the Brokpa, a small Indo-Aryan-speaking community with their own language, dress and traditions, quite distinct from their Ladakhi neighbours. Khardung La carries the route into the Nubra Valley and the dunes at Hunder, with riverside riding along the Shyok, then Pangong Lake above four thousand metres, which runs across the frontier into Tibet and changes colour through the day, and the return over the Chang La at 5,360 metres.

The bike hire is included; the full inclusions were not itemised on the operator’s page and are worth confirming at booking. June to September is the season, since the passes are snowbound outside it. Altitude is the serious matter here and the acclimatisation day in Leh is not a formality. Eleven days is enough for the main circuit and a sensible first Himalayan tour, with Pangong and the Nubra dunes both included and nothing on the route demanding off-road experience beyond patience with broken surfaces. The two internal flights at either end also save several days of road transit from Delhi, which is what makes a trip this short to Ladakh possible at all.