Top of the World (Ladakh, India)

Ten nights in a loop from Leh, guided, across Ladakh on a Royal Enfield, including the highest motorable pass in the world.

Umling La is the headline: a sealed road built by the Indian army that tops out at 5,798 metres, higher than anything else a motorcycle can be ridden on, and high enough that the engine loses a third of its power.

A flight over the Himalaya reaches Leh, where the first days are given to acclimatisation and an introductory ride. Lamayuru follows, with its thousand-year-old monastery above an eroded valley, then Alchi and back to Leh for the palace, the Namgyal Tsemo gompa and the Shanti Stupa. Khardung La leads into the Nubra Valley and a tented camp at Hunder, with a run out to Turtuk, a Balti village that was on the Pakistani side of the line until 1971. Pangong Tso comes next, a turquoise lake on the Changthang plateau with a camp on the shore, then Hanle, with the Chushul war memorial and the Indian Astronomical Observatory at 4,500 metres, the second highest in the world, before Umling La itself.

The bike hire is included, with a Royal Enfield Bullet or Himalayan; the full inclusions are not itemised on the operator’s page and are worth confirming at booking. Altitude is not a detail here: the route spends most of its length above four thousand metres and anyone with a heart or lung condition should take medical advice before booking. June to September is the season. Eleven days makes this the shortest Himalayan tour the operator runs and the highest by a clear margin.