Since I am better at taking photos than writing novels, I initially wanted to publish the 40 panoramas shot on my iPhone during the trip, so that my relatives can get an overview of the road trip and the landscapes encountered. But in the end, I realized that it was necessary to have captions to go with the images, a context to help understand them. It's now done, and I encourage you to spend more time on the photos than on the reading. You can click on each panorama to view it in full screen.

In June 2017 we went for a photography roadtrip in Ladakh. This mountainous region of Northern India belongs to the Himalayas. Leh and its beautiful valleys are cut off from the outside world from October to the end of May every year, as the passes are buried under 3 meters of snow. The Ladakhis live isolated, getting just enough money to survive during the cold winter from tourism and a bit of farming in the summer. The Royal Enfield motorcycle roadtrip being very popular in the area, we embarked on the adventure, bringing back tons of photos and videos of these breathtaking landscapes.

Our journey begins in the very famous winter resort Manali, capital of Himachal Pradesh. After 17 hours of bus from Delhi, we settle down in Old Manali, and rent motorbikes. We choose two Royal Enfield bikes, model Classic 350cc of 2014 and 2015 (first big mistake). Our first step is to reach Leh through the terrifying Manali-Leh Highway, which crosses the mountain range on 490km, surrounded by 7000 meters-high snowy peaks.

The next day we attack the first pass, the Rohtang La (4000m). We are facing a huge jam on the road before arriving to the pass, which makes us sneak between army trucks, 4x4 tourists and heavy commercial trucks. Good training for Nico, who does not have any motorcycle driving license, and is driving for the first time a two-wheeler more powerful than a scooter. After 4 hours in the rain, a few falls and other fears, we finally reach the pass. Most of the Indian tourists come here for the day to play with the snow, on the few snow bergs marking out the roadsides (photo below).

When we descend on the other side, it gets more complicated. The holed road gives way to a dirt track, covered with mud and puddles of water. Fortunately, from there, vehicles become scarce. A little further, we refuel the tank at the last station before 365km of desert.

The next two days are spent under the rain and are particularly challenging. We cross real rivers flowing on the road, up to 50cm deep. Motorcycles lack a little power as soon as we climb in altitude, but the driving pleasure is there. We enjoy getting more and more used to the Enfields as we develop our driving skills on difficult paths.

The next two passes are climbed under thick fog and heavy rain. The closer you get to the pass, the poorer the road gets, thus the joy of finally reaching Baralacha La (5030m) and Lachulung La (5060m) passes. We officially enter Ladakh at the Sarchu military camp, second of a long list of checkpoints that will rythmes the journey. A few kilometers later, as the landscapes begin to change from Alps to Grand Canyon, we are stuck at a bridge being repaired. We take advantage of it to discuss with Indian bikers. There is a real friendship community-feeling between drivers of Royal Enfield, a real pleasure ! The road is more often offroad than tarred afterwards, but crosses amazing landscapes, always under a thin but persistent rain. We did well bringing K-ways, waterproof boots and a tarpaulin to protect our bags - and particularly the photo and video gear.

As we reach Pang on the evening of the 3rd day, the landscapes become dry and desert, almost lunar. We sleep in a camp at 4600m altitude helped by Diamox - the pills to fight altitude sickness (note to myself, never go on this kind of trip without a med student, thank you Nico for this invaluable help).

The next day is the first time we see the sun over our heads. What a blessing after 3 harsh days! We head towards Leh after climbing the Tanglang Pass (5328m). First time Nico goes at this altitude, fortunately I am still a little ahead after 5600m on the slopes of Everest last year. On the road we usually take breaks in Tea Houses, for a coffee with milk and always the same combo Omelet / bread and Maggi (instant noodles). The sceneries around us are impressive and we stop many times to take photographs, looking for the master shot. On our way we cross gigantic canyons, as well as a plain that might worth the Atacama Desert in Chile, with its altitude of 4700m. Our motorcycles are having a hard time with the lack of oxygen, and we cannot exceed 40km/h on flat areas. Shit, we should have taken 500cc bikes!

Finally, we arrive in the valley of Leh, a kind of mix between desert mountains and green meadows, scattered there and there by a monastery on top of a hill. We spend two incredible days visiting the monasteries, doing sick photo sessions, playing with the drone ... and repairing the motorcycles. Unluckily, during the Manali-Leh Highway, Nico broke his footrest and I destroyed rear-view mirror and headlight. On the first morning, Nico’s clutch wire breaks at Thiksey (monastery in photo below). The bike will have to be towed to the Royal Enfield garage in Leh, 30 kilometers away. The savior looked more like a tractor than a tow truck.

By the way we also perform a complete check-up and discover that we have to change an incredible number of parts. First giggling, psychological burn-out at the end of the day “Why are we inflicting that to ourselves?”

We are told that regarding the state of the roads in Ladakh, motorbikes are rented 3 seasons maximum and then discarded or sold. Mine is 2 years old while Nico’s one is from 2014 and literally dying. That was error number two.

For the next steps of our journey and access to the more isolated valleys of Ladakh, we must obtain a license and rent other motorcycles - those registered in Himachal Pradesh have no right to access these places. We opt this time for 500cc Bullet, but without racks, which proves complex to hang our bags onto – and especially risky for our gear (see later).

We then drive to Pangong Lake, a 134-km clear blue stretch of water, on the border with Tibet. The landscapes on the way are once again impressive, with sand dunes and a quite technical section, the Changla Pass (5360m). Everywhere, military camps protect the region from a Chinese invasion. There are literally several thousand soldiers and dozens of tanks guarding the valleys.

120km, several rivers crossed and quite a few checkpoints later, we reach Pangong Tso. The lake colors and the surrounding mountains are magnificent. It will be the landscape that impressed me most during the whole trip. My drone begins to show signs of weakness, and the stabilized gimbal starts to have unexplained tremors, ruining half of the video shots.

After the return and one night spent in Leh, we take the world's highest motorable to reach the Nubra Valley.

The Khardung pass will prove to be the most technical section of the trip, the track being covered with really deep holes and crossing dozens-meters-long rivers. No matter, at an altitude of 5602m, we are very happy to play with our Canon cameras in the snow, swallow a maggi-omelet and do a contest of pumps (which I would lose miserably besides). At this height, there is only 45% of oxygen compared to sea level.

We spend 48 hours in the Nubra Valley for its sand dunes, its camels that date from the glory Silk Road days, and take this master shot (photo below). There is also a rather important monastery, where the Dalai Lama in person will make a speech 24 hours after we left. We shoot beautiful portraits of monks and breathtaking drone footage.

We then start the return trip to Leh, by the same path. We discover a super impressive monastery perched on a hill and overlooking the valley, that we had not noticed the day before. Small panic when crossing a 50cm-deep river, Nico's bike no longer wants to start. Luckily, he’s only out of gas, but we do not understand how the bike could have empty the tank in 200km (on 500km range, such a demanding road). Fortunately we are always carrying extra gas bottles. For the story we will lose several gas bottles during the journey due to the deep holes on the road. On the way back, I realize that my loyal Canon 16-35mm lens was damaged by the transport, leaving me without any wide-angle lens for the end of the trip, which is quite an issue for landscape photography. Moreover, the gimbal of my drone no longer responds at all, making any aerial recording impossible. "Because of the lack of racks on the bikes, damn".

After a quick night in Leh, we drive in direction of Kargil, the capital of western Ladakh. The road is perfect – almost like an highway, straight through the valleys. We learn that the army brings most of the men and equipment through Kashmir via this road, and therefore build it brand new every year when the snow of the passes melt and the region open again to the outside world. We just got back our 350cc and cannot exceed 50km/h with the altitude, but it does not matter, it is beautiful and the landscapes are fantastic (like this junction between two rivers that do not have the same color, 2 photos below).

Unfortunately, the throttle cable of Nico's bike breaks in two, exactly between Leh and Kargil - approximately 110km from each. After many failed attempts including driving 30km to a military camp where nobody speaks English - a 4x4 driver escorting motorcycles helps us out by selling us a brand-new cable that he was carrying extra. In the end, we will reach Kargil before night, and even have time to do a sunset photo session over this epic city, lodged at the bottom of a valley and built around the Shingo river meanders.

Big change of atmosphere here, we just moved from Buddhism to Islam by getting closer to Kashmir. The Tibetan-Mongoloid faces give way to Indians and Pakistanis, and the monasteries are slowly replaced by mosques.

From Kargil, we sneak into the valley of Zanskar, one of the three oldest valleys in the Ladakhi culture. On our way to western Ladakh we already started to see fewer tourists, but in this valley it reaches a milestone: only a touristic 4x4 will cross our path. Due to lack of time and a landslide before the Drang-Drung glacier, we do not continue to the end of the valley. While driving to a secluded village away from the main track, we will find people terrorized to see Westerners, completely isolated from the rest of the world. Even in the depths of Cameroon, I did not remember having met people whose existence is so fundamentally different from ours, who are completely unaware of our civilization, and had probably never seen a smartphone before.

We then take the road to Srinagar, capital of northern Kashmir. The desert landscapes become green valleys and the villages are becoming more and more frequent (but always soldiers everywhere).

We cross the last Ladakhi checkpoint and the impressive Zoji La pass (3529m, pictured below), separating Ladakh from Kashmir. The sandy track is only 3 meters wide with a precipice of 1km depth to our left.

A few dozen kilometers later, we are stopped at a checkpoint before Srinagar. Due to demonstrations for independence that have ‘a bit’ degenerated, tourists have been thrown stones. The army finally set up a curfew, and we can pursue to the city. It is completely deserted - in stark contrast with the usual agitation in Indian towns. There are only soldiers and armored vehicles in the streets. On the main Srinagar crossroads, a tank stands guard.

We spend two nights sleeping on a House Boat. With these political troubles, the atmosphere is quite tensed. During the day, we visit the lake gardens and the various temples, and discuss with both parties: the soldiers and the people of Kashmir. While some did not understand the desire for independence, others are opposed to the Indian invaders and fear the federal government.

The telephone network used to be blocked for prepaid packages in Ladakh, but here we discover that the government also decided to cut monthly packages and internet in the whole Kashmir. It felt like being observers in the middle of a military dictatorship.

The next day we drive our Royal Enfields towards South Kashmir. We spend a night in Jammu – a city which looks like what I imagine of Pakistan. Then we head south via a few passes and tunnels (very surprising in India). After having spend hours driving under the rain, zigzagging between cows and other farm animals, we finally reach the border Kashmir-Himachal Pradesh. Surprisingly, not even 200m after it, I’m getting the telephone and internet network for the first time since Manali, 16 days before. Marijuana grow like weeds on the side of the road, leaving the checkpoint officers stolid.

Our trip will then lead us to Dharamsala (or rather McLeod Ganj), residence of the 14th Dalai Lama, perched at an altitude of 2000m on the Himalaya foothills. From there, still under a persistent rain, we will reach Manali, return our destroyed bikes, and take a well-deserved Luxury bus to Delhi.

Next motorcycle trip, crossing Pakistan from south to north ?

1 500 miles across the Himalayas: A Ladakh motorbike journey