I really enjoyed reading the report Andy, even though I was there 
.
It was a pleasure sleeping with you for two weeks
, thanks for your tolerance.
I was even lucky enough to celebrate my 55th birthday “on top of the World” half way through the trip.
To those asking about the Blazing Trails equivalent - I did consider going with them myself as they are a bit cheaper - about £2600 from memory, as apposed to the £3000 I paid with Global Enduro, but I was so impressed with the organisation and support, both medical and mechanical, that Global Enduro provided when I did Enduro Africa last year that I chose to pay the extra for piece of mind.
We did meet a Blazing Trails group at our lunch stop on the Northern side of the Rotang Pass, we were heading North having just come over the pass while they were heading South on their way up it.
In our group there were about 30 bikes and the Global Enduro support consisted of a 1 x leader (Collin - who used to work with Blazing Trails), 2 x UK paramedics (Bill & Mark) on bikes riding in amongst us, 2 x UK Global Enduro staffers (Jules & Richie) riding in amongst us, 2 x mechanics on bikes following us, 2 x doctors in a 4x4 following us, 2 x mechanics in a 4x4 following us and a 4x4 ambulance following us as well as a truck taking all our luggage from hotel to hotel.
The Blazing Trails group seemed to be smaller, about 20 bikes, and had a leader (a lady, possibly Suzie), a back marker on a bike and a paramedic following in a car and I assume a truck taking their luggage from hotel to hotel as they weren't carrying it in their bikes. There may have been more support but it wasn't obvious.
The other side of the coin is to do it all yourself - I was sat next to a guy on the plane home who had done just that - return flights to Delhi - £450, 3 weeks bike hire - £180, food accommodation etc - £320, Total £950 - he had got as far a Leh, he had had a few breakdowns and got lost a few times and had to carry all his own kit but he'd had a great time - each to their own.
Andy’s RanjiBanjit was really Narkanda.
The story Lou told me of his brush with a bus passenger was that as he was passing a bus in one of the small towns a “lady” stuck her arse out of a window and projectile shat in an ark which he was fortunately able to ride underneath without suffering any “blowback” and thus the phrase "You've been Zamberland" came into being – but Andy’s version could be the truth even if it’s not as much fun to explain!
Would I do it again – in a heartbeat, doing this trip once just isn’t enough!
I’ve not finished my write up and when it is done I’ll just put a link to it.
I had a GPS Data Logger tracking me taking a point every 10 seconds - if anyone wants copies of the track logs of our trip just ask – I have them in Mapsource and Google Earth format but can do them in pretty much any format – the track logs of last years Enduro Africa are at www.offroad-motorsport.com.
Only two Pics in this post - top one of the morning of my birthday at Chindhi and the lower one of me gasping for breath after climbing up a hill at the top of the BaralachaLa Pass to make sure my GPS registered over 5000m (5010m). After the damage I did to my lungs in my big "GS" accident a few years ago this was quite an achievement for me.
.It was a pleasure sleeping with you for two weeks
, thanks for your tolerance.I was even lucky enough to celebrate my 55th birthday “on top of the World” half way through the trip.
To those asking about the Blazing Trails equivalent - I did consider going with them myself as they are a bit cheaper - about £2600 from memory, as apposed to the £3000 I paid with Global Enduro, but I was so impressed with the organisation and support, both medical and mechanical, that Global Enduro provided when I did Enduro Africa last year that I chose to pay the extra for piece of mind.
We did meet a Blazing Trails group at our lunch stop on the Northern side of the Rotang Pass, we were heading North having just come over the pass while they were heading South on their way up it.
In our group there were about 30 bikes and the Global Enduro support consisted of a 1 x leader (Collin - who used to work with Blazing Trails), 2 x UK paramedics (Bill & Mark) on bikes riding in amongst us, 2 x UK Global Enduro staffers (Jules & Richie) riding in amongst us, 2 x mechanics on bikes following us, 2 x doctors in a 4x4 following us, 2 x mechanics in a 4x4 following us and a 4x4 ambulance following us as well as a truck taking all our luggage from hotel to hotel.
The Blazing Trails group seemed to be smaller, about 20 bikes, and had a leader (a lady, possibly Suzie), a back marker on a bike and a paramedic following in a car and I assume a truck taking their luggage from hotel to hotel as they weren't carrying it in their bikes. There may have been more support but it wasn't obvious.
The other side of the coin is to do it all yourself - I was sat next to a guy on the plane home who had done just that - return flights to Delhi - £450, 3 weeks bike hire - £180, food accommodation etc - £320, Total £950 - he had got as far a Leh, he had had a few breakdowns and got lost a few times and had to carry all his own kit but he'd had a great time - each to their own.
Andy’s RanjiBanjit was really Narkanda.
The story Lou told me of his brush with a bus passenger was that as he was passing a bus in one of the small towns a “lady” stuck her arse out of a window and projectile shat in an ark which he was fortunately able to ride underneath without suffering any “blowback” and thus the phrase "You've been Zamberland" came into being – but Andy’s version could be the truth even if it’s not as much fun to explain!
Would I do it again – in a heartbeat, doing this trip once just isn’t enough!
I’ve not finished my write up and when it is done I’ll just put a link to it.
I had a GPS Data Logger tracking me taking a point every 10 seconds - if anyone wants copies of the track logs of our trip just ask – I have them in Mapsource and Google Earth format but can do them in pretty much any format – the track logs of last years Enduro Africa are at www.offroad-motorsport.com.
Only two Pics in this post - top one of the morning of my birthday at Chindhi and the lower one of me gasping for breath after climbing up a hill at the top of the BaralachaLa Pass to make sure my GPS registered over 5000m (5010m). After the damage I did to my lungs in my big "GS" accident a few years ago this was quite an achievement for me.
).
