Tag: Rajasthan

The complete survival guide to riding a motorcycle in India

7 LIFE-SAVING TIPS TO KEEP YOU ALIVE – DESPITE THE ODDS

Looking back, the most irresponsible thing I’ve ever done in my life was riding a beat-up Royale Enfield motorcycle through Northwestern India. Nothing compared to the sheer terror and utter irresponsibility. Not diving the infamous “Blue Hole” in Sinai, climbing the Kilimanjaro, participating in amateur car racing, climbing up half of the Annapurna round trek on a tiny off-roader, flying a helicopter in the IAF, and all the other silly things I’ve attempted to do during my time on this earth. No, nothing was as viscerally stupid, life-threatening experience as doing India on Two wheels.

I did it and lived to tell the tale. Below is how I did it.

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You only die twice

THE WEIRD STORY ABOUT THE BIKER THE GOT KILLED ONLY TO BE REBORN

Riding a bike on India’s backcountry highways is a dangerous form of art. Actually, forget it! Riding a motorcycle in India is sheer lunacy, the most dangerous, irresponsible thing I’ve ever done in my life! And I’ve done some crazy s*** on four wheels, on two, with an air tank strap to my back, and on foot – you name it. Nothing, I mean NOTHING matches the stuff you have to cope with while piloting a beat-up 1950s Royale Enfield Bullitt 350cc motorcycle. Just ask Om Singh Rathore. That died as a nobody on this very piece of tarmac between Udaipur and Jodhpur, Rajasthan, in 1991. Now he is a local celebrity complete with a personal shrine, a cult of believers, and is more alive than ever. We stopped by to say hello.

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We didn’t know what we were getting into

BEHIND THE CURTAINS OF A RAJASTHANI WEDDING

We just stopped our bikes in the middle of a dusty road somewhere in the center of the mighty Thar Desert. This is Rajasthan. A place known for its dazzling colors, incredible palace cities, and harsh climate. Riding from Jodhpur to nowhere, the commotion in the poor tiny village seemed a bit out of place. Besides, we felt tired after two and a half hours on the dangerous (not to say totally crazy) open roads of northeastern India.
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