Ladakh, on two wheelsLadakh, on two wheels

Some trips you plan for months and they still don’t prepare you. Ladakh on a bike was one of those — thin air, switchbacks that fold back on themselves, and a horizon that kept moving the goalposts on what “big” meant.

The riding was the whole point. Hours of nothing but engine, wind, and a road threading through mountains that did not care whether I made it. Then you round a bend and Pangong opens up — that impossible blue — and the whole convoy just goes quiet and stops.

Best company, worst phone signal, zero regrets. Still the trip I measure other trips against.