Ladakh Trip

Chapter 1: Wander

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Imagine this: 270 km from the city of Leh, there is a small village called Hanle. This village is known for the world's second-highest observatory. On a clear night, you can see the entire galaxy with its innumerable stars.

One day on my vacation I just walked around this small village. Due to its high altitude (14.5k feet), I was getting tired very fast. So I would walk some meters, then find a cozy wall with an amazing view of the mighty Himalaya and sit down to read The Lord of the Rings. Now that is what I call a vacation.

Chapter 2: Choosing Life

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

When faced with death, choosing to live is one of the easiest decisions. Our brains are hard-coded to take that decision. Be it fight or flight, the goal is to survive.

During my 1000+ km bike trip in the mighty Himalayas, I faced multiple life-threatening challenges. Before this ride, the longest I had ever ridden a bike was merely 50 km. But on this trip, I rode more than 1000 km over multiple days through the highest passes, river beds, hail storms, and river crossings.

On the last day I covered 260+ km on a bike that had a serious issue and could stop at any time. On a highway, a small mechanical failure is enough to prove fatal. One day I got lost on the way to Pangong and had to ask around for directions, since there was no network.

This experience changed my perspective around taking things seriously. There is nothing to be taken seriously until it comes to life itself. And if it becomes life-threatening, I trust my body to take over automatically.

Chapter 3: Happiness

Mountains are places where people have bigger hearts than the cars they drive. In cities, people have bigger cars; with so many people around, we have started to devalue the life of other human beings.

Chapter 4: Risk

Some days we live more than others. We live our whole life in a short period of days. With routine, the limited time of our lifetime starts to rush. On this vacation, I had a different story every day. I felt alive.

I chose life every second. When riding a bike in the mountains, I was choosing not to die with every turn I took. There was a moment when two donkeys rushed into my bike on a highway. Thankfully my brakes were very good, otherwise that could have been a serious accident.

You can get used to anything: cold weather, riding 250 km daily, no shower.

Risk makes the best experiences.