Source: Australian Road Rider
The road well and truly less travelledRiding across Bhutan and into Assam with a group of motorcyclists on a fleet of Enfield bikesThere is something exciting about travelling virtually unexplored roads and leading the first antipodean group across Bhutan and out into the little-visited Indian state of Assam last October was a real buzz.
Starting the trip in the bustling West Bengal capital of Calcutta (now officially Kolkata), we headed north by train to the foothills of the Himalaya where we picked up our fleet of Enfield bikes.
After much hilarity and some serious cursing at the right-hand, upside-down gearbox and left-side foot brake during our practice session, we left the sanctuary of the hotel car park and headed north-east into Bhutan.
The riders were a mixed bunch, including a statistician who calculated we rode about 2000 bends a day in the west, two engineers who predictably checked out every bridge construction, a teacher who could be calculated to keep the peace and a barrister from Wellington, New Zealand, whose often expressionless face belied a lightening fast wit.
The next 12 days of the 24-day tour were entirely within the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. Every day held a riot of laughter, new experiences, wonder, joy, occasional frustration and many hair-raising moments.
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