Archives for category: – India

My friend Nathan told me recently about the Royal Enfield Himalayan, a back-to-basics, 411cc adventure bike from India. From reviews I’ve read the bike is more pack mule than race horse. Or said another way, the long-stroke engine provides more useful torque than it does useful horsepower. But often that’s just what’s needed off-road.

I think the YouTube review above does a good job of laying out the bike’s pros and cons. After the jump there’s another video of bike on an adventure in the Himalayas. And here’s a review of the bike in Cycle World to round things out.  Read the rest of this entry »

This is the real deal. Five women, all friends, all French, decide to cross the Himalayas by motorcycle. They arrive in India, get on their Royal Enfields, and then things get tough: crazy traffic, altitude sickness, rockslides, military checkpoints, and fatigue. The people are friendly though and the landscapes are gorgeous. You really have to admire these women’s grit.

The video is in three episodes. Find episodes two and three after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Motocross racer Adam Riemann takes his less-than-experienced father on 4,500 km tour through the Himalayas. They each ride their own 150cc machines.

Fancy doing a 3,500 km (2,175 mi.) lap of India in a 7 hp Bajaj rickshaw? Well then, step right up young sir, young miss, The Adventurists are at it again. Correction. They’re always at it. They’re running three Rickshaw Runs a year, by the looks of it.

The idea is that you raise £500–£1000 ($816–$1632) for charity and pay The Adventurists £1395 ($2277) to sign up. They give you rickshaw, host the start and finish with some epic parties (according to their site), and send you off on a 16-day, shit-your-pants adventure through Indian traffic.

It actually looks like a lot of fun.

In 1993 three friends from New Zealand set out from Morocco on what would become an eight-year, eleven-part adventure through Africa, the Middle East, India, China, and Mongolia.

In their travels they saw the whole of human experience: war, corruption, but also great festivals, amazing desert cities, and friendly people of all creeds and colors.

These four videos detail their trip. By all evidence, it was epic. Read the rest of this entry »

monkey_party

I just found this clip of what goes down at a fountain at the Sun Temple in Jaipur, India: awesome monkey pool parties.

Link trail: Bloggers

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Here’s another video from High Beam, this time showing how to make Masala Chai, the Indian take on British tea. The recipe includes fresh ginger, ground cardamom, clove, cinnamon, orange pekoe tea, and an infectious, 60s-Bollywood soundtrack.

Try it with organic milk and spring water and get ready to dance around your kitchen. Read the rest of this entry »