Spiti Valley Motorbike Expedition (India)

Eight nights through the Spiti Valley, guided, 1,227 kilometres on a Royal Enfield, from green forest into high desert.

This is the operator’s entry point to the Himalaya and the cheapest thing it sells, which makes it the sensible first attempt at riding in this part of the world before committing to Ladakh.

The Tirthan Valley opens it in thick green forest, then the Jalori Pass through the trees, and the road climbs steadily into Spiti, which locals have long called the Middle Land for sitting between India and Tibet: a cold desert at around four thousand metres with monasteries on the ridges and almost no vegetation. Kunzum La follows with water crossings and dirt road, then the Atal Tunnel, among the longest high-altitude tunnels in the world, and Chandratal, a high lake reached on foot from the road. Ancient Buddhist monasteries and the villages built around them run throughout.

The bike hire is included; the full inclusions were not itemised on the operator’s page and are worth confirming at booking. June to September is the season, since Kunzum La is shut the rest of the year, though the Atal Tunnel now keeps the Lahaul side open year round. Altitude matters here as everywhere in the Himalaya and the schedule’s acclimatisation is worth asking about. Nine days at this price is remarkable value, and Spiti sees a fraction of the traffic Ladakh now draws, which is most of the argument for going there instead. The change from the forest at Tirthan to the bare rock of the valley happens over about two days and is the most striking thing on the route.