bhutan motorbikes & meditation - journey overview

This is not an ordinary motorcycle journey.

It has not only been designed for everyone who enjoys riding a motorbike through a mountain landscape of spectacular natural beauty to visit one of the most beautiful countries on our planet. But it will also give everyone the opportunity to get out into nature, to hike and sit quietly in remote gompas and absorb their special atmosphere and presence. It is a journey that will put the clear, fresh mountain air not only in our hair but also in our lungs as we ride and walk through its beautiful landscape. But perhaps its biggest gift will be to offer the chance to fall into a deeper space inside ourselves where stillness and silence beckon us to an altogether different quality of beauty. Very few people actually have the opportunity to visit Bhutan and those who do often spend only a few days in a country that has so much to share and to which they may never again get the chance to return. With this in mind, our journey will offer us a longer stay and a much deeper experience. It will give us the possibility of seeing all aspects of life in the communities that form the basis of Bhutan’s culture and religion while driving through a stunning landscape without feeling rushed. We will ride the whole length of the country from west to east and visit remote, eastern Bhutan which very few other visitors have time to see. I have paid particular attention to the quality of our journey and we will be staying in comfortable, cosy and clean hotels and lodges during our adventure that will provide us with good food and great service.

We will be riding the classic 500cc Royal Enfield motorbike that has a production lineage dating back to the late 19th century in England. The bike has been manufactured in India over the past 50 years and is still the genuine article. For those of you unfamiliar with this unique machine, it sports a single cylinder, four stroke engine that puts out 24 bhp at 4600 rpm and has a distinctive, deep-throated sound that is unforgettable. Although the design has changed very little over the years, it is the perfect machine for touring in the mountains with its powerful torque, low revs and ability to handle rough roads as well as smooth.

We will assemble in New Delhi for the first day of our journey before flying to Bagdogra in West Bengal and transferring to our hotel in the town of Siliguri. Our bikes will be waiting for us there and we will have a chance to familiarise ourselves with them with an afternoon outing before we ride the following day to the southern Bhutanese border town of Phuentsholing for our first night in the country.

For the next 18 days, we will ride the whole length of this unique and isolated Himalayan land from west to east. We will drive up from Phuentsholing in the plains to the town of Paro for a two day visit. Here we will acclimatise ourselves to the higher altitude and visit the most famous of all Bhutan’s gompas, the Taktsang or “Tiger’s Nest” that hangs from a cliff face some 500 metres above the valley floor. The next leg of our journey will take us to the capital of Bhutan, Thimphu, where we will see some of the country’s most iconic landmarks such as the National Chorten and the huge statue of Buddha that looks down on the valley below. We will be introduced to the ancient culture and traditional crafts of the country and visit Tango gompa where the most advanced Tibetan Buddhist teachings are passed on.

We will then cross Dochu La and spend the night up there at 3000 metres to see the sun rise the following morning on the magnificent vista of the Great Himalayan Range before descending into the fertile Punakha valley. We will visit the massive Punakha dzong and finally Chimi gompa that was founded by Drukpa Kuenley, Bhutan’s loved “Divine Madman” before heading to our riverside resort for the night.

Our journey will then take us to the beautiful Phobjika valley and the winter home of the endangered black-neck crane. There we will sit in the prayer halls of one of Bhutan’s oldest gompas at Gangtey before driving through the Black Mountain National Park and past the old chorten of Chendebji to the ancient, strategic town of Trongsa and its imposing dzong.

From there we will enter the Bumthang valley where a different pace sets in as we step back in time into the spiritual heart of the country and all its pastoral beauty. Our cosy family-run lodge with wood-burning stoves in each bedroom will be our base for the next five nights.

We will drive and hike to the stunning gompas that were established around the places where Guru Rinpoche meditated in the 8th century and have the chance to sit quietly inside their prayer halls and absorb their ancient silence. This section of the journey offers everyone the experience of rural Bhutan and the opportunity to come closer to the Tibetan Buddhist practice that is such a vital part of daily life in the country. It is always hard to leave the peace of Bumthang but crossing one of the highest passes on Bhutan’s well-paved roads will give us a spectacular ride through dense forests as we descend into the remoteness of eastern Bhutan and the town of Mongar. From there we will make a side trip into the isolated Lhuentse valley, famous for its weaving and textiles.Bhutan’s second largest town of Trashigang will be our next stop before we begin our descent on a spectacular mountain road towards the Indian plains and the border town of Samdrup Jongkhar for our last night in the country.

After saying goodbye to our guide and completing the Immigration formalities, we will drive to our lakeside resort close to the hill station of Shillong in the Indian state of Meghalaya. This exquisite and relaxed haven will give us the chance to digest all that we have experienced in Bhutan before we fly back to Delhi from the Assamese capital of Guwahati for our last night together in the Indian capital.