A motorcycle journey through the Indian Himalayas across the Tibetan Plateau to the Buddhist motorcycle mecca of Leh is a true bombardment of the senses.
Around 100 black yaks are sprinkled across the barren landscape like stone pillars, chewing their cud in the rays of the high-mountain sun on the Tibetan Plateau. The idyll is interrupted when a large, black and horny yak leaps over rocks, gravel and grass tufts, stirring up dust and pebbles on all sides as it tosses its head from side to side. We are heading on motorcycles, old English Royal Enfield models, over the Wari Lah mountain pass, about 5300 meters above sea level in the Indian Himalayas. Our course is set for the lush Nubra Valley, which lies below us at an altitude of 3,000 meters, not far from the border with neighboring Pakistan.

On a motorcycle journey through the Himalayas, you'll meet bikers from the far corners of India, many of whom have traveled thousands of kilometers from their hometowns in India's lowlands to experience the thrill of crossing the high mountain passes of the Himalayas on two wheels. It's especially fun to see the Indian Sikhs who, instead of wearing helmets, come whizzing along with big, colorful turbans on their heads and old-school goggles to match. As a Sikh in India, you are exempt from the legal requirement to wear a helmet; all you have to do is tie your turban so tightly that it stays on your head for your own safety.

If you're willing to compromise on comfort, motorcyclists of all nationalities are rewarded with views that would make even the most traveled globetrotter's jaw drop: an endless army of mountain peaks with perpetual snow marching towards the horizon, and every time you cross a mountain pass you enter a new valley with a new landscape. The mountains of the southern Himalayas are covered with green cacti, colossal fig trees and banana palms. But the further up the Himalayas you go, the more barren and desolate the terrain becomes, and after a few days of driving, the tropical plants are replaced by stone heaps, grass dunes and snowdrifts.

Animals of the world on the road

The roads in the Indian Himalayas drive on the left, and as a rule of thumb, keep your gaze frozen on the road and don't be tempted to stare too long at the magnificent mountain landscapes as you drive, For on the road, animals of all kinds mingle with local school buses filled with children waving, hooting and laughing, Indian Tata trucks painted in every color of the rainbow, trailing a thick black trail of smoke, three-wheeled tuk tuks and mopeds.

Herds of golden-brown rhesus monkeys with red bottoms sit on the side of the road waiting for someone to throw fruit out the bus window for them, hundreds of long-haired mountain goats with twisted horns on their way to the highlands slow down the traffic, black pigs with bristly bristles rummage through garbage piles, before suddenly squealing and racing across the street, and all along the roads, street dogs lie snoring all day long, only to wake up at sunset and start a deafening dogfight that lasts until the next dawn. At night you may be lucky enough to spot shy leopards heading to the villages to prey, and every year the big cats take sheep, goats and occasionally a few small school children.

Holy men and cows along the highway

The Himalayas are mythologically home to many Hindu gods, which is why pilgrims from all over the country come to this region to visit the many ancient temples and sacred sites. One of the most important gods said to reside in the Himalayas is Shiva, who in India is the god of death and destruction.

Yes, they have that kind of deity too. Shiva is the god that the holy men worship, and as part of this worship cult, cannabis is smoked in honor of Shiva. The strong tobacco grows everywhere in the southern Himalayas, where colossal hemp plants sway in the wind and where there are as many hemp plants in a ditch edge as there are nettles in a Danish discount. Here in the Himalayas, hash pipes are lit and holy men with red eyes stroll smiling down the streets of the small mountain towns.

Here they remain motionless - lazy, indifferent and holy as they are, they are completely unaffected by the buses and trucks honking their horns to get them to move. Only when a local mountain farmer comes running and threatens the sacred cow with a bamboo stick raised above its head, the cow stands up and the traffic can continue. So they are no more holy than they are aware of a slap on the back from a whirling bamboo stick.

The most spectacular stretch for motorcyclists is from the town of Manali in the southern Himalayas to the Buddhist oasis of Leh on the Tibetan Plateau. This route crosses numerous mountain passes at 4,000-5,000 meters above sea level where large, greedy vultures hungrily watch motorcyclists, over high plains with wolves and wild donkeys, past mountain lakes with azure glacial waters and alongside rushing meltwater rivers. In the southern Himalayas, you can stay like a real Maharaja in old heritage hotels, which are preserved palaces and royal castles converted into hotels with modern facilities. But here in the high plains, you stay in tented camps, light campfires in the evening and roast spicy lamb over the embers while drinking Indian cane sugar rum and talking about the day's drive with your fellow travelers.

Views of the landscape of the Tibetan Plateau

At night, a sparkling starry sky emerges, and the clear air combined with the sporadic settlement means you can see the Milky Way winding through the universe like a white mist, while shooting stars draw luminous lines in the black night sky and the icy wind bites your skin. While Hinduism, with its holy men and cows, dominates the landscape of the lush southern Himalayas, it is Tibetan Buddhism that is practiced as you drive up into the heights and roll along the roads of the magnificent and barren Tibetan plateau some 4,000 meters above sea level. Here, shaven-headed Buddhist monks and novices walk along the highway, their saffron-red monk robes illuminating the sand-colored landscape. Along the Indus River road towards the city of Leh, the capital of the independent Indian region of Ladakh, medieval whitewashed monasteries hang on steep hillsides, always with a deep blue sky and a baking sun in the background.

Inside, these monasteries are painted in bright colors with images of the gods worshipped in Tibetan Buddhism. Many of the gods, including the protector Maha Kala, appear in a gruesome and grotesque aesthetic with bared fangs, a wild look in their eyes and wearing a necklace of skulls, dancing on dead bodies.

human bodies and with flames in the background. The purpose of this protector is to appear so intimidating that it keeps away even the most evil spirits. This image is juxtaposed with images of a slender and serene Buddha sitting with his eyes closed, meditating in a pink lotus flower. In such a setting, you can go to Thieksey Monastery in the Indus Valley for morning prayers at 6am. On the roof of the monastery, monks wearing their orange-red robes with golden helmets on their heads stand blowing long brass pipes over the Indus Valley.

After a few minutes, small human figures swarm out of the houses at the foot of the monastery, all wearing the characteristic red monks' robes, and soon the prayer hall is filled with monks of all ages. From little six-year-old boys teasing and chatting to each other on the way up the stairs, to old men openly yawning as they demonotonously chant the many mantras, accompanied by drums, ratchets and bells.

To travel is to have your eyes washed

We all know the old Danish poet who said: 'To travel is to live'. In China they say: 'To travel is to have your eyes washed'. After a trip through the Himalayas on two wheels, it's safe to say that both sayings contain essential life wisdom.

Life doesn't get much more intense than whizzing through the sensory bombardment of the Himalayas on an English Royal Enfield motorcycle. Here you live life to the fullest. After such a journey, your eyes have been washed and everything is much clearer. You have a thousand things to wonder about, but also a new and different perspective on the diverse world we live in.