Motorcycling in India

Carl (A new Norwegian boy who has arrived), Aslak and I went to Manali for a couple of days to rent a scooter and drive in the mountains. Apparently all the scooter places are shut, so we get to rent motorbikes. I was a bit nervous seeing as I had only been driving automatic scooter before, and not a heavy bike. But, Aslak taught me some tricks and it went fine. I was the only one who had a license, and that was only for a scooter or a moped, Aslak had been driving moped a bit back home, but no license, and Carl had never driven a two-wheeler before. So solution; Carl sat on the back of Aslak’s bike and the motorbike man didn’t even ask for license.

We drove on 180 cubic bikes, so they are not that heavy if you compare to 500 cubic ones. However, for me; it was heavy enough. But, man, what a feeling to drive around in mountains with the peaks covered in snow. We drove around where we did paragliding and came up to about 3000 meters. We wanted to go to a place that was 3998 meters, but it was recommended not to go further up due to ice on the roads.

I remember when Tore took me on his red bike, we drove only for 100 meters or so, but it was such a rush and I was sure I wanted to have my own bike one day. I think I was about 9 or 10. Today, at the age of 19 (2 years before I am allowed to drive in Norway) I got to drive a heavy motorbike all alone. A dream come true; and it happened in the Himalayas!

It is an incredible way to experience the landscape here, so I definitively recommend it to anyone who likes to drive bikes!


The day after, Aslak and Carl went paragliding. I went up to take off point with them, and, man, the view was amazing. The layers that look like fog on the picture are actually layers of pollution!