I'd had several experiences which were giving me a negative view of the Israelis I'd seen in Manali, Leh & Shrinagar. I met Noam and Gal just over the border into Nepal and traveling with them was a chance to see if I was getting the full story in the things that had formed my negative opinions. .

Renee was quite literally met "on the road" as I rode back from exploring a small village. I want to make sure to include her in this section as an example of how western women travel for my friends in Taiwan. Renée is an inspiration for those who wouldn't take the chance of traveling in a "tough" country like India.

Peter turned out to be a heck of a character and helped me get over my traveler's blues. Owner of a catering business, paragliding instructor, beer maker, world traveler this guy was a mix of talents and stories.

Alam is the Chief Mechanic for InderMotors and a guy I had quite a bit of time to get to know in the two weeks it took to get my bike outfitted for the trip. With 26 years experience working on motorcycles, mostly with Enfields, he certainly is a master mechanic. In addition, Alam has logged over 200,000 km on Enfields as part of the tour groups taking foreigners around India & Nepal. I spend a little time talking with Alam about his experiences and recommendations to people coming to India to ride.

One of the first people I met in India, Lalli also made one of the deepest impressions on me. I took a bit of time to interview Lalli about the trends he sees in Westerners coming to India to ride, mistakes they make and suggestions on some of the best places to ride. A lot of it is common sense but much of it comes down to n people just don't budget the time and "state of mind" necessary to get things ready for an Indian trip

[ Updated 2003-09-27 ]