A JOURNEY RETRACED
In 2023 , a different team conquered the pass on one of the world ’ s newest roads ( opened in 2021 ) to ensure all-weather access to Ladakh . The road over the Shingo La presented its problems , described as being ‘ partially open ’, which the team chose to tackle on the appropriately named Enfield Himalaya – the perfect motorbike for the job . With 500 cc of power and plenty of crash frame protection , the bikes provided a great way to traverse the pass and cross numerous rivers .
Unfortunately , much higher river levels were evidence of global warming , with unseasonably high temperatures continuing to melt the snow and glaciers high in the Himalayas . The local people could no longer bury their food in the ground to stay cool , as has been the tradition for millennia .
PHUCTAL GOMPA
The journey ’ s midpoint was a most spectacular visit to the Phuctal Gompa , which sat high over the bank of the second Zanskar tributary – the Tsarap River . Set into the cliffs , this Gompa dated from the tenth century , and I shared a video of my visit 40 years previously with the present residing monks . The monks pointed out the various changes , bridges that had been washed away in floods and parts of the building that had dropped away down the cliff .
A day further down the journey , the motorbike team arrived at Padum , the regional capital . Two additional female members joined them , who walked two high passes over 16,500 feet to Padum . Once cut off from the rest of the world , Padum has now been joined by new roads both from Manali , where the team started , and Leh , where there is an airport and military base and would be the final destination for the expedition .