17 women on 15 bikes take adventure trip from Sonmarg to Kulu Manali

MANGALURU: In an attempt to encourage women to take up adventure rides, 17 women from across India, led by Sameera Dahiya, completed a 1,500-kilometre ride that began from Sonmarg on August 3 and ended at Manali on August 13.
Six riders from Karnataka, five from Maharashtra, three from Hyderabad, two from Tamil Nadu and one from Kerala travelled an average of 140 km per day (maximum being 240 kms) on Royal Enfield 500, Bajaj Avenger and Royal Enfield Himalayan bikes. They faced multiple challenges, including altitude sickness, emotional and technical breakdowns only to emerge stronger like never before. The youngest rider was 24-years-old and the eldest was 48.
Sameera Dahiya, co-founder of The Endless Trail, a Bengaluru-based platform that introduces and trains women on adventure motorcycle riding, said, other than making women feel empowered, the purpose of the ride is to spread awareness about sustainable travelling, no littering and protecting the environment.
Being part of several motorcycle expeditions across India during the last five years, Sameera decided to organise this trip after Delhi based K2K Expedition came forward to provide road support. “For every rider, doing the Leh-Ladak trip is a dream. After six months of planning, we hit the roads to create memories at some of the beautiful places like Turtuk, Nubra Valley, crossing the Khardung La, a mountain pass and create new friendship bonds. The support team was catering to an all-women group for the first time and had been a good help for all riders to stay consistent on the road,” said Sameera.
The riders used to hit the road by 6.30am and ride till 6pm every day. The women received a warm welcome at most places and they shared their experiences with the Ladakh tourism department. The stayed in tents and hotels, and they were also hosted by the Kargil tourism department as part of a tourism promotion drive and by a motorcycle group in Srinagar. The team underwent RT-PCR tests twice during the ride.