Rest days

October 19^th and 20^th, 2026

Guwahati, India

Woke around 7:00AM and took a shower.

Dressed and went down for breakfast.

Ben and Jude had already left for the airport, but found the rest of the group at Breakfast and was able to talk for a bit with them.

Brad was leaving first, heading out about 10:00AM.

Dennis and Mike would leave next, sometime after 2:00PM.

John and I are both staying another night at this hotel.

After breakfast I returned to the room to work on some stuff.

My main goal was to get my finances recorded and validated.

Logged in and verified all the credit card charges, and then paid off the current balances.

I then spent some time online just playing around.

Sometime during this I became quite tired and decided to take a nap, which turned into a 4 hour sleep.

Woke up a bit before dinner time.

Looked around on maps and nothing was really close enough to walk too, at least after dark, so decided to just eat the buffet again, even though it was not that cheap of price.

Went downstairs and had my dinner.  I did not see John, but he had already said he would not be eating there, so was not expecting him. 

I spent much of the time reading in the Kindle to pass the time.

Once done eating I went over to the bar to buy a Coke to take up to the room.

I checked on a few things online once back in the room and then decided to try reading more, but did not get much done before I was too tired to continue.

I ended up going to bed a bit early, but think I really needed the extra rest after the busy 2 weeks on the bike.

I woke up the next morning at 7:00AM, and after a nice hot shower, I went down to have breakfast and ran into John there. (Breakfast is included in the room price, so not an extra cost).

We talked while eating and then decided it was time to go do something else.

John thought he would hit the pool again, and while I had not intention of swimming, figured it would be nice to just relax outside a bit.

We agreed on meeting over there in about 30 minutes.

That gave me time to go back to the room and finish packing everything up, I will move to a new hotel later today.

When the time came, I walked over to the pool, but did not see anyone.   I decided to walk the entire grounds, and while over near the building with the Gym and Spa, I saw John talking to a hotel staff member.

I joined them and after a few minutes, we walked over to the Gym to check it out.

We both played around with some of the equipment for 15-20 minutes, then went over to the pool.

I moved a lounge chair as far back into the shade from the building and got comfy.

John did the same and we spent the next 2 hours talking about our travels and such.

John did get in the water for a bit as well.

Around 11:30 I decided I should go ahead and get back to the room, and then check out and head over to the other hotel where I will stay for the next 2 weeks.

John and I said our goodbyes as I would likely not see him in person again, then I returned to our rooms.

I checked all the space and made sure the bags were ready, then left the room and headed down stairs.

In the lobby the bell staff came over and took my bags and put them by the door.

I went to the desk to pay my bill (just the meals and drinks from last night) and then asked to get on the Wi-Fi in the lobby so I could get an Uber ordered.

Desk staff put my phone on the network, and then I got on the Uber App and ordered a car to take me from this hotel to the other hotel, which was about 14 miles away.

A driver took the call almost immediately, but was 15 minutes away.

After a few minutes, the car had not moved, so was starting to wonder what was going on.

Then it started driving toward me, and eventually went past the driveway (expected as they need to U-Turn and come back to it).

But then car went to the airport and stopped, and a few minutes later canceled the ride pickup.

So now I have wasted nearly 20 minutes waiting for a car that will not come.

A new driver picked up the ride after a few seconds, and was a bit closer, but again, car sat there for a few minutes before it started to move.

Once moving, it changed its direction several times getting out of the neighborhood, and soon was on the main roads toward me.

Once it pulled into the driveway, I went outside and my bags were brought out.

The car pulled up, but then stopped for a few pedestrians, and finally came up to the front doors.

Bell staff loaded my bags; I got into the front seat as the back would never take my legs.

Then we just sat there.  Driver kept looking in his mirrors, but no clue what he was waiting for.

Hotel staff made him move forward a bit, but then he stopped again.

After about 5 minutes, staff came over and started talking to him, and then to me.  They wanted to know if I had stopped the driver, but I said I had no clue why we were sitting there instead of going to my destination.

Some back and forth and they said the driver thought my location was wrong for the dropoff.

I pointed to his phone and map showing the route and it was correct.  It matched my phone app’s location, as well as Google Maps, and was same location Hotels.com had it.

Hotel staff looked at things, and then told driver it was correct and to take me there.

Wasted another 10 minutes for some stupid driver crap.  Driver never tried to communicate with me, and I picked up that he had little English ability, but still to just sit there and ignore me instead of trying to figure out what needed to be done.

That episode ended my plan to tip him nicely with cash.

We finally started to drive, and then he did follow the planned route.

It took us around 30 minutes to reach the other hotel across town.

Once dropped off the driver left and I went inside to check in.

I was told to have a seat and they would get to me; they were still working with a group in lobby checking in before me.

Sat down and waited, and after 5-10 minutes, then got me checked in.

Once I had my room key, the bell staff grabbed my bags and took me to the room on the 2^nd floor.

He put bags in room and then showed me a few things in the room that I might need to know.

Once he left, I sat down and relaxed.

I got onto the WI-Fi, though a bit concerned as they gave me 2 codes, and each is stated to only work for 2 days, yet I am here for 14, so may need to find out how that will work, as the listing on Hotels.com stated free Wi-Fi here.

After some time getting caught up on things online, I decided to head out and try to find an ATM and buy a SIM card.

I asked the front desk if there was a SIM card place nearby, as my searches online were not being helpful, most of the findings either reviewed at incorrect locations, or comments about how hard they were to find with maps being inaccurate.

I walked down to the main road and headed in one direction.

Lots of shops and food places, and other services, but after 2 blocks, no SIM shop or ATM.

Went over to other side of street and finally found a bank.  But they had no ATM in the room anymore.

Another bank was few doors down, ATM was there, but when I went inside, the machine indicated it was out of cash, so no withdrawals possible.

Kept walking, but found nothing more.

Crossed road and found a cell repair shop with sign saying SIM Cards.

When I asked, they told me I would need two local phone numbers to buy one.  What the fuck?

I know they need ID and local address (the hotel in my case), but why would I have access to two phone numbers as a tourist?  Perhaps the Hotel number, that makes sense, but how many travelling tourists actually know someone in town?  He said I could come back tomorrow and they would give me another address to visit the main office and they could sell me one.

I am probably not going to do that though, seems a bit hokey, so will check somewhere else, or just forget about it.

Bit farther found another ATM.

Card was in, PIN entered, requested the funds, and then machine spits out note that it cannot communicate with my service (seems to be a problem around here with card machines and ATMs not being able to talk to anything not local).

Went down the road a bit, another ATM.

Card goes in, but then touch screen to choose options does not respond to my touch, totally locked up or something.

Canceled that transaction.

Ended up back at the hotel after 30 minutes with no SIM Card and no Money.

I am started to see that this area of India is lagging behind the western parts of the country in the areas of technology and services.

I sat around working on some stuff, then finally decided to go have dinner in the hotel restaurant for this night.

Went up to the 4^th floor, got seated and then it took 5 minutes before anyone brought a menu over.

The place only had 2 larger parties in it, but there were at least a dozen staff walking around, so not sure why it took so long.

I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out what I wanted, mainly as the menu was mostly Indian food, but a lot of pretentious crazy dishes.

Finally figured out what I wanted and put the menus down.

Nearly 20 minutes later, a guy finally asked if I had ordered yet and then took my order.

My drink was brought over soon enough, and about 10 minutes for the main course, but the soup I had ordered had not come.  Figured they forgot and decided I was not going to bother.

But 5 minutes after I finished my main course, the soup arrived.

Bizarre, but ate it and finished my water as well (bottle of water bought for the table).

All the food was really good and total cost to me was roughly $18.  I put it on the room and then left.

I noticed the door across the hall was now open (had been closed earlier) and heard music, so this must be the bar they have.

Peaked inside, but told the hostess I would come back later.

I returned to the room, mainly so I could piss!

Sat around for a bit checking more stuff online and playing around.

After about an hour, decided to go up and check out the bar as it looked to be more like a night club as well.

Went up, went inside and took a table.  The had menu on a QR code, so loaded that up.  Bought the bottle of water on table, and ordered a Coke.

I then decided to get a snack as well, so ordered some hot (spicy) dumplings.

Once I had eaten and had my Coke, I sat and messed around on the phone while I drank the water and enjoyed the music.  Place was getting busier as well, but then people started to leave around 10:00PM.

I left shortly after and came back to the room to type this up.

Now it is bed time.

Will hopefully have better luck tomorrow with the money, and then will figure out the SIM card issue.  Also want to research some options for local tours or a bike rental tomorrow.

Catch ya down the road!

Back to India

October 18^th, 2026

Guwahati, India

Woke with the alarm at 7:00AM.

Took a nice, long, hot shower and then dressed in street clothes, no riding today.

Went down for breakfast.  Was a simple meal, but filled the stomach.

Went back up to the room to finish the few packing tasks, and then noticed that my hat was missing.

I went outside and checked in the van, perhaps leaving it last night on way back from town, but nothing was there.

I asked the hotel staff, perhaps I left it in the bar or dining room last night, but they had nothing.

Went through all my bags again to make sure I had not packed it by accident, nothing.

Only thing I can think of is that I left it at the restaurant last night.

The hat was going to be retired after this travel adventure, but really would be nice to have had it for the rest of the trip to keep my head from sun burning.

I was back outside a bit later and off had mentioned it to Kinley when he asked how things were, and he said he would send Sam down on the bikes to check.

I hated to have him do that, thought we could call, but he insisted.

Sam rode down and back in about 10 minutes, and sure enough, they had the hat. 

Oddly, I do not even recall wearing it to town, let along leaving it at the restaurant.

So, now that I have everything, I sat down and played online for a bit, then started to update apps on my phone as I had not done so in at least a month.

I was about 75% done when it was time to leave and head down.

I put the last things away, used restroom one last time, then grabbed my bags and left the room.

Dropped my bags behind one of the waiting taxi’s (The van had departed about 1 hour ago with the truck carrying the bikes.)

The driver loaded them into the car while I walked around talking with a few people, then took my key over to the office to drop it off.

Shortly after that, we all got into the cars, 4 of us in each cab, and then drove down to the border about 1 mile away.

We stopped at the Bhutan side, and some of us got out of the cabs, others stayed in the cab.

We stood along the side of the road while Himal worked with the Bhutan officials to exit us out of Bhutan.  Sam had to come over for a bit (he had come down on the bike) to finalize things as he was our official guide and had to be there when we left.

Kinley, who had also ridden down, was there to bid us farewell, and do a few last minute photos.

Once all the formalities were done, we said our goodbyes to Kinley and Sam who were staying in Bhutan.  Himal would accompany us all the way to our stop in India tonight.

We walked through the Bhutan gate and over to an office along the road for India.

We were told to sit in this small area while Himal did whatever he needed to do to start the check in process.

After this (which took about 20 minutes), we all walked over to the cabs, now through the gate as well and got in.

We drove through town a bit, then turned off onto some small alleyway road and wound down to reach another official building.

Here we had to first pay our exit tax of 800 Indian Rupees (About $8).  Most of the guys did not have rupees on them, so I ended up giving about 1500 rupees toward the total needed.  Ben said he would pay me back later, though I was not too worried. (He had borrowed 3000 from me earlier when I exchanged my Bhutan money with Himal and Sam for Rupee before we left).

We then walked over to another building, and were told to wait in a room.

After a few minutes, Himal and the one cab driver came in and handed out forms to fill out.  One of them was the same form we had just filled out online the night before, so after some back and forth, we did not have to fill that one out.

The other form was the standard health declaration form, which we could have done online as well.

We all filled it in, not really having exact answers for many of the questions, and then once done, we could go into the next room with our passports and get stamped into India.

This process took about 5-8 minutes per person, but we eventually all had our entry stamps.  Oh, then never asked to see the arrival forms we did online, and while most of us handed over the health form, then did not care, one guy even had the agent tell him to keep it??

After this we went back to the cabs and drove back over to the main road.

We went a few blocks down and stopped again to check out of the border zone.

A few of us got out of the cab, but most stayed in.

Himal and the cab driver went over to work with the local staff to photograph the passports and visa stamps, and filled out some papers.

We stood around talking with a military guard with his dog, who he had trained to do a few tricks, which he showed off, and even had Ben and Brad get a photo with the dog.

Once done, we all got into the cabs, and finally drove across the boundary and into India proper.

We now had a roughly 3 hour drive to Guwahati.

It was a narrow, traffic packed road for most of the way.  The last hour at least was on the 4 lane highway, but still lots of slow moving vehicles, wrong way drivers, pedestrians, broken down or stopped vehicles, and the odd cow or two.

We pulled over at one point to wait for the other car, but Ben said lets do this at a tea house, not on the side of the road.

We then had the other car pass us right about then anyway.

Few miles down the road we stopped, and ordered some tea at this restaurant.

We were told we could have lunch here as well, but as the hotel was only a 30 minute drive away, we figured we would wait till then.

As I was the only one with Rupees, I paid the bill, but then Ben got some rupee from someone and paid me back.

We continued onward and reached the city, where things got a bit congested.

Took us closer to 45 minutes, we reached the hotel, which was right across the road from the airport.  Would make it quite quick and easy to leave from here for most of the guys, and I thought perhaps staying the remaining 2 weeks here could be useful.

We pulled up and got out of the car, and stood around while the drivers unloaded the bags which were then run through the x-ray by hotel security staff.

We all went inside and started the check in process, and had a welcome drink. (Some green fruit that did not taste too bad, but smelled like sulfur!)

Once we all had our keys, and our bags were ready, we got the bags tagged so they could bring them up to the room later.

At this point Himal said his goodbyes.  While he was originally going to stay the night, it was later decided that he would return to Bhutan tonight with the cab driver who must live near there (though driver was from India).

Brad and Jude went in and had lunch at the buffet, Dennis tried to order some food, but it never showed up after 30 minutes.

Once we all had everything done, we went to our rooms.

Guy arrived with my bag after 1 minute, and then I spent some time on the Wi-Fi getting some stuff taken care of.

I saw a message from Mike that he and Dennis were going into town.   John said he might go, but in the end, he just walked around the local area for an hour or so.

After an hour, the rest of us took an Uber over to the local Royal Enfield dealer as some wanted to buy some shirts, and Brad was looking for a new riding jacket, his was falling apart, so he left it with one of the guides who was not worried about the cosmetic issues.

We arrived, and the dealer was hardly that.

It had a big service shop, but the show room was exactly 1 bike, and a few odd things on the wall to sell.

The person running the shop took about 3 minutes to show up, and had very little English ability, and while Jude can speak some Hindi, he was having some issues getting our needs across.

We needed to go to another dealer a few miles away to get what we wanted.

Brad tried to get an Uber, but the app never came up.

Ben tried, and Brad tried again, and finally he got a car to take the request.

We waited a few minutes, car arrived, and we spent next 30 driving to the other place.

This dealer was large.

They had several bikes on display, and lots of accessories.

After going through most of the stuff, Brad was going to buy a jacket, Ben wanted some stuff and Jude was getting a shirt.

But for some stupid reason, they could not seem to process a credit card.

The seemed to be setup to only take the various payment apps you can use on the phones, but those are not things that tourists would have access too.

In the end I gave Jude and Ben the Rupee to pay for their items, and Brad gave up on buying the jacket for other reasons, and decided he did not need the shirt either if they could not take a card. (He turned down my offer of Rupee to pay).

The store lots several hundred dollars of sales because they could not take a Visa credit card.

We ordered another Uber, which took 5 minutes to arrive, and then spent the next 40 driving back to the hotel, taking a longer route, but avoiding the busy traffic across town.

Once at the hotel, we had about 2 hours till dinner, so we all went to our rooms to do whatever.

I spent some time finishing updates on my phone, created maps for the Bhutan trip, and researched hotels in the center of town.

This hotel is nice, but its about $80 a night, and there are no restaurants or retail places in a 1 mile area, so a bit isolated.

I wanted something with plenty of food and shopping options around, so after researching the best part of town for food and nightlife, I explore that road and found a hotel on the Hotels.com app in the $50-60 a night range.

Place was listed on the recommendation list from google, had good reviews on Google and Hotels, and lots of them to boot.

My member tier on hotels dropped the price $100 over the 2 weeks, and my bonus points gave me another $13 savings, making my final cost about $55 a day.

The place is right in middle of town, close to lots of food and retail.  Also a few cultural things nearby, and even the train station is close if I wanted to day trip to a nearby city (unlikely, but option is there).

I also found a bike rental place about a mile away, so that option is open.

I will stay at this hotel tonight of course as this is part of the tour cost, and will stay tomorrow as well so I can spend the day with the few guys with later flights or leaving the next day.

On the 20^th I will Uber over to the new hotel and check in, and will stay there 2 weeks.

Will figure out other plans after I get there.

Around 7:00PM we all met up in the bar (A few of us had stopped there after the Royal Enfield dealer trip as well) and had a few drinks before dinner.

We went over to eat about 8:00PM.

Large buffet, but not much I really wanted to eat, but managed to find enough to get full, as I had not had lunch either.

After dinner, many of us had desert as well.

Then it was time for most to turn in.

We said our goodbyes to Jude who will leave at 6:00AM, so will not see him again, though will work with him to get money I loaned for his shirt later.

Ben also leaves at 6, though I will see him in a few weeks for another adventure I have coming up.

The rest of the guys are going to be at breakfast at least, and a few will be around till early afternoon.  John will be staying the night of the 19^th as well, so we will be only 2 left at that point.

I went over with Ben to figure out some money stuff.  He owed me for the funds borrowed, but he decided to put my extra room night on his bill and I would pay him the difference.

In the end, it worked out to about $40, and he was able to take the US cash, so paid him right away.

Returned to the room and got started on this blog.

Few minutes later Ben was at my door.

He had some 2XL tshirts that had been given to him by the dealer in Siliguri he had visited, and they were nothing he needed, so though I could use them as throw-away shirts, to wear and then toss when no longer needed.

I pulled them out of the bags so I can stuff them into the bag later, and then came back to the blog.

Now that it is done, I will check a few things online, but then head to bed as it has been a long day.

Tomorrow I will get my financials sorted as I have not balanced or checked them in almost 2 weeks.  Did not use the cards at all in Bhutan, so not much to pay off, but still need to verify things.

I will see if I can get over to an ATM tomorrow as well, or a money exchange place, just want to get at least $200 worth of Rupee as it sounds like using cards around here might not work very well.

Then will just chill.  No cell phone shops I could find nearby, so will probably have to wait a day to get a SIM card so my phone works here.

Will figure it out.

Catch ya down the road!

 

 

The final ride of Bhutan

October 17^th, 2026

Samdrup Jongkhar, Bhutan

Woke a bit before 7:00AM and took a shower.

Geared up and then went over for breakfast.

Once done, went back to the room, finished packing, and after a short rest, took the bag and left the room.

Staff saw me and took the bag from me, so followed them out to the van where the bags were being loaded.

Dropped key on the front desk and then went to find my bike. (The tend to move and arrange them each morning, so never where you left it the night before).

Setup the bike, then waited while others did the same.

Few photos taken, and then we all got on the bikes and headed out.

The first challenge was the steep downhill road in the loose dirt/rock.

Made it down without issue, and a few of the others made it without too much trouble, just slow, and a few needed a hand balancing bike for some difficult sections.

To make the ride more challenging, every damn car in the city was driving up to the hotel!

I guess there was some kind of meeting of the monks from the local areas, so they were all arriving and driving up the hill.

We finished the paved section of the hill, most of the same issues, sharp corners, and lots of cars going up.

Once off the hill, we headed out of town on the highway.

The road soon turned south and would take us mostly in that direction for the rest of the day, though is zigged and zagged quite often.

We started heading up the hill right away to get out of the current valley and into the next.

The roads were very twisty, lots of hills, several small villages, far too many cows on the road, and a moderate level of traffic.

We stopped after an hour along side the road to take break and get some water.

A nice view over the valley at this point, and we were right at the top of the ridge and would soon start going downhill.

While hanging out here, I found a good sized bug clinging to the tail bag on the bike.

It looked like a leaf, and was about 3 inches long.  A bit of searching and I think it is a leaf-mimic katydid.

Took some prodding, but it finally flew off and landed in the grass nearby.

Not sure how long it had been there, or where I picked it up at, but hopefully the higher altitude would not hurt it and it would find its way home or find a new home in this area.

We took a group photo and then got going.

Had some great riding down the hill.

We stopped soon after to have coffee in a small village, and really got some attentions here, do not think they are used to foreigners stopping here.

After our break, we hit the road again, still going downhill.

Another good hour of riding and we came to another village where we stopped for lunch.

We parked up the bikes and went inside a small place, but it went way back and there was a nice little room at the back where we had our meal.

It had a small balcony off the back wall overlooking the valley, and was situated about 30-40 feet off the group below which fell off rapidly in a steep incline.

We finished our lunch and were back on the bikes.

About we climbed again, and then headed down again.

About half way down, I had to stop and take a piss, could not hold it any longer.

So found a spot off the road where the bike could park without falling and stopped to relieve myself.

Rest of the group went onward and Ben, bringing up the rear, stopped for a second and then headed down the hill some.

I got back on the bike, and shortly after passed Ben who was taking some photos, I think.

We really started to push it then, trying to close the distance to the main group.

Some hard cornering, a few slips, and felt like I might have drifted the back wheel on one corner.  Few wiggles from the rear on several corners, either from loose rocks, or sand, or possibly the layers of cow shit all over the road.

Finally came up to the rest of the group as they were stopping in another village.

This was our last coffee/drink break.

We ordered or drinks and Kinley bought some fresh walnuts from the local vendor and shared them with the group.

Sam also collected all of our passports as we would need to pass a checkpoint a few miles before the border town we will be staying in tonight.

Once back on the road, I was in the rear of the group for about half the ride, then at one point the rider in front of me (Mike, I think) slowed in a really rough spot to avoid tangling with an oncoming car, but I was going too quick to stop, so I just took to the large sandy/dirt section everyone was trying to avoid and passed by him.

We eventually reached the police checkpoint and pulled up along the road.  The officers indicated for a few to pull through the checkpoint and park a bit farther up to avoid blocking too much of the road (there was not any place to actually pull off the road.)

But then we had to sit around and wait as Sam had all the passports and documents, and he was in the van which was probably a few miles behind us.

A truck pulled up behind the bikes and probably a dozen or more guys got out and had to go through some kind of process as well.  But some cars would just pass through after slowing down.

Once Sam arrived in the van, he took care of the paperwork and we were cleared to continue.

It was only about 2 miles to the hotel at this point, but we did have to ride through some of the town, which was a bit slow going.

We pulled up at the hotel and all did our congrats to each other on a good ride.

Then it was time to start taking things off the bikes.

I had my rain gear in the tail bag to remove, the straps for my tank bag (and the bag), my GoPro mount (which I had not used since Thimphu), the Quad Lock mount for my phone, and the phone and camera as well.

Once all of that was off (with the assistance of our lead ride guide who had the tools to remove the Quad Lock since I had lost my tool in airport security) I went up where Kinley was handing out the room keys and just grabbed a room.

I was on the 2^nd floor of the center building of the structures in the resort.

Went up and got into the room, dropped off the stuff, and then hit the restroom as I had to pee really bad!

Once done, I went outside to see if my bag was still on the pavement, it was, and two girls were standing there, they saw me and I indicated it was my bag.  They grabbed it and brought it up.

I then got out of the riding gear, took a nice cool shower, and then sat in the cool air for a bit (after turning on the AC unit which I had not seen when first in the room.)

Finished getting dressed and then started to unpack all the bags and sort stuff as I would need to move it all into two bags again instead of just one.  But first I hung all the riding gear up in the closet, but left doors open, to let it air out some and dry the sweat as it had gotten really warm today.

I put on the GoPro batteries to charge and the laptop as well.

Played on the phone and bit and then saw the messages come in that some people were going to go into town.

So, I grabbed my key and went down to join them.

Upon reaching the parking lot, I saw that they had already loaded 6 of the bikes onto a truck to be hauled back to Thimphu in the morning.

The other 3 bikes were going to be ridden back by some of the guides.

We talked for a bit and then got into the van and drove the mile into town which sits just before the border crossing.

After dropping us off, we agreed to meet back in that spot in around an hour.

I walked around with Ben, checking out shops, looking to see if there was anything I could buy that would make a nice memento, but would be small enough to carry the rest of my travels.  I still have way too much local currency to use up.

We stopped in one shop and I bought 2 small bags of chips, a Coke, a candy bar, and paid for 2 candy bars for Ben and only spent about 400 Ngultrum, out of 7000.  Yeah, not going to spend it all.

I figure I can just exchange the money, either on the India side, or perhaps there will be a money changer at the border.  It could be easy to change into Indian Rupee, though will lose the commission to the changer, but its nearly $70, do not want to just leave it, and probably will not be back in Bhutan any time soon.

We wandered a bit more and then the group came together.  We had taken about 20 minutes.  Not sure where the van or guides went, a few wandered off to look.

The van was found parked nearby, but no one around it.

Finally, someone reached out via Whatsapp and found where the guys were hanging out, a small restaurant nearby.

The group wandered over there and we all crowded into the place.  We all had a drink and spent about 30-40 minutes talking until we decided it was time to return to the hotel.

We loaded up in the van and drove back.

Once there, we had 40 minutes till dinner, so all returned to our rooms.

I spent most of the time packing bags and getting things organized for the trip tomorrow.

About 5 minutes before, I headed down and found a few others also walking over to the dining hall.

We stopped in the bar first as the food was not yet ready and ended up spending about 30 minutes there.

There was another large group here as well, think they are a bicycling group as we saw lots of bikes being unloaded from a truck as we arrived.

We finally went into the dining area to eat, the meal was okay, but nothing too fancy.

We then went outside and had a small gathering of all the riders and guides.

We had all contributed money for the team as a tip (I fair amount in the end) to be divided among the 4 (or 5) team members.

A few speeches were made by some of the team and riders, then a few goodbyes were said.

Our photographer Jason and the Driver Tenzin would be leaving with the truck early in the morning, so will likely not see them again unless I get up really early.

Sam, Himal, and Kinley will be around a bit longer.

Sam and Kinley will leave about same time we do and head back on the bikes.

Himal will be crossing the border with us to assist, and then probably returning to ride a bike back as well.

After the goodbyes, most returned to rooms, but Ben, Kinley, and I went back to the bar for a while.

John and Dennis joined us a bit later, but then both left not too long after.

About 10:00PM we all returned to our room to get ready for bed.

Breakfast is at 7:30, though we will not depart till 10:00AM.

I came up and sorted the last few things I had, then remembered where I had left one of my pairs of gloves on the bike, so had to go out and retrieve them from the inside pocket of the tail bag.

Then it was time to get this blog typed out.  I had spent some time earlier uploading the GoPro footage and will worry about the phone later since we are not riding tomorrow and likely will not be taking many photos or videos with it.

Tomorrow we will cross the border into India, which I expect to take 1-2 hours at least.

Then it’s a 3 hour drive to Guwahati.

Then we will have the evening to hang out together, minus the guides, just the riders.

The next day most of the riders will go home, though myself and John will be staying.  John leaves the next day, but I will be hanging out for almost 2 weeks. 

So until tomorrow, catch ya down the road.

Remote mountain roads

October 16^th, 2026

Trashigang, Bhutan

Woke at 7:00AM and sat around for a few minutes.

Took a shower and geared up.

Walked over for breakfast, then returned to room to finish packing.

Sat around for a bit till it was time to head out to the bikes.

Left the room and walked out of the hotel, dropped bag at the van and then walked over to the bikes.  Looks like I was the last one to arrive today.

Setup the bike, then put on the rest of the gear and was ready to go.

We rolled out at just before 9:00AM, leaving town and heading out onto the highway.

It was a mostly mountainous route, lots of curves and hills.

At one point we passed the other motorcycle group that had been staying at the hotel as well, they were all parked and having coffee most likely inside the café they stopped at.

We continued onward until we were stopped by the road construction we were expecting.

We had timed it well enough that we would only wait a few minutes to go.

While waiting, the other motorcycle group caught up to us and was waiting as well.

Once we were given the all clear to proceed, we moved ahead of the few cars in line and proceeded through the work zone.

Once on the other side, we picked up the speed again and headed into more hills.

Roughly 10 minutes after that, we pulled off to a small dirt spot along the highway next to some buildings.

The other group passed us at this point.

We hung out here taking a break, checking out the views, for about 15 minutes.

Then it was back on the road, and now the road was a bit more level and curves somewhat less extreme.  The lead rider and 3 of us took off and really hammered down the road.  Took some curves with enough lean to scrape my boot toes, and once even hit the foot peg.

We eventually pulled over to let the others catch up, which took about 3 minutes.

Then we moved on again and soon arrived in Trashigang, or first stop (and where we would later return to sleep).

The guide brought us through town to a parking area near the local dzong (fortress) and we stood around for a bit while things were figured out between the guides.

Our first order of business was to walk into town and have coffee at a local restaurant.

It was about a ¼ mile walk.

At the place, we took a big table I the corner and all had something to drink.  I had a Coke, as did a few others, the rest had coffee or tea.

Then for some reason, they brought out a snack as well, two pots of Momos.  These dumplings were stuff with beef in one pot, and cheese in the other.

A nice spicy sauce was also there to top them with.

After drinking and eating, we walked back over to the bikes, and then farther down the road to reach the entrance to the dzong.

We spent some time in the main open courtyard in front of the structure getting our history lesson, then we went inside to explore it a bit more.

Pretty similar to the other dzong we have visited on this trip.

I skipped going in the temple again as I do not want to fight getting my boots off.  I just waited in the main entry and took some more photos.

Once we finished the inside, we left and walked around the edge to get a good look over the valley.  This dzong is built on the edge of a large rock cliff.

We returned to the bikes and prepared to ride out.

We rode through town and then turned off onto a road heading up a small valley.

About 30 minutes later we pulled into the village of Rangjung and parked on a steep hill.  We walked up the hill a bit more and went into a local restaurant.

Here we had lunch, and when finished we boarded the van to drive just up the road.

We now stopped at a large monastery and got some history on how it was created and then walked up to the hill top temple next to it.

Some great views of the surrounding valleys from here.

After we had spent some time here, we went back down and got back in the van to drive back over to where the bikes were parked.

Once there, we prepared to leave.

A bit difficult to get going on this steep hill, a few had some help from the guides to pull off.

We then rode through another part of town to get back to the road out of the valley.

We started going back down the valley, following the road we rode up, making decent time.

At one point, I was following Dennis near the back of the pack.

We came upon a few cows grazing the sides of the road, when one of them leaped over the drainage ditch along the road and landed in the middle of the road, right in front of Dennis.

He had to hit the brakes hard and it looked like he just missed, or slightly grazed the cow. (Later learned he actually hit it a bit harder, smacking its rear with the fairing and crash bars, and the cows tail smacking the windshield, and spraying urine all over.)

Dennis kept the bike upright and the cow seemed okay and walked off to the other side of the road.

We then moved down a bit farther and at one point a large truck was coming toward us.

It had moved over to the side of the road to let us pass, and we came up at a fair clip, when suddenly Dennis came to a stop, and I had to slam my brakes to avoid hitting him.

While I feel there was plenty of room to pass by the truck, Dennis had decided otherwise.

Close call, and will try to leave a bit more space next time.

We continued onward, but Dennis was not sure of the route I guess as he stopped near a small side road, one I knew we had not taken, so we should just stay on the main road.

Ben passed us, and then Dennis left again, and I followed, but then Ben pulled over to photograph and Dennis stopped as well.

I went ahead as I knew we were on the right road, and they riding guide always stops if there is a junction to make sure we all get on the correct road.

Sure enough, 3 more corners and there the group was.

We all got going again and made it back to town without anymore incidents or close calls.

After passing through Trashigang we left back down the highway we had ridden earlier that day, and pulled off onto a side road a mile or so out of town.

This road was a very steep paved route, with some very tight switchbacks.

On one of the earlier corners, Mike was in front of me and seems to have lots momentum on the hill while turning and stopped right in front of me.

I managed to lean the bike over and sharply turn to get around him before I smacked into him or had to stop on the hill and probably lose control of the bike on the steep incline.

I zoomed up the hill and kept going.

I reached the top where the others were waiting at the junction with the dirt road we had to take to reach the hotel.

We waited for quite a while, and figured someone must have had an issue on the hill as it was taking too long.

They all finally arrived and we headed up the dirt road.

As they had warned us earlier, it was a very fine powder like surface, with some rough contours under it, which made traction difficult, especially with the tires being mainly for the road.

Brad had started up right after the guide, but he started spinning back wheel a bit and looked like he might have to stop.

I moved over to the side and twisted the throttle hard to power up the hill.  I could feel the rear wheel spinning a bit in the loose dirt, but kept enough speed to push my way up.

Then we navigated a few switchbacks to reach the hotel, or so I thought.

The staff pointed us up another dirt road which had a switch back on it as well, and this brought us to the other part of the hotel on a higher part of the hill.

Eventually we all reached the top, though a few people decided not to attempt the steep, loose, hill and had the guides bring the bikes up while they rode in the van or walked up.

After everyone arrived, we went into the lobby and sat around talking.

Turned out Dennis had come up behind Mike on the paved hill below after I swung around him and had to stop, and as I feared I might, he lost his footing on the incline and the bike went over.

He was tossed off and rolled across the pavement and scuffed up his arm some (even through the jacket!)

Several of the guys ordered a beer, and the brought out tea for the rest of us.

The staff and guides unloaded our bags from the van, and then the tour leader asked to see Dennis’ injury and insisted they clean and bandage it now.

Thankfully we had Jude, an actual doctor, with us, so he helped to clean and bandage it while we were in the lobby.

We then all wandered off to find our rooms and get out of the riding gear.

I found my room, organized the bags so I could use them, got out of the riding gear and then sat in a chair near the open window to get the cool breeze.

I ended up having to close the window though as the breeze was strong enough it kept causing the rooms door to shudder and make noise.

I then used the restroom and thought about taking a shower, but figured I would pass on it since I was not over heated or anything.

Dressed and sat around the room for a bit, then went out to find the others, or find the kitties I had seen earlier while first getting to the room.

Cats were no where to be found, so went out front and found a few of the others sitting on some benches overlooking the valley.

We sat and talked for about an hour there as the sun went down, and was amazed at all the lights that popped up on the surrounding hills.

During the day you do not see much, just appears to be trees.  But at night you realize how many small villages and homes are scattered all over the mountains surrounding the valley.

We decided to head inside as it was starting to cool off now.

I stopped at the room to use the restroom, then grabbed my laptop and went over to the dining area were going to sit in next, though it was till an hour till dinner.

I figured I would use the time talking to also upload footage to save myself that time later.

Spent the hour talking, uploading, and discussing video editing stuff as more of the group trickled into the room.

Around 7:30 the buffet was opened and we all ate our share.

We then all sang happy birthday to another hotel guest sitting with her guides at a nearby table.  Assuming her guide had planned it and a cake was brought out (that was how we all knew what was going on and some of the group started to sing.)

She later offered most of the cake up for us to eat as well (makes sense, she was not going to eat it all herself, and only had her guide and driver with her.)

Once dinner was done, we talked for a bit, and then we all returned to our rooms.

We do have to start a bit early tomorrow as we have a bit longer ride.

We will head south now, going back to the border with India tomorrow.

We will hopefully arrive at the border town around 2:00 or 3:00PM.

Then it will be time to take everything off the bikes as we will be done with the riding at that point.

We will have our farewell dinner that night, and then the next morning will cross the border back into India, and then take the van down to Guwahati where we will spend our final night as a group.

Most of the group is leaving the following day, but a few of us are sticking around longer (I myself will be around for a few weeks).

So guess that ends todays adventure, so we will catch ya down the road.

Early and Cold day to avoid road works

October 15^th, 2026

Mongar, Bhutan

Woke up with my alarm at 5:45AM.

Took a shower, geared up, packed my bags, checked over the room and then left.

Took bag down and dropped it in the pile forming in the parking lot.

Then walked back up to the restaurant to have breakfast.

Once done eating, and bar bills were paid, we all gathered at the bikes and got things set on them.

We rolled out about 7:30AM and headed out of town, following the same road we came in on 2 days ago.

The riding was very cold.  The clouds were still low and causing fog to build and limit visibility at times.

This road takes us south again, and just before the road curves to head back west, we pulled off onto a smaller road that took us up over a small pass through the mountains.

I stopped at this junction long enough to change over to my water proof gloves as they are much warmer than my normal riding gloves.  My hands were so cold they were starting to feel like they were burning.

We soon reached a junction where we all pulled up to wait for the group to come together, and then took a small side road that went down and through the village of Ura.

This was an interesting shortcut as we passed through an area very busy with cattle on the road.

We turned off that road and it ended up being the wrong road, so had to back track and got up and bit farther to find the main road.

We drove back up the hill a bit to get to an overlook where we could see the Ura village and valley.

After a short rest here, we turned back down the road and headed out of the valley and eastward.

This road was a very curvy stretch of highway, and in decent condition for much of the route.

We slowly started going up, and eventually reached the top of the pass, which is the 2^nd highest road in the country and roughly 3780m.

We stopped at the top next to a temple like structure in the middle of the road.

They guide setup a small table and prepare coffee or tea and also had some biscuits to have for a snack.

While we drank and ate, all the guides moved our bikes over to a spot next to the temple and lined them up for a photograph.

We moved over to the bikes and after a bit of hassle getting camera setup, we took the photos.

We then got back on the bikes and started the downward part of the route, hoping to get out of the frigid cold and hopefully reach warmer valleys.

We made our first checkpoint to cross a bridge that closes at various times throughout the day for construction.

Once past this bridge, we next stopped at a viewpoint for a waterfall across the valley.

This was pretty cool, and a smaller waterfall was behind us as well.

It had warmed up by now, so took of one of my layers before I did some photos and videos.

We again had coffee or tea served as well.

Back on the bikes, we slowly headed down the remainder of the mountain to reach our lunch stop in a very small village.

Lunch was pretty good, but we had to rush through it as we only had 30 minutes to eat as we needed to make another checkpoint to get past a section of road under construction that would close at various times during the day.

We reached passed the barricade and rode several miles on a very rough road with lots of dirt and rocks across it.  Some times the road was actually just a dirt path as well.

We eventually got past the road works and had a nice stretch of road that brought us into the town of Mongar.

We rode up to the town center and then turned off to climb a small hill to reach our hotel.

We parked up the bikes, and went into the lobby.

Here we enjoyed our welcome drink of apple juice, and received our room keys.

We had arrived quite early due to the early departure, it was only 2:00PM.

We all found our rooms where our bags had already been taken by the hotel staff.

Busy hotel, not only our bike group, but another motorbike group twice our size is staying here as well.  Plus, a few other couples that had arrived in taxis were here.

I went to the room and organized the bag and sorted a few things.

I then opened the window to get some cooler air into the room, and got out of the riding gear.

After cooling off, I took a hot shower and dressed in street clothes.

Spent about 30 minutes playing around online, and then went out to take photos around the hotel.

While doing this, Ben came outside and was going to walk over to the town, so I went along.

We walked the ¼ mile to reach the main part of town, and then walked along the main road to check out the businesses.

Near the end of the walk, Ben stopped to buy a chocolate bar in a shop, and then we retraced our steps.

While standing at a place where we could see into the other town roads, we noticed John talking to someone in the distance.

We decided to walk down into that section of town to check out more of the local businesses.

We briefly talked to John as we passed him, and then went down to the end of the road.

We saw the farmers market nearby, so explored it to see what was on offer. (Ben bought a bag of walnuts, but did not see anything I needed).

We then went back up another road where we stopped at a Pizza Hut! (So, while the name and logo were on the window, pretty sure they are not affiliated with the actual company).

The place was supposed to be a coffee shop according to the signage, but while we could smell pizza cooking, there was no coffee.  I did buy a Coke though, and after receiving my change I finally picked up the last local currency note I needed for my collection.

We wandered up to the end of the road, and were thinking of going back to the hotel, but then we saw the sign for the local Dzong, so followed the road up and around to reach it.

However, the building really did not look like one, and we walked part way up to it and it did not look like it was open for tourists.

We walked back down the street, passing many small groups of school kids who must have recently got out of class, as they were all over the area (I think the school was on the hillside below us).

We were heading back to a coffee shop Ben had seen when we noticed a cell phone store nearby. 

Ben needed a new case for his iPhone, so we wandered over, but they did not sell cases in this place.

They told us a store, which was nearby, but we stopped at 2 more cell phone shops and 1 did not have cases, the other did not carry anything for iPhones.

They pointed us to a store next door that finally had what Ben needed.

He was able to find a new case, and while he was at it, replaced the screen protector and lens protectors on the phone.

Once done, we went back over to the main road and stopped at that coffee shop.

When we finished, we walked back to the hotel and arrived around 4:00.

Still several hours before we have dinner, so returned to the room and just messed around online reading stuff or uploading photos from earlier in the day.

Finally went down to the bar around 7:00PM to hang out, and had a Coke there.

Once everyone showed up, we moved over to our table and had dinner.

Was a fairly disappointing meal compared to the previous places.

While the food was good, there was a limited selection, and nothing was great, just okay.

Once done eating, we met back over in the bar area for a quick run down on the plans for tomorrows ride.

We then all turned in as we were all tired after being up so early this morning.

Upon returning to the room, I uploaded the footage from today and then typed up this blog entry, but going to pass on putting anything else online tonight, I am very tired, so will head to be soon.

We leave normal time at 9:00AM tomorrow and it will be a short day to reach our next town to visit.

Catch ya down the road.

Exploring Tang Valley

October 14^th, 2026

Bumthang, Bhutan

Woke at 7:00AM and sat around for a bit.

Took shower and dressed, then walked over to have breakfast.

Once done eating, returned to the room and organized a few things, then changed into riding gear and gathering stuff for the ride today.

We are just doing an out and back exploration of a nearby valley and will visit an old manor house dating from the 19^th century.

We all met in the parking lot around 8:45AM and was on the road shortly after.

We passed through the town of Jakar and then headed out on the eastward highway.

Shortly after leaving the town, we turned off onto a road that would take us up into the Tang Valley.

Our first stop was near the beginning of this road.

We parked up the bikes and hiked down to a small bridge over a fast running creek.

Near here the river slows and passes through an area of hard rock that slows it and causes a small lake like area to form, before the water moves onward into more fast moving rapids.

This area is known as the Burning Lake.

The legend reports that a man who was a reborn woman from the 8^th century came to this area in the 17^th century as a treasure finder, chosen by the deities to find and reveal important treasures to the people when required.

Legend reports that this small lake in the gorge was known for taking the lives of people or animals who got close, and no one would enter the water intentionally.

The local ruler, hearing of reported treasure in the lake, and accusing the treasure finder of being a demon, asked him to dive into the lake and if he returned, he would consider him a man, if not, then he was a demon (and likely dead).

It is said that the man did not want to do this as the gods had not yet revealed to him it was time, but his had being forced, he said he would enter the lake with a burning butter lamp, and then return with the lamp still burning, and thereby show he was a man, and not a demon.

He jumped in, and 30 minutes later returned with the still burning lap, a buddha statue and a chest.

The local ruler, ignoring the man’s request that the chest be opened only when the gods asked, forced it open, and a stupa grew up and for warned that the treasure finder would not live a long life as he had not followed the rules of his calling.

Anyone else confused?

The legend of the burning butter lamp seems to be the source of the name of the lake.

Once we had been given all that story, we hiked back out of the canyon, and continued on our way up the mountain.

We went over the ridge and back down into the valley.

This area has no major development, only farms and a few religious buildings.

We continued through the valley, over another small ridge and then came into the main river valley where we finally pulled off the main road and crossed the river to start our short ride up the mountain side to reach Ogyen Choling.

In this village, there is a large manor house that has been turned into a museum.

The large structure consists of an outer wall of buildings that surround a large courtyard which then has a large tower, stable, and temple built inside it.

The tower served as the grain store and main house of the original inhabitants.

The manor was originally built in the early 1800s, used as the home of local monastic people, before becoming the house of the regional governor.

The home was destroyed in a massive earthquake in the late 1890s, and rebuilt in 1898, which is the current structure today.

When the monarchy was established in 1907, the land reforms required the families to give up all the land except the 25 acres they were allowed to keep.

This led to the home being abandoned for the most part as it was too much to keep up without the income from all the lands.

The family still came out to the house from time to time, and left many belongings there, but mostly lived elsewhere.

This occurred around the year 2000.

We arrived at the manor after a challenging climb up the steep, and very rough, rocky dirt road.

It was bad enough that two of the guys went down on a tight corner.  Not sure how the first bike went down, but second fell over when stopping after the first went over.

We parked up the bikes and entered the main courtyard.

First order of business for many was the toilets, then we gathered inside the main tower where a local guide explained much of the history of the region and the home (and some of the country as it pertained to the historical events).

We then got to wander around the building.

It is 4 stories, each reached by a very steep ladder like staircase.

Most of the rooms had artifacts of differing types setup in them and many placards explaining them.

Some of the rooms were setup like they would have been originally used, others were used to display things that were of interest, but not related to the rooms original use.

Maps on each floor designated both the rooms’ original function and its current display theme.

Once we had finished exploring the tower, we wandered into the courtyard and split up some.

I walked around the entire structure where John and I tried to figure out how the 3^rd and 4^th floor toilets would have drained.

Then we all met over by the temple where our guide went over some more history of the country and region.

Some of the locals entered the temple and started the huge prayer wheel spinning, which rings a bell on each spin.

They then started the clockwise walk around the temple and some stupas built next to it.

We then walked over near the outer wall, and at one point a few of us got to go up and check out the rooms that can be rented for the night on the second floor of the outer wall buildings.  Some really nice rooms, might be future riders on this tour could stay here.

We then went through the kitchen area to the outside garden and dining sunroom.

I walked around exploring the garden and checking out the smaller house next to the garden that had additional rooms in it for rent.

We then sat in the sunroom and had our lunch.

Once done, we made toilet stops and then went out to get on the bikes and head back to Jakar and our hotel.

The ride down was just as challenging as the ride up, and another rider went down on a different corner.

The return route was same roads we brought in, so nothing really new was seen.

We reached town and stopped as most wanted to check out some of the local shops.

We were at the newer shopping street, but there is another in the center of town that we would stop at later.

I walked along the shops, and entered a general store to see if anything jumped out at me for a snack, but did not find anything.

But I was also not feeling very good either.

Besides being tired today, I was having a bit of stomach discomfort, and it had been getting worse all day.

By this time, I was starting to feel actual pain, and while I thought it might just be gas, a few releases of it on the street did not help.

As I was only 1.5 miles from the hotel and it was easy to find, I told the guide and tour manager that I was going to return to the hotel right away.

I got on my bike and rode toward the hotel, in a fair amount of painful discomfort the entire trip.

Once I arrived, I got into the room, and into the toilet where things settled themselves.

After that ordeal I was now very exhausted and tired, and with a few hours left before dinner, I sat outside on the deck while airing out the room (door and windows open).

After the rest of the group returned, I went back inside, tried to work on some stuff, but was so tired I eventually laid down for a nap.

Woke with enough time to go find my laundry and pay for it (I had dropped it off last night, but was not sure how it would return, most places bring it to you, but guess these guys just leave in in the dinning area till you come get it.)

We then all met in the parking lot and took the van over to the Swiss Guest House, a hotel and restaurant owned by the same people who ran the brewery and café we stopped at yesterday.

We thought we would be having some kind of traditional dish of cheese, but it was just a regular buffet with the same things we had eaten at lunch.  Was a bit disappointed in the place to be honest.

But then as we were eating, our guide brought out two pizzas that were gifts from Kinley who had not been able to join us tonight.

These were really good, and made dinner more enjoyable.

Once done, we talked about the next days riding which will be a bit stressful as we have to leaven really early, and also have several time constraints to avoid scheduled closing of the highway for road works.

Once that was done, we eventually paid our bar bills and left. 

Back in the van we rode back to the hotel and all went to our rooms as we all had to pack and get things ready for our early departure tomorrow.

I put the clean laundry into its proper places in the bags, organized things again around that and then put the GoPro on the charger and then typed up this blog.

Will put the rest of the stuff in the bag yet tonight and maybe read a bit before going to bed so I can get up before 6:00AM tomorrow.

Catch ya down the road.