MOTORCYCLE TOUR -
Roof of the World 
India

Frequently Asked Questions

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Q: Do I need a motorcycle license for riding in India?

A:Yes you do. To be legally riding in India you are required to carry your local driving licence, which must cover the size of bike you will be riding  – 410cc. This will also be a stipulation of any travel insurance company too

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Q: Do I need an International Driving Permit (IDP)?

A: Yes. An IDP is basically an official, multi-language translation of your driving licence. They are cheap, quick and easy to obtain in your home 

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Q: What about Insurance?

A: Travel insurance for a trip like this is a complete essential. We all know that riding motorcycles carries a certain amount of risk, so riding unfamiliar motorcycles on unfamiliar roads does not decrease that! Getting proper travel insurance that covers you for riding abroad is a no-brainer. If things go awry, you need to know that you have the correct cover to get you home safely such as emergency evacuation, medical bills, repatriation etc.  

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Q: What currency should I bring with me?

A: This one is both simple and complicated. The local currency is Indian Rupees – INR. However, unless you are a resident of India, importing rupees is prohibited so you cannot actually obtain the notes outside the country itself like you can for other countries. You can either bring in other currencies to exchange when in India, or simply withdraw rupees from ATMs as you would back at home. Well we say that, but if you are in a remote village with only three residents, a yak and an elderly donkey, there may not be an ATM, so don’t expect universal coverage through the entire Himalayas! If you do bring cash, US dollars are universally welcome. 

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Q: Do I need a visa for India?

A: Yes, unless you are a national of Nepal, Bhutan or the Maldives. The easiest way to get one is to apply for an e-tourist visa online. Assuming you live in an eligible country / territory you can apply online minimum 4 days in advance of the date of arrival with a window of 120 days.  For peace of mind, we recommend you do this nicely in advance to avoid any delays or issues. The visa lasts 60 days so unless you decide to extend your trip for vastly more than the length of the tour, then this should be plenty

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Q: Where do I fly into?

A: You will need to book return flights to Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi DEL.  We will send someone to meet you at the airport – so be sure to give us your full flight details.

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Q: How do I carry my main luggage?

A: We are followed on the ride by either one or two support vehicles depending on group size. This means that all your luggage goes in there rather than having it bounce around on the back your Royal Enfield for miles on end. You just need to take either a tank bag or small rucksack with cameras and any travel essentials you feel you can’t manage without. All the spares, luggage, medical supplies, fuel, and post-ride beer goes in the truck.

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Q: What is the baggage allowance for the flight back to Delhi from Leh?

A: As this is a short domestic flight, the included baggage allowance is 15kg.  

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Q: How big is the group?

A: The average group size is between ten and fifteen riders as that’s about the manageable amount for a mixed group. If you are booking a private tour with a group of friends or a riding club we can be a bit more flexible on the upper number as it’s easier to coordinate a group that already know each other and ride together back home.

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Q: Will we have a local guide?

A: Yes – definitely.  All of our tours are accompanied by at least one local guide and allround fixer who can smooth our passage through India. 

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Q: Will a mechanic be riding or driving with us?

A: Yes, our mechanics travel with us as the sweep rider at the back of the group or in the sweep truck. If you get a problem, they’ll hop off their bike, give you theirs to allow you to continue and fix the problem before re-joining the group. The truck travels with a multitude of spares from spare wheels to foot peg rubbers.than most! and half a bean. It does! Add it up yourself.

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Q: Do I need to take water with me?

A: Regular hydration is a good idea when you ride, so many of our riders will take a Camelbak or drinks reservoir with them. There’s plenty of water in the truck so we’ll ensure everyone gets a drink during our frequent stops but having some with you is always a sensible move, even if it’s just a bottle in your day bag my suggestion though would be to carry bottled water. If by chance your cambelbak bladder gets contaminated with a bug on the first day. The rest of the trip it may stay that way. I suggest carry a sealed bottle of water. Once you have drank it, throw it out and carry another bottle.

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Q: Is there any medical support?

A: Yes. This tour is accompanied by either a local doctor in the support vehicle or a western qualified first aid medic who will ride with the group. Every tour is equipped with a GPS tracker so that our staff can identify the precise location at any time.

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Q: What happens in case of an emergency?

A: Our medic will choose the best course of action depending on the situation. If the situation is minor our guide will help. If situation is Serious, We will call for ambulance. 

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Q: How can I avoid altitude sickness?

A: 1. Stay hydrated. Caffeine and alcohol impacts hydration, so maybe keep intake to a minimum until you are acclimatised.  Apparently a high potassium diet helps.  Make a conscious effort to breathe properly as we climb to higher altitudes – you want to saturate your blood with oxygen. Your tour leader will explain this in more detail in your welcome briefing.  Diamox is an altitude sickness tablet – please do your own research on this – if you decide you would like to take these, You’ll want to start taking these in Delhi, before we start climbing. Ibuprofen if you start to feel a headache coming on, but please notify the tour medic beforehand.  

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Q: What riding kit should I wear?

A: This is a regular question from all our riders. We don’t provide any riding gear for this trip so bringing your own is essential. As the riding is predominantly road based in this region, then road / adventure style kit is the way to go rather than off-road or enduro gear. So that’s going to mean a good helmet, protective riding jacket and trousers, ideally with CE or equivalent approved armour on the pointy bits – elbows, knees and shoulders. You are also going to need good leather gloves, a neck tube to keep out the cold and maybe even base layers for the days we are travelling at altitude and the temperature drops. You should take waterproofs if your kit doesn’t keep out the wet stuff, but in reality the region is fairly dry when our tours are running. We don’t recommend open face helmets as they simply do not offer the same level of protection as a full face or flip front helmet even at low speeds. 

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Q: Do I need any immunisations for India?

A: Yes, you may do, but clearly it depends on what you’ve already had. The usual suspects that our riders normally get is Tetanus, Hepatitis A & B, Typhoid, and Polio. These diseases still exist in many parts of the world and India is one of them, so getting adequately immunised is a wise precaution. Please contact your local doctor or your country’s national health advisory service to see what they recommend for the area you are visiting. Some on the immunisations are free, some you will need to pay for.

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Q: How much spending money will I need to bring with me?

A: So, this is up to you, but as this is a largely inclusive tour, then you don’t need that much. All the food (apart from rest days), accommodation, permits and fuel are sorted by us, so you just need cash for souvenirs, tips and alcoholic drinks. Unless you go absolutely mad in the gift shops and bars, then around $200 – $300 should be adequate. Shopping in India tends to be very reasonable so you can get quite a lot for not much!  On the beer front, we encourage a bit of restraint – this is a riding tour after all, so we like to keep eight hours between bottle and throttle.

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Q: Are there ATMs on the way?

A: Yes, there are ATMs in the larger towns, but not the villages. The service can be variable as the internet coverage drops out as often as an ageing hippy, so it’s best not to rely too heavily on the ATMs Don’t forget to tell your bank you are heading to India, as without this information they will most likely think some rogue hacker is dipping into your account and promptly block your card.

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Q: What is the accommodation like?

A: The accommodation on this trip is deliberately varied to give you a wide experience of the region. Sometimes we’ll be in top end hotels with all the facilities you’d expect, sometimes we’ll be in individual yurts at campsites miles away from anywhere.  But wherever we stay, bear in mind this is India and things are not necessarily the same as back home. And that’s exactly the point – that’s what adventure travel is about.

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Q: How do I charge my camera?

A: All the hotels have plug sockets. The campsites have sockets in the tents or in the main dining tents but turn the electricity off over night. So yes you will be able to charge your gadgets most nights. There are 2 types of sockets in India – 3 Pin connections – Type D, or 2 pin connections Type C.

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Q: Is Wi-Fi available throughout the tour?

A: As we said earlier, yes in theory, although in practice, Wi-Fi coverage can be slow at best, slow on average and non-existent on many occasions. When you are riding in some of the most epic landscapes in the world, then just enjoying it for yourself is beautifully liberating – you can show your photos when you get back home.

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Q: Can I get an Indian SIM card?

A: You can buy a local sim card in Delhi, however, this will only give you coverage for some of the trip, but far from all! Most riders just wait to use the wifi at the hotels that have it. Again the wifi isn’t great, enough to message people but not watch youtube videos or downloading. We recommend you set the ‘out-of-office auto-reply’ for your emails!

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Q: Is it safe to drink the tap water?

A: In a word No! Although the locals may be drinking tap water, doing the same has a strong possibility of playing havoc with your insides. It’s called Delhi Belly for a reason. We recommend that you drink only bottled water and that you check the seal before drinking. If you chose canned drinks, give the lid a good wipe beforehand just to be sure. And for tooth brushing, rinsing with bottled water is a good idea too.

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Q: Can you cater for vegetarians / food allergies?

A: As most of the population is vegetarian, then avoiding meat is no problem at all. As to food allergies that’s much harder to control, especially in restaurants with small kitchens and limited experience as to the complications of lactose or gluten intolerance. We will make every effort possible to communicate your requirements to the places we visit, but we are unable to make cast iron guarantees. If you are going to go into a life-threatening spasm if you touch a stray peanut, then share it with your tour medic –  we need to know that stuff. 

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Q: Who operates this tour?

A: This tour is operated by Aussie Bike or Hike in collaboration with our local partner based in India.  

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Q: How do I book?

A: To secure your place we simply need a AUD $2500 non-refundable deposit. The remainder does not need to be paid until 90 days prior to the tour start date.

 

Q: What payment methods do you accept?

A: We accept direct bank transfers. We do not accept Paypal or American Express.

Price for Riders is AUD (Australian Dollar) $7500-00.  Price for pillion passenger is AUD $6150-00.  

Booking Link is here:

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https://www.cognitoforms.com/aussiebikeorhike/roofoftheworldindiajune2024

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