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Motorcycle Tours North East India
CHAIN REACTION - Adventure motorcycling and beyond...
Life is a book and those who do not travel read only a page...(St Augustine) Travel is the mother of all education and the lessons become all the more interesting from the seat of a motorcycle. Have you ever thought about the people you would meet, the places you would see, the cultures and traditions you would discover when you travel through some remote region?
When you accompany them for an adventure motorcycle tour through the remote regions of North East India, the experience will amaze and inspire you and will invariably set off a chain reaction of thoughts and actions in you.
You will ride through lush green tea plantations and on to Majuli, Asia's largest river island and also a World Heritage site, see the endangered great one horned rhino and hordes of other rare wildlife in Kazirange National Park. You will stay in the cleanest village in Asia located in the beautiful hill state of Meghalaya, walk on living root bridges, crawl through some of the longest limestone caves of Asia and visit Cherrapunjee, the wettest place on earth.
Across the Sela Pass (14,500 ft) in Arunachal Pradesh, one of the highest motorable pass in the world, lies the 600 year old Buddhist monastry of Tawang, the second largest in Asia. In Tawang, you will ride on the road through which HH The Dalai Lama had escaped to India when China invaded Tibet. The lush green unspoilt forests of Arunachal Pradesh will entice you to push deeper into the area and you will meet numerous hill tribes along the way whose lifestyles have remained relatively unchanged for centuries. Sample their food and stay in their houses built on bamboo stilts. Chain Reactions will take you for walks into the jungle and cross roaring rivers and streams on wildly swinging but absolutely safe cane bridges. You can pay tribute to the soldiers who fell in WW II and ride on the famous Stillwell Road, built at a great human cost, to stop the invading Japanese war machine.
Adventure motorcycling in North East India takes an exciting meaning as you take a five hour ferry ride across the mighty Brahmaputra river. You will meet real warriors in Nagaland who practiced headhunting in living memory and see their collection of human skulls. These old warriors are decorated with tattoos on the faces and bodies. The more 'heads' a warrior collected, the more tattooes he earned and his esteem grew in the society. All the tattooed warriors are on the wrong side of 50 and in a few years time there will be none left. Meet them before they disappear forever and see their amazing war dance.
Spend time with the fantastic craftsmen and gunsmiths who make fabulous muzzle loaders and you can also test fire them...almost 'at will'. Visit the fascinating local weekly markets, drink the home brewed rice beer in large bamboo mugs, walk the eco trail and those who love angling can go after the huge Masher at the beautiful Nameri National Park.
We do not prefer the usual touristy places and instead ride into the interiors where you will be able to see life in North East India in all its unvarnished, rustic glory.
Come and join us in this adventure motorcycle tour and we assure you that this will be an experience of a lifetime and will leave you asking for more.
The Routes
The routes are carefully chosen so that they give you a dose of everything - adventure, culture, history, heritage, tribal architect, handicraft, handloom, nature and wildlife. At the same time, we do not have an absolute watertight and sterile itinerary. You can explore certain areas if you like and they would only be too glad to explore the beautiful and warm North East India along with you. Certain amount of flexibility and spontaneity certainly makes motorcycle touring more exciting. You will be riding no more than a maximum of 400 kms a day and that will only be for a couple of days.
They can custiomise the motorcycle tour according to your desire and can add / delete certain areas from the itinerary.
To travel in certain states like Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, foreigners must obtain Restricted Area Permits which we will take care of. It is much easier to obtain the permits for a tourist group of four and above. However, in Nagaland, a married couple can enter easily.
Please contact them for rates and the itineraries. (See information bottom of page)
They have a one-time payment mode that takes care of most things which means that you are free to enjoy your ride. You will have to pay for things like alcohol, laundry and park entry fees.
Bikes and backups
On this adventure motorcycle tour, you will ride new 250cc Hero Honda motorcycles and if you want to have a pillion rider, it will cost a little extra. They have a backup vehicle which carries the supplies, medicines, tents, spares, mechanics and cooks. In case a rider does not want to ride, he/she can catch a ride on the backup vehicle.
In the event of a mishap, you will be given the best of medical help available at that moment before being shifted for proper medical care.
Accommodation
Make no mistake, this is an adventure motorcycle tour and you will be riding through the interiors where luxury will be at a premium. Many a times you will be staying at local homes to get a feel of the land and its people. But having said that, rest assured that you will have very decent rooms and you don't have to go to the jungle to attend nature's call. Accommodation will mostly be on twin sharing basis unless someone wants single accomodation, which, of course, will be charged extra.
You will also stay at a fabulous heritage hotel deep inside a tea estate and in high end forest guest houses in Kaziranga and Nameri National Park.
Charity
They would like to give back something to the societies through which they travel. A portion of the fees that they charge you will be donated to an orphanage and some schools. North East India has a per capita income that is much below the national figure. There are many bright and deserving children who cannot complete even their basic studies due to financial difficulties. They would be glad if you can adopt a child each and pay for their education till they pass High School and the sum is a pittance. You can send the money directly to the child yourself or can direct it through them.
About Chain Reaction
Anuj Singh and Shahwar Hussain who share the common interest of motorcycle touring have founded Chain Reaction. Anuj is a photographer and Shahwar is an automotive journalist and a travel writer. Both have been riding together as a team for years now and doing adventure motorcycle travel stories for a number of publications in India and abroad. Anuj shoots and Shahwar writes...makes things easier! Very large portions of their riding have taken place in North East India.
It was while they were discussing about the charms of riding through the interiors of North East India, that they hit upon the idea of forming an adventure motorcycle travel outfit through which other people can experience the same thrill, adventure and discover places and tribes which the outside world know little about. Shahwar hails from North East India and speaks the language(s) of many tribes with whom the riders will interact and invariably it will make the interaction more interesting.
Since the duo have extensive travel experience in North East India, they decided to concentrate on this area. This decision was also encouraged by the fact that North East India has something to offer for almost everyone. It has beautiful landscapes, hills, ranges of the Himalayas, unspoilt forests, abundance of wildlife, large river island, historic monuments, monasteries, exquisite handicrafts, numerous coulorful tribes, some with such extreme traditions as headhunting. People with an inclination towards architecture will find the tribal houses, some built on stilts, and cane bridges fascinating indeed.
Ride with them and you will fall in love with beautiful land and its people.
Adventure motorcycle touring in North East India.
Company Information
- Company Name: Chain Reaction
- Where: North East India
- Owner: Shahwar Hussain
- Type of Tours:
- Telephone:
- Fax:
- Website: www.chainreactionindia.com
- Email: chainreactionindia (at) gmail.com
- Tags: motorcycle, tours, touring, north east, india, asia, kazirange national park
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