• Adventure was on a Royal Enfield Himalayan 411 motorcycle negotiating 1,000 kilometers of dirt roads and curling mountain passes in the Himalayas mountains.
• For eight days, adventure fueled the enthusiasm of seven Filipino riders in the “Zanskar Odyssey” tour deep in the Himalayas.
• The Filipino riders were: Marc Soong, Jinno Rufino, sportscaster and writer; Buck Pago, photographer, mechanic, adventure rider; Marc Nelson, TV host; Marco Viray, restaurateur, Joey Viray, businessman; and John Monreal, club DJ.
• Marc’s first ‘meeting’ with the vast and desolate landscape which held a magnificence beyond telling, moved him to tears. ‘Under the cover of my helmet, I cried. It was just awesome!’
• Day two of the ride took them through a 10-hour ride from Leh to Padum, major towns in the area, one of the most scenic and untouched routes.
• ‘Beware, your skills will be tested as we pass through the Singe La, Sirsir La, and the dreaded Murdung La pass!’
• And then there was the four-kilometer downhill pass which demanded focus and experience in taming the machine against gravity.
• When they stopped, the riders rested on the landscape of culture and history. The details of life in villages stood like movie scenes – temples, giant drums, huge bells, multi-colored flags dancing with the wind.

PINOYS IN THE HIMALAYAS ADVENTURE, FROM LEFT: MARC NELSON, MARCO VIRAY, BUCK PAGO, JINNO RUFINO, JOHN MONREAL, JAS, (TOUR OPERATOR), AND MARC SOONG. Adventure was on a Royal Enfield Himalayan 411 motorcycle negotiating 1,000 kilometers of dirt roads and curling mountain passes in the Himalayas mountains. For eight days, adventure fueled the enthusiasm of seven Filipino riders in the “Zanskar Odyssey” tour deep in the Himalayas. But as an afterthought months later, Marc Soong, one of the riders, said “something almost spiritual” was with many of them in what he called “the ride of a lifetime” which he is now waiting to do again. ON A 'WARM UP RIDE" -- BEFORE STARTING ON THE LONG RIDE, THE GROUP RODE TO A TEMPLE TO GET TO KNOW THEIR BIKES AND TO ACCLIMATIZE FOR THE HIGH ALTITUDE RIDE. Marc has, of course, the heart of an adventurer.  On the way to the Zanskar Odyssey, he was in South Africa with his family, watching wild animals he had only seen in various media.  Although he grew up around cars, mostly luxury cars (his father is the distributor of Jaguar, Ferrari, Maserati, and Range Rover in the Philippines), Marc follows the adventure of basic pleasures – hiking for days in the mountains, crawling into a tent for sleep, riding a dirt bike through long roads. Recently, he opened a campsite where he enjoys “getting away from it all” without electricity and wifi. Joining a ride through the Zanskar mountain range was something he had wanted to do ever since he heard the stories of two friends who had joined the “Ride of the Royals” along the same region. SELFIE TIME The chance came with the Zanskar Odyssey organized by Jasjit Singh Bajwa.  Jasjit founded the Colokal company whose tagline is an open invitation to the very daring –“Explore beyond the usual.”  He promised “the ride of your life” – and he delivered more than just an adventure, Marc said. With Marc in the Zanskar Odyssey were Jinno Rufino, sportscaster and writer; Buck Pago, photographer, mechanic, adventure rider; Marc Nelson, TV host; Marco Viray, restaurateur, Joey Viray, businessman; and John Monreal, club DJ.  They were the first Filipino group to participate in the Zanskar Odyssey. TAKING A BREAK TO ENJOY THE EXTRAORDINARY LANDSCAPE WITH SOME SNOW ON THE MOUNTAINS, AND EVEN SOME SNOWFALL IN CERTAIN AREAS. THE RIGHT GEAR IS REALLY NECESSARY TO KEEP SAFE AND WARM, MARC SAID. The location of the whole ride is the main adventure because it is set in a different faraway world.  Google defines it as: “The Zanskar Range is a mountain range in the union territory of Ladakh that separates Zanskar from Ladakh itself” – very unfamiliar to Marc then. MULTI-COLORED FLAGS FLYING WITH THE WIND WAS A TYPICAL SIGHT AT THE MOUNTAIN PASSES. Marc felt like a total stranger in the panorama that surrounded them throughout the 1,000-km ride.  From the lush green forests in his campsite in Tanay, Rizal, he now faced mountains of grey rock, red orange sand, snow peaks on top of black stone mountains – no green vegetation. THE FILIPINO RIDERS POSE AT THE SINGE LA PASS SIGN.  IT IS THE SECOND HIGHEST PASSABLE ROAD NETWORK IN THE WORLD AND GAVE SOME OF THE RIDERS ALTITUDE SICKNESS. His first “meeting” with the vast and desolate landscape which held a magnificence beyond telling, moved him to tears.  “Under the cover of my helmet, I cried.  It was just awesome!”  And suddenly memories of my mother just came.”  He had lost his mom only months before that ride. SNOW ON THE CLIFF, A ROCK MOUNTAIN ON THE SIDE; RIDING A DREAM. Many times, his vision was lined by a mountain surface that looked like lines of folded rocks in various shapes. And the mountains shot up so high in the sky, he and his friends felt altitude sickness many times when they reached near the peaks which are recorded to be among the highest in the world. “When we reached the top of the high passes (one of them the second highest pass in the world), we cannot just stay and enjoy the view. We had to go down because the altitude gave us a headache, and made some feel weird.  My head was throbbing and felt like exploding with every bump.  Thankfully Jas (tour organizer) had painkillers,” he said. 'OUT OF THIS WORLD LANDSCAPE' -- ZANSKAR IS ALSO KNOWN AS 'MOONLAND OF LADAKH.' The highest mountain in the Zanskar Range is about 6,000 meters above sea level, or 19,700 feet. For comparison, Mt. Pulag in Benguet, the third highest mountain in the Philippines, is 2,942 MASL.  Mt. Fuji in Japan is 3,776 meters. “The whole ride was a highlight. It was as if we were going through different countries although we were just going through India as the culture and landscape changed in a few hundred kilometers. And the scenery. No video or photo can do justice to the views. It was a never ending display of beautiful mountains, glaciers, rivers. One has to see to believe.” THE SWEEPING VIEW OF THE ROCKY AND TOWERING MOUNTAINS JUST STAYED WITH US, LIKE A NEVER ENDING MOVIE. Even if you are riding at 40 to 60 kph, the vastness of the panorama touches your soul. I felt so small and strange in that desolate and unfamiliar land, he said. Day two of the ride took them through a 10-hour ride from Leh to Padum, major towns in the area, “one of the most scenic and untouched routes,” their guide said.  He also cautioned them: “Beware, your skills will be tested as we pass through the Singe La, Sirsir La, and the dreaded Murdung La pass!” From photos captured by drones, the mountain passes looked like a long ribbon thrown in the air and landed gracefully curled, cutting through the mountain range – with tight hairpin turns and winding stretches.  A rider’s dream! “We took the mountain passes carefully. But the mountain passes were so tricky, if you make a mistake, it can cost your life or limb. Our guide reminded us to ride within our capabilities.” Months later, Marc remembers a moment: “I remember a difficult part when I was negotiating a steep incline, a big truck coming down towards me, and there was a deep drop to my left, I was at the edge. I stayed calm and my mind focused on what I had learned from my trainers.” Most of the roads were gravel roads. “There were sections with larger rocks which would be a little more challenging. There was a pass that had some ice and was slippery but that was just a short portion. We had a few river crossings, but not too complicated. The bigger challenge for me was the length of the ride. 250 kms of dirt roads in one day!” “And then there was the four-kilometer downhill pass which demanded focus and experience in taming the machine against gravity. That section was the reason why the organizer reversed the itinerary as the four-kilometer stretch would have required our machines to go uphill.  We saw a group of bikers resting because one of their RE Himalayans burned a clutch going up.” MEETING THE BIKE -- MARC SOONG MEETS THE ROYAL ENFIELD HIMALAYAN IN THIS GETTING-TO-KNOW-YOUR-BIKE RIDE TO A TEMPLE (BACKGROUND). When they stopped, the riders rested on the landscape of culture and history.  The details of life in villages stood like movie scenes – temples, giant drums, huge bells, multi-colored flags dancing with the wind.  The local symbols soon joined the riders – flags tied to handlebars, colorful scarves around the neck, the gentle tinkle of mini bells in someone’s pocket. THE ARCHITECTURE OF STRUCTURES WERE DIFFERENT AS THE GROUP RODE DEEPER INTO THE ZANSKAR MOUNTAINS. 'IT WAS LIKE BEING IN ANOTHER COUNTRY ALTHOUGH WE WERE STILL IN INDIA,' MARC SOONG SAID. The stops also said that they were sacred ground, sacred because hundreds of years ago, explorers and kings and holy men had started a community there.  We stopped at Buddhist monasteries, ruins of palaces, small towns – each one with historical significance from ages ago. VISITING A TEMPLE ON DAY ONE AS PART OF ACCLIMATIZATION BECAUSE OF THE HIGH ALTITUDE. One of them was Padum, which websites say was “named after Guru Padmasambhava, the Buddhist saint from the 8th century. Padum has an average elevation of 3,657 meters (11,998 feet).” ANOTHER STOP TO REST AND APPRECIATE A TEMPLE AND THE CULTURE. “Literally and figuratively I was on top of the world. Since then I have been dreaming of going back.  If there was another group going for the same trip the day we ended I would have joined their group and would have done it one more time right there and then,” Marc said. But all in all, he says almost wistfully:  “There was something spiritual there.  I sense we were doing this trip for healing.  For me, memories of my mom stayed for the 1,000-km ride.”