Bombay, Beijing and back

Traversing barren mountains, home to snow leopards, mountain goats, yaks, monks and nomadic tribes, 56-year-old Godrej Baug resident Darayus Ankle­saria and Soli Cooper, 51, who lives in Bombay’s Dadar Parsi Colony, rode their Honda Unicorn 150 cc motorbikes across the roof of the world. The spirit of adventure took both these Tata Power employees on a 8,500 km journey through Nepal and Tibet right up to China.

While biking through the Himalayas, they often had to ride through streams and waterfalls, as per a write-up forwarded to Parsiana by the latter’s wife, Arnawaz. The going was tough as Tibet is situated 3,500 to 5,050 meters above sea level and the gradients of the roads are extremely precipitous. Due to the altitude, the bikers often found it difficult to breathe in the thin air and had to use oxygen cylinders which they carried with them. Also, landslides being common, Cooper and his bike were once hit by a hurtling stone while Anklesaria barely escaped being felled by a huge boulder, the write-up reveals.

One particular stretch in Tibet was a nightmare, Anklesaria informed Par­siana. The distance between Zhan­gnu and Nyalam, a mere 35 km, took them four-and-a-half hours to cover. They had permission to start only after 6.30 p.m., and though it remains bright until 9.45 p.m. in those parts, it had been raining and "the roads were mired with kichchal (wet mud). We were forced to use only the first gear. Waterfalls would suddenly strike us with force, and we had to cross many streams. Soon it became dark and ahead of us was a deep stream with a strong current. Crossing it was risky, grueling, challenging,” Anklesaria recalled. As an automobile engineer, he also feared that their vehicles would fail, but they held out magnificently. As per the norms, they had to hire an escort vehicle with an English speaking guide and a driver. But being an engineer himself, Anklesaria declined the services of a mechanic to reduce the costs for these services which were stiff.

Clockwise, from right: Soli Cooper and Darayus Anklesaria flanking Mehernosh Pastakia and family in Beijing; at the Great Wall; outside the Potala Monastery in Lhasa

After leaving Bombay, the first halt was at Udvada to seek blessings at the Iranshah. Cooper and Anklesaria then proceeded via Baroda to Ajmer and Lucknow before entering Nepal where they visited various shrines and places of religious interest. On leaving Kathmandu, they crossed the Friendship Bridge between Kodari on the Nepal border and Zhangnu on the Tibet border to reach Lhasa, where the famous Dalai Lama monastery is situated. "As we did not have our bike licences, our bike journey had to be discontinued from Lhasa,” a clearly disappointed Ankle­saria informed The Mumbai Age, the supplement of The Asian Age, dated August 12, 2007. So they toured the country by train, the report reveals. A visit to the Great Wall of China was a highlight of their trip.

The Mumbai Age reported that the 37-day journey which started on July 5 from the Gateway of India ended at the Dahisar check naka on August 11 where the enterprising duo was welcomed by Ajay Bari, manager sales, Hero Honda.

"Language was a problem” and "when it came to food, we were truly stumped. The items on the menu were unfamiliar, and even when we zeroed in on a particular dish it would turn out to be something outlandish!” Cooper informed Parsiana. Imagine their astonishment when, after a 50-hour train journey, they were received in Beijing by Mehernosh Pastakia, an enterprising Zoroastrian who runs the Taj Pavilion, the only Indian restaurant in that city. Pastakia warmly extended hospitality to them.

The cost of the trip was high, but everyone chipped in to help — from their employers Tata Power who sponsored them financially to Honda Unicorn who provided free spare parts and special tools. Nitin Dossa at the Western India Automobile Association helped enormously, Car and Bike magazine sponsored helmets, oils and imported puncture repair kits while Michelin Tyres gifted them brand new tyres that were launched a day after the duo left. Jamshed Guzder too contributed toward making Anklesaria and Cooper’s personal passion a reality, while their agents Tej Jarga in Kathmandu and Dawa Tsering in Lhasa were invaluable, the adventurers informed.

This was not the first trip for Anklesaria, a biking enthusiast since his early youth. In 1987, when he was living in Nowroz Baug, he had ridden a 100 cc Kawasaki Bajaj to the West. "I rode this bike to London and other parts of the United Kingdom and to Europe. I have been to Scandinavia (Denmark, Sweden, Norway) and to both East and West Berlin, as they were then.” The main sponsor then too was Tata Power, with WIAA being as helpful at that time as it was for the recent trip. Air India and Air France too had helped out.

"Since we were unable to ride all the way to Beijing this year, I am eager to go again next year. The main problem is finding sponsors,” Anklesaria admits. Sponsors are reluctant to back a solo adventurer, and it is not easy to find suitable companions willing to take the risks involved. "Even for the last trip we initially had a group of six, but then two dropped out. Later, two more changed their minds. Fortunately Soli was willing to accompany me. But I am so keen I am willing to go alone,” Anklesaria gamely added.