“How can the mind take hold of such a country? Generations of invaders have tried, but they remain in exile. The important towns they build are only retreats, their quarrels the malaise of men who cannot find their way home. India knows of their trouble. She knows of the whole world's trouble, to its uttermost depth. She calls "Come" through her hundred mouths, through objects ridiculous and august. But come to what? She has never defined. She is not a promise, only an appeal.” ― E.M. Forster, A Passage to India: A Reader's Guide to Essential Criticism[caption id="attachment_411" align="alignright" width="300"]
Lindsay, at the Taj Mahal[/caption] Hi! My name is Lindsay Nash and I am the new Asia Tours Specialist at BikeToursDirect. I've spent the last five years living in South Korea and traveling across Asia. As the places we travel often stick with us in more ways than one, so has Asia with me. Now, I'm working to help introduce more clients to the cycling adventures awaiting on the other side of the world. We've been adding lots of new bike tour destinations across Asia, but over the past few weeks, we've been focusing on the subcontinent of India. While based in Chattanooga, I've sat at my desk at BikeToursDirect and dreamily entered these tours for the place that left such an impression on me. I've been taken back to that fall when I traveled through the Himalayas with my husband, with nothing but our large packs, my rather cumbersome camera, and our huge hearts for adventure. And, boy, did we ever get it. [caption id="attachment_446" align="alignright" width="159"]
McLeod Ganj, home of the Dalai Lama residence in Northern India[/caption] In the midst of this dirty, smoggy, dusty, cow-lazing, monkey-hopping, horn-honking place lies the wonder and magic that is India. Nowhere else on Earth will you see such diverse people, colors, tastes, sights, smells and life. Skinny cows on street corners. Bicycles and large buses side-by-side, navigating through small city alleys. A rainbow of saris and tall turbans. Spicy smells and towering mountains. A sensory overload from your first touchdown in Delhi. But, alas, my fellow wanderlusters: India is not for the faint of heart. It's overcrowded, sometimes smelly, sometimes dirty, and sometimes downright frustrating. My advice is to land in Delhi and get out. See the countryside. Meet the people. Taste the food. Embrace the culture. [caption id="attachment_414" align="alignleft" width="192"]
A Tibetan refuge area in northern India[/caption] There is no better way to do this than on a bicycle with our experienced partner tour companies. With them, you will be able to travel this incredible subcontinent with ease. Tour guides will lead you through tiger-ridden jungles, along ancient rivers, through desert castle ruins, up gnarly mountain ridges, along cracked cobblestone streets, and through hidden mountain Tibeten outposts. We now have tour offerings in the coastal paradise of Gokarna; along the backwaters of Kerala; in the mystical and cloud-touching Himalayas; in the Tibeten outposts of Ladakh; and through the crumbling palaces and fading grandeur of Rajasthan. View all of our India cycling tours here > (...and check back often, as we're adding more every day!) We promise you a trip of a lifetime. And we promise that once you travel to India, a part of this mystical place will never ever leave you.