Royal Bikers - Quest to Ladakh v 1.4
Behind the Scenes
Royal Bikers, FB Name Royal Bikers Gang – Owner Manish Bhaskar posed as an organizer to conduct a Bike Trips at a total cost of Rs 25, 000/- covering about 3200 kms by commencing the trip from New Delhi to Hoshiarpur, to Udhampur, to Srinagar, to Kargil, to Leh, to Nubra, to Leh, to Tso Pangong, to Tso Moriri, to Tso Kar, to Jispa, to Manali, to Bilaspur, and finally to New Delhi.
Believing the rosy picture showed by them, to be true and genuine, I for one, decided to join their aforesaid conducted tour/trip and paid them Rs 25, 000/- in full payment towards the trip, and began the Bike Ride from Mahipalpur, New Delhi on 25th May 2014.
The weather conditions were well known and it was expected from so called professional organizers to make advance arrangements of lodging and boarding at various places including the breakfast, Lunches and dinners, and provide adequate facilities in the field of medical assistance, Mechanic for the possible break down of the Motor Bike and general routine essentials for a tour operator. Likewise it was their obligation to make alternative arrangements to carve out other facilities should the route targeted was someway not in a position to be utilized. Which was time to time even discussed with organizers to keep a back plan for the route which is closed.
However, soon after the trip commenced, we found that there was no medical attendant at all during the entire ride time. Likewise, there was no mechanic to attend to the mechanical problems from Pangong Lake to Leh and while coming back from Kargil till Delhi that may have arisen during the trip in our two wheelers.
At the outset, I may straightaway say that Royal Bikers cheated us and grabbed the monies without rendering adequate services as promised. This was obviously misappropriation of our funds by Royal Bikers for Leh Ladakh Trip(Quest to Ladakh 1.4) that we provided to them for the complete trip up to return back to the New Delhi bonafide believing Manish Bhaskar to be a genuine tour operator. They really made fool out of us, and particularly from me.
There were very many similar trips organized by other tour operators and they were providing all the requisite services to their tour members. However, besides not providing the medical attendants and mechanics as stated hereinabove, the following apparent instances on their part only expose their offensive attitude of cheating us and swallowing our monies, right from the very inception of the trip:
a) They very well knew that the route via Manali was not available and bonafide and legitimate expectation as required of them, to have carved out another route for onward journey rather than abandoning the trip itself in between and leaving us in lurch.
b) The accommodation for 28th May was assured to us in a Houseboat but the same was not arranged for or cancelled this houseboat arrangement in Srinagar and provided some other useless facility where no dinner was provided. Not only that they made us to go all the way to Houseboat site for dinner and those who could not go on account of their own reasons were not allowed to have their respective packed dinner through the co-members.
c) There was no back up vehicle from Leh to Nubra Valley and back to Leh on 30th & 31st May. People like me were in a mess without luggage and clothes. They never mentioned or updated riders that there will no backup vehicle available.
d) There was no backup vehicle from Leh to Pangong Lake and back to Leh on 2nd & 3rd June.
e) While coming back from Leh to Kargil as stated earlier at point a), the planned Manali route was not opened and in Kargil they announced that from this point onwards everyone has to be at their own expense, food & stay. Post Kargil we spent first night at Drass, then Jammu & then last night at Panipat. I myself did these beyond 1000 Kms all alone without any support, without any backup vehicle and without any accommodation from organiser.
f) Most of the days they never provided Lunch without any prior notice even when lunch was always the part of deal.
Overall I feel cheated by the services of Royal Bikers and not providing the essential requisites in a tour that was conducted by them as an operator. There was immense mental stress with a loss of 5 days deal plus extra spendings on food and accommodation post Drass(Stay / Food) – Srinagar(Food) – Jammu(Stay / Food) – Jallandhar(Food) – Panipat(Stay /Food). Mr. Bhaskar & his admin Team have not provided services commensurate with the fee they had agreed to charge in totality for the entire tour/trip.
For Reference Following are the details they posted for this bike trip
“After the successful and eventful’Quest to ladakh v 1.0’ last year, Royal Bikers are all set to explore Ladakh one more time.
Leh where the sky overhead is a vivid dark blue from the altitude – a breathless 3505m above sea level – and the modern town melts into a crumbling old city of timber and mud bricks
Delhi to Leh Ladakh distance is around 1100 Kms(via Manali) and 1400 kms(via Srinagar), so it might be quite difficult to drive all the way long. But still if you want to see the real beauty of this place then a long ride on your beloved Royal Enfield would be a great experience.
So get ready to experience the most thrilling ride of your life.
Detailed Itinerary:
25th may: New Delhi - Hoshiarpur(440km)
26th may: Hoshiarpur - Udhampur(245km)
27th may: Udhampur - Srinagar(252km)
28th may: Srinagar - Kargil(218km)
29th may: Kargil – Leh(240km)
30th may: Leh
31st may: Leh – Nubra(130km)
1st june: Nubra – Leh(130km)
2nd june: Leh - Tso Pangong(210km)
3rd june: Tso Pangong - Tso Moriri(320km)
4th june: Tso Moriri - Tso Kar(90km)
5th june: Tso Kar – Jispa(220km)
6th june: Jispa – Manali(140km)
7th june: Manali – Bilaspur(180km)
8th june: Bilaspur - New Delhi(390km)
Total Distance: 3200 kms
Trip cost - 25K(for the first 20 entries) including Backup truck for luggage. first aid kits, oxygen cylinders, spare parts like clutch plates, clutch wires, accelerator cables, spark plugs, bulbs. A medical attendant and a RE technician. Includes first night stay in a hotel in Delhi.”
The above representation clearly shows their commitment at the first instance but they backed out for their gains to the detriment and injury to us when they abandoned us in between and left us in lurch to bear all costs besides the hardships of locating places for lodging and boarding and site seeing.
Overall, the Royal bikers is a group who cheat, steal and lie to riders to grab their cash. This trip was my third trip with them and I also noticed some of the things in my second trip as well. As per my experience with them all I found they always try to find New Riders everytime on their trips because apart from Admin and myself Inever saw repetitive riders on their Ride.
So, guys beware, Royal Bikers group is not a legit group at all. They can leave you anywhere and anytime.