Discover Yourself On This High-Altitude Bike-Packing Adventure In Zanskar

I am a writer. Like many writers across the world, I am also a walker. I like the slowness and mindfulness inherent to walking. I like to think of myself as a flâneur, ambling aimlessly through unfamiliar streets wherever I go, paying attention to "how everything seems accidentally but miraculously sprinkled with beauty", as Virginia Woolf put it so eloquently in her 1930 essay 'Street Haunting: A London Adventure'.

There's something about the slow, quiet intentionality of walking from one place to another and being mindful and aware of every aspect of the journey that has defined the storied history of writing and walking from Søren Kierkegaard and William Wordsworth to Walter Benjamin, George Sand, and Rebecca Solnit. In India, too, 'yatra' or a purposeful journey — usually by foot — represents a religious, philosophical, and often political pursuit like Mahatma Gandhi's Salt March to Dandi.

The slow living movement — a conscious response to the fast-paced, hyper-connected 21st-century life — is rooted in the same ideas of mindfulness and intentionality. The movement encourages individuals to slow down, simplify, and savour each moment of their life. Rather than glorifying busyness or constant productivity, the philosophy of slow living values presence and meaningful connection with oneself, with others, and with the natural world. It's not about doing everything slowly, but about doing things with care, purpose, and mindfulness. Inspired in part by the Slow Food movement of the 1980s, it has since expanded into broader lifestyle choices: from mindful eating and digital minimalism to slow fashion and slow travel.

Goa-based professional bike-packer Sudhanshu Verma's slow-moving travel company Wildly Radical is guided by the principles of slow, mindful movement. An experienced solo bike-packer, Sudhanshu is taking 12 bike-packers and bike-packing enthusiasts to a purpose-driven, slow bike-packing trip to the Zanskar Valley in Ladakh this August.

Covering 400 kilometre from Manali to Leh over 12 days, this guided expedition will take participants across high-altitude passes, remote villages, and ancient monasteries in Ladakh. Participants will ride through wild terrain alongside roaring Himalayan rivers, camp under endless skies, and tap into the rhythm of their breath and the turning wheels beneath their feet.

Open to intermediate and advanced bike-packers and bicyclists, the route includes stops at Phuktar Monastery, Lingshed, and Photoksar — some of the most isolated corners of the Indian Himalayas. Sudhanshu promises that the days are goint to be physically demanding, but the rewards will be immense: clear mountain air, the kindness of strangers, and the inner transformation that comes from moving slowly and intentionally through nature.

To learn more about the trip and book your spot, visit wildlyradical.com.

Follow Wildly Radical here.

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