India: Kashmir hosts its first-ever international bikers’ expedition

Jammu and Kashmir is fast becoming one of the most favourite destinations of biker groups from across India and the world. Hundreds of bike rallies have been organised by the various departments and groups across the Kashmir valley in the last few months. And for the first time, an international bikers' rally was organised in Srinagar. The rally was flagged off by the tourism department of Jammu and Kashmir.

A group of 20 bikers from Bahrain, Oman and Germany are on an expedition trip to the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The bikers started the journey from Ladakh exploring the roads via Leh, Kargil and later Sonamarg in Kashmir region. They went to South Kashmir's Pahalgam as well. The rally was flagged off in Srinagar by secretary of tourismSarmad Hafeez.

The bikers called Kashmir Valley the "paradise on earth" and said it was one of the best challenging terrains for these bikers.

''Our group has done so many trips. When we were thinking about doing something different, it came to our mind to do Kashmir. Whenever we say Kashmir, we say why and the media portraysit as dangerous, but we wanted to explore it ourselves and honestly we don't regret it at all. The whole group loved it. We loved the landscape, great food and good people. You can't imagine how people helped us. We were given free food and snacks by locals in villages. Our friends from Oman are interested and they will be visiting Kashmir soon as well. Bahrain Bikers was started in 2012 and we have almost 130 members and in this trip we have only 18 of us travelling because everyone couldn't make it. We do a lot of social work as well,'' said Mehdi Hassan, Captain, Bahrain Bikers Group.

The group comprised 20 bikers, including two women, the other bikers were mostly from the Gulf and one was from Germany. The bikers took a ride on the road facing Dal Lake.

''We have come from Bahrain to India. To Leh and Kashmir, I cannot even say anything about Kashmir, it's in our hearts, we have loved Kashmir since our childhood. We never came before but always heard about it. It is for real a paradise on earth. We went to the mountainsand saw four seasons in a single day. We recommend and request people from across the world to come to Kashmir. They are lovely people and have amazing food. Kashmir is the best and Kashmir is heaven,'' said Abdul Jasim, a biker fromBahrain.

The bikers expressed joy over the hospitality and welcome they received from people in Srinagar. The female bikers found the place safe and extremely challenging with regard to terrain.

''I have been riding with these bikers for a very long time and it's been amazing. When they said they are going to Kashmir, I said I am signing up as well. It's been fantastic. Even though I am Indian, I will go and promote it. I have seen stunning visuals of the place. I am a part of the group of Biker brothers, and it's been quite safe, and they take care of us very well. Dr Aziz has put together this whole event. He had a crew behind us. We were safe and biker brothers are extremely protective of the lady bikers, so we did not have a problem,'' said Priya Shankar, an Indian biker settled in Bahrain.

Secretary of tourism termed the biking expedition of Bahrain Bikers as a positive sign for Kashmir tourism He said the expedition would open gates for many other such activities as Kashmir has much to offer in adventure tourism.

He also expressed his gratitude to Bahrain Bikers and KCCI for organizing the expedition.

''We have a biker's group from Bahrain, these are international tourists, they have come all the way from the Gulf. There is a biker from Germany, there is a lady biker from Oman and I think it's wonderful that our place is opening up. I think Kashmir has a tremendous potential in biking due to its terrain, climate and places and I am sure it can become the best biking destinations in the world,'' said Hafeez.