13,000 km in 55 days on motorcycles

BANGALORE: For them, long rides on their motorcycles were fun. They kept their weekends for this cause. M. Aseem (29), a real estate consultant of Bangalore, and Aashish Kumar (20), a student of Jain College, have completed several thousands of kilometres of riding in Karnataka and in neighbouring States.

Now, it is time to realise their dream of a high altitude motorcycle expedition in the Himalayas. Aseem and Aashish Kumar along with their two adventure enthusiasts ? Anesh and Dinesh ? plan to cover over 13,000 km in 55 days and carry a message to spread awareness among the people to save the tigers.

While Aseem and Aashish Kumar commenced their expedition from Bannerghatta National Park here on Thursday to coincide with the World Environment Day, Anesh and Dinesh will join them at Bilaspur, near Jammu, and they all will together ride towards Leh and Ladakh.

Their route will be Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Nagpur, Delhi, Chandigarh, Bilaspur, Jammu, Srinagar and thence to Leh. On their return journey, Anesh and Dinesh will end their expedition in Shimla while Aseem and Aashish Kumar will reach Bangalore via Delhi, Jodhpur, Mount Abu, Mumbai, Goa, Mangalore, Kovalam, Kanyakumari, Rameswarm, Thanjavur and Chennai.

Their Yamaha RX 100 and Bajaj Pulsar 150 are loaded with extra tyres, gas cylinders, fire extinguishers, laptops and medical kits. During their expedition, they will pass through 15 States and visit 44 cities.

They will visit Corbet National Park, Ranthambhor National Park, Gir National Park, Sariska National Park, Kudremukh Wildlife Sanctuary and Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary.

Aseem said: "Our challenge is to do every thing on our own (without medical, media and mechanical backup crew). We are carrying proper medical kits as we are completely aware of all the risks and dangers involved in the expedition. Nowadays, wild animals are in danger due to poaching and encroachment of forests. This is our small effort to show our concern for the tiger and wildlife."