A Lismore paramedic, his paramedic daughter and her colleague are riding high after the motorcycle trip of a lifetime through the Himalayas.
The Umling La pass in northern India is as high as you can get in a motor vehicle. At 5800 metres above sea level, it’s more than twice the height of Australia’s highest peak, Mt Kosciuszko.
It’s even higher than the base camp at Mt Everest. What was a NSW Ambulance paramedic, his daughter and her colleague from the Queensland Ambulance Service doing riding motorbikes up a Himalayan pass?
The short answer, according to Northern Rivers Paramedic Michael Smith, is that he’d tried it once before, then discovered he could go even higher.
Michael is someone who clearly enjoys a challenge. He retired from full time service with NSW Ambulance in 2021 after more than 40 years as an Advanced Life Support and helicopter paramedic. He still works casual shifts in Northern NSW Zone.
Michael’s daughter Lucy followed him into the ‘family business’ and is a Queensland Ambulance Service paramedic stationed on Macleay Island in Moreton Bay. When Lucy’s colleague Eliza heard about Michael and Lucy's planned motorcycle trip to India, she came down with a severe case of FOMO*. So in August 2023, Michael, Lucy and Eliza travelled to India together for the 15-day ride of their lives.
“After arriving in New Delhi, we flew to Kullu, then travelled by road to Manali at the foothills of the Himalayan mountains to start our bike trip,” Michael recounted. “We rode in the Indian part of the Himalayas near the border with Tibet.”
“The landscapes were breathtaking – glacial river valleys and mountains towering above you. Most of the terrain was treeless due to the steep slopes and the fact that it’s normally covered in snow for nine months of the year. You can only access these places during the Indian summer.
“The roads were unbelievable – carved into the side of sheer cliffs. We rode through snow, shale, even bulldust as fine as talcum powder. At one point we got held up for a few days because of a landslide.”
Michael, Lucy and Eliza covered a total of 1890 km in 15 days, averaging around 20 km/h.
“Due to the tough and rough terrain, much of the time we were in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears,” Michael explained.
“We rode Indian-made Royal Enfield ‘Classic’ bikes. It felt a bit like taking a road bike on a motocross course.
“Some of the creek crossings were very hairy. I crashed my bike at one of them. I was fine but the bike needed fixing, so our support team put me on a Royal Enfield Himalayan instead – which was a better bike for the conditions.”
“As paramedics, we made sure to look after the others in our group who got injured or fell ill. Gastro and some cracked ribs after one couple came off was the worst we had to deal with.”
Another challenge was the risk of altitude sickness, which affects people travelling above 2500 metres. “We managed altitude sickness by gaining altitude slowly over the 15 days and whenever possible, not staying overnight at peak but at a lower altitude. We also took Diamox (acetazolamide) medication.”
“We did have a bet as to what our oxygen saturations would drop to,” Michael said. “We thought around 90% but were amazed to see mid 70s and mid 80s a lot of the time.”
“We took almost two weeks to reach our ultimate altitude of 5800 metres, so we avoided the headaches and fuzzy thought process associated with altitude sickness. However, we all experienced the symptoms of tingling in our fingers, toes and SOBoE (shortness of breath on exertion).
“It gave us a new appreciation for what our COPD and emphysema patients experience”.
Then there were the drivers.
“Riding in India is like driving an ambulance to a Priority 1A response all day. Drivers use any side of the road and travel any direction on a one-way road. Headlights are not important, and they might as well not even have blinkers,” Michael said. “But your horn has to work, and you have to blast it every few seconds while your engine is running. Somehow it does sort of work. I’m not sure why.”
Looking back on the trip, Lucy Smith said she’s amazed at what she, Michael and Eliza were able to achieve. “To be able to say that I have ridden a motorbike over the highest road in the world is one of my biggest achievements,” Lucy said. “It was physically the hardest thing that I have ever done and I am so lucky to have been able to share it with my Dad. It’s something we will both remember for the rest of our lives.”
After reaching the heights of the Himalayas, what’s the next challenge for Michael? “I’m not sure – but maybe Vietnam and Cambodia by motorbike. Who knows?”
*FOMO = fear of missing out