Hi, my name is Uma and I'm from Singapore. So this is my second bike ride, first with Dream Riders.
Nice, so I just wanted to ask like how did you like end up being a rider? I started, when I reached 50, three years back, I thought of doing something different. Then I was doing a bit of group building. I found Leh Ladakh trip. So then I thought, okay. I took a break for a few weeks from company.
Then I started going on a bike trip. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a fantastic experience. So I thought I'd continue every year. So hence I'm back on this bike trip.
Nice. So were you always fond of traveling or like biking made you like made you interest in traveling?
Yeah, I think you know I wanted to travel specifically in India because since I live in overseas and I do travel a lot overseas but I never explored India because I relocated to Singapore when I was quite young.
But I know that India has got a lot of things to offer, specifically from the biking and hiking point of view. So I made a point to have at least one bike ride and one hiking every year. So last year I went to Hamta Pass hiking and this year it's biking.
So what would you say you like more, hiking or biking? I think both have got different set of skillsets needed. Hiking, I think it's your own. I think you have a lot of your me time. But in biking, I think you can see a lot of cultures and you'll be on the roads, you meet the people and you see a lot of people and as well as you meet a group, a quite big group, right?
You end up talking to them and understanding their cultures and where they come from. So I think both have got unique experiences.
So what would be your best hiking place? I haven't done much in India but the one which I did in Hamta Pass last year was fantastic and I think it pushed my limits a lot because as I said I'm 51 now and I was able to do that. I think it was 18,000 feet. Initially I was a bit skeptical whether I could do it or not but I was able to make it. It was fantastic.
But I think biking, maybe you may not need that much of physical and mental fitness but definitely it requires a lot of concentration because you know you're driving right and you have to take care of everything. But yeah, I think I like both. Nice.
So how did you end up with Dream Riders?
Yeah, so basically last year, so when I was talking about my Leh Ladakh experience with my Singapore trip, Singapore friends, and they said, okay, let's go. So then we were looking at the options and we found our dream riders. I think we were doing a bit of Google search. Then my friends ended up coming with Dream Riders to Leh Ladakh. I missed it because of something else. But since they had a fantastic experience with Dream Riders, they would like to continue for this ride also. That's how we ended up being with Dream Riders. Nice.
And how was Tawang like? Riding in Tawang? Oh, that's fantastic. I think, as I said, right, I've been to a lot of places like outside of India where they have snow. But in India, it's my first snow experience and it's fantastic. And also, Seeing our army men very closely and how they live in that kind of harsh conditions, definitely that's eye-opening for me. Definitely I'm going to share these experiences to my kids where they would be going to army in Singapore as a mandatory army for all the boys.
So I think definitely I'm going to tell those stories and how the Indian Army is protecting us. But Tawang is fantastic. from the climate perspective, I think, as I said, the snowfall is beautiful. And if you could give one tip or like any tip for the future Tawang riders, like what would it be? I think Tawang riders, I don't know any tip, but definitely, you know, whatever the facilities that we got and the road, everything is fantastic.
