Manali to Lye, lost bikers?
 

Copied from Facebook, no connection to me.

Probably just having too much fun to contact home.

"We are looking for Alex Lamble and Rebecca Sweetman, who are currently traveling the Himalayas route from India on motorbike from Manali to Lye but maybe touring beyond Lye on a Royal Enfield bike. We haven't heard from them in a week and very worried in the UK. If anyone is also doing this route please keep an eye out and let us know on here. We are hoping it's a lack of wifi or no battery,however, rickety bridge crossings, landslides, sheer drops (we should stop googling their route) is worrying us a bit with no contact and they passed a check point where we believe as advised by bike hirers that they would have had wifi 4 days ago. Thank you from a very worried U.K. family.

Please repost if you are a biker to any sites you are joined to. The more eyes the better! Sure they are fine

Wifi in the boonies will always be patchy, especially in the high Himalayas. They're probably just having a good time sampling the scenery, fauna and flora. Also, what about power cuts? The roads around Leh are often temporarily closed because of landslides.

If you haven't been there, here's an idea: Indian Himalayas TBSdotCom Sure, it was a few years ago, but things technology won't have changed much up there.

They've aparently been spotted. Reason for lack of comms: "no phones working".

A Spot or delorme would have still worked

"no phones working" could also mean battery flat? I assume the tracking devices you mention also require juice from somewhere? These tracking devices add a potentially large expense for a couple of backpackers on a rented Bullet along a popular tourist route.

It seems they also weren't able to go to an internet cafe or use a friend's phone/device to use wifi on that? As said, probably too busy having a good time and/or the lack of reliable internet connections, which I doubt, even today, exist in a great many places in the region.

How did friends and families of travellers cope 20 or 30 years ago before tracking devices, wifi, email, social media, voip and the www? With only poste restante for snail mail or paying for 3 minutes at a STD phone kiosk when they might get a call...

Sorry, a video involving STD :innocent: (From Manali, where they set off). If you watch to the end you'll see it has nothing to do with any diseases :mchappy:

Both are illegal in India. Satellite communicators (phone, SMS) of any kind is jail time. Email Delorme, they'll confirm.

Having crossed the border at Amritsar I can confirm this.