Stuck at a crossroads near the Mira mountain pass in China where construction has closed the road to pass through, Mr Muthya P Narayanachar was unsure whether his 300kg of baggage, body, and bike would make it through the alternative narrow path.
So the ex-business developer waited around as he watched lighter bikes pass to and fro on the route, and twiddled between the options in his head. A group of Chinese bikers zoomed past him, with one of them noticing his predicament.
Neither spoke each other’s language but through gestures and a translation app, the biker gathered his group and helped push Mr Narayanachar’s bike through the route and onto safer ground.
Situations like these are the reason why – even months after his 55-day, 10,700km motorcycle journey from Hyderabad to Singapore – he beams when he thinks back to his time on the roads.
Mr Narayanachar has the idea to make this journey for the past 15 years, and in 2025, he finally accomplished it.
He has always loved riding bikes and after moving to Singapore in 2007, he quickly got a two-wheeler license and began riding around the island.
He documented this journey through his YouTube channel – The Motorcycle Chronicles – where he posted detailed daily vlogs, sharing his bike stats as well as facts about the regions he was in.
His channel brought unexpected connections his way.
“I had friends from school, who I haven’t spoken to in 20 years, and they would message to learn more and ask why I am doing this,” he said.
At 56 years, he believes he picked the right time to start taking on these more difficult journeys – if he waited longer, his health may have come in the way and if he started earlier, family commitments to a young child would have been an obstacle.
Even so, Mr Narayanachar said: “I want to show people that age is not a barrier. I will ride my bike until I can’t.”
Leaving India
After researching, Mr Narayanachar found that riding from his hometown in Hyderabad would be easier than the reverse journey from Singapore, for bureaucratic reasons.
And so, on May 3, 2025, making sure to start the journey only after his wife’s birthday, Mr Narayanachar was sent off on his Honda NX500 by his neighbours and even his local member of the legislative assembly.
India was still reeling from the tragedy in Kashmir when 26 people were killed in Pahalgam, leading to the Operation Sindoor attacks, so his family was particularly anxious about his journey.
However, Mr Narayanachar assured them that his route fell nowhere near the danger zones, as he planned to drive out via the Nepal border. His original plan was to drive through Myanmar; however, due to political and weather issues, he readjusted his route.
“I made it known to myself that I will be crazy but not foolish,” he said, “If at any point I have to turn back, I won’t see it as a failure.”
After nine days driving through the states of Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, he finally reached Nepal, where he would have to deal with a rapid increase in altitude.
“Some of the places I passed in Nepal are the same places that got washed away by the floods now. I told my wife, ‘Imagine what would have happened if I waited another year to do this trip?’” he said.
Everest and China
The longest and most challenging part of the ride was getting to Southeast Asia, from Nepal to Laos. He spent over a month covering this ground, with 21 days spent in China.
“I tried to research and practice as much as I could, but some things you can only figure out once you are there,” he said, citing the challenge of navigating thin, cliffside roads against passing trucks and cars as an example.
After acclimatising himself to the high altitudes that would come his way, specifically in Tibet, he passed by and through the Himalayas, making stops at the Everest base camps.
After Tibet, things eased out and despite Mr Narayanachar being a diabetic vegetarian, through interactions and tips from locals, his “Monk food” diet was also smooth sailing.
Return to Singapore
Trading the freezing, finger-numbing temperatures in China for the humidity of Laos, Thailand and Malaysia, Mr Narayanachar made quick work of the countries, spending less than two weeks riding through.
In the last 60km of his journey from Johor Bahru to Singapore, he knew that the bike that carried him all this way would not be allowed into the island as it was not registered here.
So he rode his last stretch on a lighter rental to his eastbound home, and bid farewell to his travel companion in a storage facility, eventually to be shipped back to Hyderabad without him.
Over a year later, since his return on June 26, 2025, Mr Narayanachar is not done with travelling. “My wife said she won’t do motorcycle journeys with me, but she doesn’t mind cars. So, we have been doing road trips in South India,” he said.
“My next journey for myself is to ride from Singapore to London,” he added.
