Chasing Osama, Dodging Donkeys, and Falling in Love: A Himalayan Misadventure (2012) By Jonathan Wigley | SkillsLink Chronicles

Once upon a time, in 2012, a young adventurer with a questionable sense of direction and an even more questionable idea of romance decided to cycle across the Himalayas in search of… Osama bin Laden. (Spoiler alert: wrong country.)

Let me set the scene.

Julia (my then-girlfriend) and I had just landed in India. Most couples choose wine tastings or beach resorts for their romantic getaways. We, on the other hand, chose to bike through one of the highest, harshest, most oxygen-deprived regions on the planet: the Indian Himalayas. With minimal training, suspect gear, and a GoPro strapped to my helmet like a confused Teletubby, we set off on a mission that would become the stuff of legend. Or at least light ridicule.

The Plan:
Cycle across the Himalayas. Find Osama. Make a documentary.
The Reality:
Osama had been dead for over a year, and he was never in India to begin with.

Details, details.

Part 1: Love in the Time of Altitude Sickness

The adventure began in Leh, Ladakh—a beautiful, barren, and breathless place. Quite literally. At 3,500m above sea level, Leh makes you question your cardio, your choices, and occasionally, your will to live.

Julia, ever the trooper, handled the altitude like a Zen mountain goat. I, however, hallucinated that my bicycle was whispering death threats in Tibetan.

We cycled across lunar landscapes, chased by flocks of wild children yelling “ONE CHOCOLATE!” and the occasional dog with a vendetta. We washed in glacial rivers, camped under meteor-streaked skies, and had philosophical discussions about why I thought I could “find Osama” armed only with an Indian SIM card and a bicycle.

Part 2: The Search for Osama… and Chapati

Midway through our journey, I decided to spice things up by declaring:
“I think Osama’s in the next valley.”

Julia looked at me.
“He was killed in Pakistan.”
“Yeah, but what if that was a body double?”
She stared.
“You need dal and a nap.”

To be fair, the air was thin, and conspiracy theories flourish where oxygen does not.

Despite my rapidly deteriorating credibility, we pressed on—through mountain passes higher than the clouds, yak blockades, and one terrifying moment when I almost rolled off a cliff trying to selfie.

Part 3: Lessons from the Mountain

We learned a lot on that journey:

Never trust a donkey with your backpack.
Julia can survive on Maggi noodles and sarcasm for 12 days.
If you want to look for terrorists, you should probably bring a map. Or a clue.
And finally, love is forged not in candlelight dinners, but in holding your partner’s hair back while they vomit from altitude sickness at 5,000m.

The Film

I filmed the entire ridiculous escapade, edited it like a National Geographic documentary hosted by Borat, and uploaded it for the world to see. It’s raw, it’s honest, it’s got more close-up shots of my nose hairs than strictly necessary. But it’s ours.

👉 Watch it here and laugh along as two fools ride into the clouds chasing myths and making memories.

Final Thoughts

They say travel changes you. In my case, it gave me permanent frostbite on my left pinky toe and a deep appreciation for hot showers and reliable GPS.

We didn’t find Osama. But we did find awe, beauty, and a deeper connection—with the world, with each other, and with the limits of our own idiocy.

10/10 would do it again.
(With better snacks.)

#SkillsLinkChronicles #OsamaWasntThere #BikepackingFails #Himalaya2012 #DalBhatPower247

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