Chandigarh, June 13 (IANS) A group of 20 motorcyclists - comprising retired government officers, businessmen and even housewives, Friday embarked on an expedition to Ladakh to exhort the youth to join the army. The team, with members also including engineers, consultants, businessmen and marketing professionals, was flagged off from here Friday by Vivek Attray, director-Tourism of Chandigarh administration.

The team will cover roughly 3,200 km through many cities and villages and intend to hoist the tri-colour at Khardung La, the highest motorable road in the world.

B.S. Rawat, the oldest member of the team at 60 years, told IANS: “Though this is my fourth expedition to Ladakh but I am still as excited as I was on my first trip. We will reach there in four days and return back to Chandigarh on June 27.”

“Help from Indian army in giving us permission to cross various passes and arranging accommodation at some places is really laudable,” added Rawat.

Parmesh Kumar, the team leader, said, “We will interact with people during our journey and tell them about the various facets of the Indian army.”