India, how I have loved it and contrary to popular opinion, which included "oh my god, please, please, don't cycle in India", it has been great for cycling... if you stick to the minor roads not on our consistantly erronous map that is.
Don't get me wrong there are times when you could have spotted me evil eyed, marching down the road, or speeding off on my bike muttering under my breath oh so quietly... 'man, i hate india'... because the things that can make it so exhilirating can also really p*ss me off. But overall, I love it.
And the reasons I have loved it:
Stunning landscapes, temples and temple life, crazy, crazy colourful people in colourful villages with colourful livestock, consistantly doing nuts stuff like squeezing a family of 5 onto a 'hero' honda motorbike (please do not try this at home, tis very dangerous indeed) or hanging seemingly impossible wide loads onto bicycles...anything from chickens on the handlebars to coconuts just everywhere, which makes us look like super light packers. I have loved the tuk tuks, food (I am leaving my body to medical science as I am quite frankly super human as I have manged to spend 4 months cycling in India eating at trucker's dhabas which resembled pet shops due to the variety of animal life to be found on the table, under the table, in the kitchen eating out of the cooking pots and picking hairs out of my food daily and didn't drop 2 dress sizes... super human). I have also been much pleased by the wildlife to be seen outside of dhaba's, stopping for pop in rural roadside shacks, cows, camels, elephants, the countryside, the coast, the hills (though only first thing in the morning and late in the evening), dosa's, dosa's, dosa's...
but overall its just pure entertainment to be here.
And those things I will be glad to leave behind, though I'm pretty sure some of this will follow us for some time yet:
Scary bus drivers, 'horn please!' the ONLY sign ALL drivers obey without fail, 'which country madam?', spitting (like they're going to hough up a lung), crowds squeezing round us, staring all the time, drains, picking my way through crap, broken glass, smashed concrete, dead rats, people's laundry etc to walk down the street, being hassled in tourist spots, falling off my bike when i come back to it cos all the gears have been messed with, dodging cow poo - not always successfully, rubbish (read: plastic - the scourge of India) everywhere. And last, but by no means least, I shall be thrilled to leave behind my curry pit.
The pictures are roughly in order from where we entered, Amritsar, to now. We are heading to the Andaman Islands by ferry tomorrow (takes 3 days) to do a spot of snorkelling and work out a route out of this place. Anyway enjoy the pictures, it'll save you going through my flickr site and is nearly like you were there...
The Golden Temple, most holy site of the Sikhs, was just so beautiful, especially when lit up at night. So enchanted by the place we went back every day we were in Amritsar. Music and chanting rings out continuously, though I wasn't to sure about drinking from the holy lake as people were washing in it on the other side.
We traded in our bikes to ride camels across the desert for Christmas. Shown here is The Lip, you'd understand if you saw it, below the lovely Binky (Tchen) who was delightfully well mannered, possessed fluffy ears and a tendency to drag me through thorny bushes ripping my only pair of trousers, they were backed up by Sniff (aka Tony!) who had the ability to smell female camels from miles off and would spit his palate out in a crazed camel mating call. 7 days we travelled across the Great Thar Desert (it would have taken us 2 by bike if we'd gone on the road) but it was amazing to see desert life where the only traffic was other camels.
Ho ho how much did I love this... Karni Mata, favoured Goddess of Deshnok, reincarnated all the bards as rats to deprive death of human souls, so they're all here, the rat bards, being fed milk and eating grains and generally crapping everywhere and running over your feet which is meant to be auspicious and occasionally licking toes which is a little bit of an uncomfortable feeling actually. James felt physically sick afterwards, many of the rats also looked a bit poorly too.
The Great Thar Desert, where the deer and the antelope play (cos no one eats them), goats nibble what scrub there is (as people need to eat something and hey how else do we keep the desert deserty?), families can reach up to about 15 children per couple (who else will tend the goats), women collect water from wells in the brightest colours imaginable (in defiance of the muted desert hues), and the only noise to disrupt the peace is the sound of camels farting (which they do a lot).
Langurs abound in the trees, in the cities, in the roads with babies clinging on underneath. They are such gentle creatures, they never once bothered us but just looked on in interest, unlike the Macaques which will ferociously stalk and mug you for your water bottle.
India has been a breathtakingly beautiful country to cycle through with landscapes ranging from desert to forest and lots in between. Sadly it has a serious smog problem in cities combined with particles being blown up from the dusty plains, but hell, its still stunning. Mostly due to the Hindu religion's respect for most living creatures, as some deity somewhere loves them, there is plenty of wildlife still abounding making it a dream country for people like us...and James has been ticking off new bird spots almost daily.
Thali, tis like an all you can eat buffet (generally termed simply 'meals' the further south you go). Perfect for hungry cyclists though regular consumption has left me with an unquenchable chutney and papad addiction. YUM! Note the heavy coat wearing, this was taken in Mount Abu in January where it was absolutely freezing, not improved by me choosing a room with a tin roof (I am now let off from room selection duties), though as soon as we descended the weather turned blisteringly hot and has remained so ever since.
Jodhpur (home of the baggy/tight riding trousers) has been my favourite Indian city, Jaipur (the pink city ) was just too pushy for me (and i got groped there so wasn't loving that) but Jodhpur just charmed the pants off me with its narrow winding lanes and amazing fort. We also spent a splendid new years eve here with the German motorcycle road trippers we met in Cappadocia, so that made it extra lovely, especially when I got to wear a sari for the occasion instead of my knackered old t-shirt!
Temples have obviously been a huge feature on our trip, they range from simple roadside piles of bricks to exquisitely carved Hoysala creations or mountain top sites of pilgrimage, not sure about my karma but we've trekked a fair way to get there so I must have earned a few points.
Possibly the most beautiful well in the world. These wells are enormous and carved with virtually every Hindu deity, understandable in a country where water is so precious.
If you go to Gujurat go here, Desert Coursers in Zainabad, money raised from staying at the eco resort also helps pay for a school and orphanage and you get to see wild ass, nilgais, and sit on chairs made of cow poo! Happy days.
Gecko's have had the power to make me scream when running at close quarters in the dark (yes, I am suitably embarrassed by that), but they are the coolest mosquito munchers and may be my favourite common wildlife here except when they become surprisingly vocal in the night.
Temple building, regardless of how exquisite the current temple is, is always ongoing in India, the tapping of stone masons is a regular sound (though concrete is a common replacement).
The Jain's have a policy of non violence, kill nothing or else you will have to come back and live its life... James has a lot of futures as a cockroach, I'll be a fair few mosquitoes and ants... they keep eating me and my biscuits respectively.
Skinny dogs and tuk tuks reign all over india, the tuk tuks have been amazing at times, seriously, they know how to pimp their rides. The dogs however have rarely been amazing, puppies I have renamed stains as huge numbers end up as exactly that on the roads, if they make it through they end up as skinny rake type creatures, often with serious mange issues...I'm not sure what's worse.
Laundry is pounded to clean it whether in the laundry ghats or in the street. I have stuck to scrubbing... at this stage of the trip I don't think my gear could take it.
I reckon this is where most of the laundry in Mumbai comes to, to be beaten into submission, a huge slum has grown up around it simply because its there, but at least the occupants have some form of work. I'm not saying its great, India has a l-o-n-g way to go.
Cricket in India... beautiful, though it was hazardous to watch as some of the informal teams were playing with real cricket balls and there were hundreds of people playing, running through each others games with the odd (foolish in my opinion) football game starting up in the middle.
The Moz...it hath taken its toll throughout the trip, if I was to pack again I'd pack a net.
The most splendid beast in India.
Riding down the Konkan coast was a huge highlight, virtually deserted (and sometimes non existant) roads, stunning paradise coastlines, beautiful villages. Very few people come here and it was a delight to ride, every night camping on the beach and buying freshly caught fish to cook on the sand, as well as dolphin spotting.
Fishing although a way of life here is still pretty low tech. However loads of the catch ends up being sundried over huge areas of fields for fertiliser which can lead to an overwhelming fishy odour. Birds and rather surprisingly cows gorge themselves on the tiny drying bodies (gag)
Goa, it was nice to take a break from India, swim in the sea in a sensible swimming outfit, laze around, eat tofu in black bean sauce, drink beer and sleep. I didn't enjoy the bit where I was violently ill for 4 days to the point where I thought I had Dengue fever but at least I was in a good spot for lying around.
Sometimes the road has been tough.
This was actually the state highway, a rubble track with about a 15 degree incline, it got worse, we turned back... there was 20km of it still to go through tiger country, I think it was the right decision.
and sometimes its not so tough...
Overtaking cow carts in the ghats
...and sometimes its not there at all!
We crossed so many rivers on the Konkan coast, on everything from big ferries to dug out canoes and small private boats, the dug out canoe though was possibly the most 'how the hell do we get on that?!' moment.
Eating on the road is always entertaining once you get used to the health and hygiene of it. This particular breakfast joint had newspapers pasted onto the ceiling and old recycled bits of furniture, it really did look like the wombles hang out, loved it, breakfast was nice too.
Pooja (prayer/offerings to the Gods) being performed at the feet of Lord Bahubali (Jain Temple), the largest monolithic statue in the world apparently, and possibly the most serene place in the world (except when the drummers got going). Sadly I never found out why the men were carrying coconuts around on their heads.
India is indeed crazy and colourful. And I have no idea why the goat was pink, there was a little group of them in a herd...?
These are Karnataka specials, beautifully done.
Not all of the Ghats were this lush but we took a detour past these amazing fields to a wildlife reserve (as I was broken quite frankly) and had a couple of days of looking for tigers (without success), spotting sambar deer (magnificent) and generally just enjoying the beauty and peaceful surroundings, except when there was a scorpion in the sink.
Ooooo if I had a pound for every time we were pursued by boys (young and old) on squeaky bicycles... These bikes were rather shiny and new though, a bit like their owners.
Nandi is the vehicle of Shiva (the destroyer) and is to be found just about everywhere, usually slathered in ghee (refined butter) which can make them look and smell a little bit sweaty. These are the reason for cows being sacred, though still well used to pull carts, produce milk, roam the streets eating newspapers, election posters and plastic bags and if they are little and male to be turfed out alone when very little indeed (though in kindlier spots they can often be found being fed chapati). I took to feeding them our veg peelings. I'll miss the cows.
Tikka powder vendors were doing a roaring trade right before holi, a hindu festival in celebration of spring where people run around chucking coloured powder over each other and the menfolk get a bit pissed. Fortunately for me the locals were a lot more restrained than I was led to believe so I didn't get blathered in powder, which was a bit of a relief as i've only got 2 t-shirts.
We were lucky enough to see Theyyam happening at a temple not far from Kannur. A Theyyam is a performance depicting stories from the Hindu texts which are performed as an offering to the Gods. The performers prepare by doing hours of meditation and wearing HUGE elaborate costumes and make up, the idea is that whilst they are acting out the theyyam they take on the spirit of the deity they represent. People then approach them to ask for advice human to deity, no whispering into the ether here. This was one of the most otherworldy things I have ever seen. Wild dancing, drumming, processions and fireworks and a random snake appearing in the middle of it all freaking everyone right out til the head temple honcho blessed it and it disappeared into the wall under our feet. We watched the whole thing unfold from sunset to midday the next day, being summonned and blessed in the night by actually quite scary deities! Blew my mind it did.
Says it all really.
much love
tx
The highlight was snorkelling off south button island which is a tiny little island (more of a boulder with a few trees on top) in the middle of nowhere (took us 1.5 hours on a boat to get there) and its edges just drop straight down to the sea floor which is about 20-25m down. All the way round the undersea wall of the island/boulder is just basically a wall of coral...like HUGE fan corals teeming with amazing, beautiful and fairly sizeable fish, so colourful, just calmly swimming around not caring about you at all, and the clarity of the water was something else, visibility from top to bottom and right out. At one point I even had a little yellow and black fish slipstreaming me for protection or fun, and though he was mostly just swimming under my chin, now and again he would be right in front of my mask, cool as but somewhat obscuring my vision and making me laugh which doesn't help keep the sea out of your snorkel. Between that, the crunching of parrot fish and shoals of giant travelli (which in shallower water would have scared the pants off me) it was something else, really. Fortunatley it was a luxury yacht that took us away so the pain of leaving was compensated for slightly.
I hope to return one day, mainly to snorkel and walk in the forest though perhaps to dive and see if I can hang out where the big stuff lives...but for the minute I shall content myself with knowing that we made it, out of India, via the Andaman and onwards to Asia with the no flying rule in tact. The bikes were a bit rusty from all that time at sea but with a bit of tlc they're still going strong and we're in Thailand. I'm feeling pretty darned pleased about that.
