"A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving" Lao Tzu
This site has been set up for family and friends to follow me on my travels. When I am travelling I will be updating the site on a daily basis to let them know I am safe and well. Of course feel free to also look and comment.
Of course feel free to also look and comment and I will leave you will this little teaser
Today I say good bye to the French who are on route to Agra.I will go in a minibus to a hotel in Delhi to relax before my flight back to China at 3.30am which will route via Shangers to Beijing and have time to reflect on my adventure.
I was woken by the sound of an expelling of air from an internal human cavity, it sounded like it was from the next room, my bathroom! Followed by the sound of running water. It was 4 am, and I was sleeping in the small gate house, so I knew no one was above me or even adjoining me. What I did not expect was that the staff quarters were underneath me. For the next 2 hours, I heard all the bathroom noises possible with smatterings of Hindi in between. This must be my payback for keeping the French awake during that night in the desert. To think I turned done an upgrade in the main fort, sensible as JF and Denise did not have hot water. I spent the next 3 hours going through over 5 hours of riding footage and 1000 photos to put on thumb drives for the French. We met up and breakfast and carried on from the night before, well they did as I was only getting some of the French. After breakfast we said our goodbyes swapping addresses and e mail addresses with the promises of keeping in touch, I have even been offered to come and visit both sets of family in Normandy and Toulouse. So off the French go to Agra to see the Taj, while Bourdain and I grab a ride with Vickie and Silent Stan back to the Vintage Ride office in New Delhi.
An hour into journey and Bourdain is complaining to Vickie, can’t this van go over 60? Maybe 70-80? Vickie replies no spare tyre ! After 10 minutes Vickie puts his foot down 65,66, 67….and then bang bang wobble wobble the near side front wheel is making a racket ! Bourdain says that is no bad tyre it’s something worse and now we wonder are we going to get there in one piece? We did, a nice pizza at vintage rides offices and meet the lovely Denise who with her French accent and phoning me up at nice intervals made me go on this trip. The drama did not end there though, Bourdain let the van go and with a taxi drivers and über strike in New Delhi there was nothing for it but to get a tuk tuk back to the hotel, where I promptly flooded the shower tray and bath room and had to put towels by the door to stop it flooding the bedroom. I sit in now what can be described as a Indian real beer bar , wishing the two weeks were not over and I could embark on another adventure because this is not the last and it has got my appetite whetted for a solo trip 🙂 …. although to go with Bourdain again would be fun, as I think he could be as mad as me !!!
It is sadly the last day of riding, and so we are up early again 6 am to get ready for the ride to the Amber Fort and then ride a few K’s north of Jaipur before taking small roads (my fav) to the countryside fort of Alwar. Well, I do not know if we will have internet access, anything countryside worries me and so I will also post tomorrow’s Itin.
Oh, am Happy Birthday Sparkie, love dad 🙂
And so the final day saw us riding through a nature reserve for Tigers (saw none) and so it was very uneventful, the photos tell the stories. the Amber Fort was massive, advice pay the fiver to get in asap and avoid people selling tut. We ended the two weeks with no accidents, falling over on sand or on the salt flats did not count. OK! Our final evening was spent on yet another fort in the middle of nowhere, we had dinner outside and recounted our adventures over the past 12 days where strangers had become friends from across the English Chanel or La Manche ( the arm) as the French call it and we had truly bonded for we were brothers in arms with the bond of the Royal Enfield and motorcycles in general becoming our glue.
So for possibly the shortish as the crow flies distance to travel, we have to get up the earliest (my English is poor here) as we are doing a lot of off road and a ride across a salt lake of Sambhar
Before we wend our way to the capital of Rajasthan “the pink city” better known as Jaipur.
No photos as it is too dark !
Frank is used to coming off, but jack the lad chris pushes too hard on the some what humid salt flats and comes off trapped under the bike until help comes, petrol coming out of the tank on to his body but worry not. It was mearly a front wheel taking a life of its own in the ever deepening salt and mud and after sliding there was nothing for it but to just let it go. Incidentally Frank managed to come off twice and I have caught one on film at last!!! Riding through a random village Bourdain nearly hit a puppy who would not move out the the centre of the road, we both stopped and then the puppy came up to me and promptly sat under my bike! I had nothing left to do but to get off pick the poor little one up and walk him to the shade of a tree on the side of the road. The poor thing then started crying , I guess (s)he was separated from mum. I felt bad but then again it’s not like I could have taken back to china or UK. or was that Major Sharbie ! The rest of the day was off road until the final 30k where I went tail end Charlie for the ride into Jaipur, suddenly a white truck came across the road right in front of JF one skid then another lock on the brakes JF was going sideways and miss the back end of the truck by inches it was heart stopping moment. Well played by JF keeping him and Denise on the bike. When we looked at the camera footage after it happened so fast, for me seeing it live it really was in slow motion ! I wonder how this life thing works, can we slow down time in an emergency to react ? Whatever we are safe. The final stop was for lassie from the lassie whaller, it was great, the best drink I have had this holiday and that includes gin!
We stayed at a hotel that must be the Real Marigold Hotel, full of single English women from 30-70, with the odd gentleman thrown in. For me it was surreal having spent the last two weeks with french people to suddenly hear SE England accents , I could actually evesdrop a conversation! See tomorrow for photos …
Oh, the complaints just keep coming in, the roast beef snores like a trooper! Huh just imagine me camped out in an op doing covert surveillance. My snoring would give my position up at 5 miles!
So today more winding roads that must have been built by the British back in the 1800s holes every where = fun 🙂 our destination is
Today’s route has an early start as we will be covering some 220Km towards the fortress of Kumbhalgarh, which has the distinction of having the second longest walk in the world after the Great Wall. We will be lunching there and then onwards northbound to the city of Dhamli, where we are staying in a small fort. The ride will be through the mountains so some nice twisty roads then on to some semi arid plains.
Great twisty road riding today through the mountains, that any true biker would love. This was completed by some nice off road dirt riding the type I realise I love and brings a huge smile on my face. I almost bought it (crashed) overtaking our support vehicle holding a camera when I hit a massive pot hole. The bike jumped and for a split second, I was out of control thinking that I was going to face plant. Luckily 40 years of riding off road and experience took over and I controlled it with one hand. Reviewing later on the camera it appeared there was no real issue and I was totally in control, my mind certainly thought different.
Today we have a short ride to Udaipur known as the Venice of the east. We will be travelling through the Aravali mountains, and I am threatened with a little detour circuit to satisfy my lust for more adventurous roads to hark me back to my endruo days.
Udaipur is one of the highest cities above sea level with dense forest and built around the Pichola lake.
Sorry for the lateness in sending this, but they turn the internet off to save energy !!!!!
I got my wish of some nice off road blatting, before we took a winding path up the mountains to visit a water wheel drawn by two cows and a little guy just sitting there going round and round all day !. On route Bourdain brought biscuits and did not offer them round and we were suddenly going to find out why, as we turned the corner up the mountain Monkeys hundred of them and as soon as he got the biscuits out they attacked !! They were jumping on the bikes over the support truck and chasing Bourdain down the road, it was some and out of a cartoon ! Sadly such fun has to come to an end and off we set back up the mountains and as usual trying to find our way to a temple we find a wedding in full swing uninvited of course we gate crash and you can read about it on the photo of me dancing ! Yes dancing …
Now for the sad element of the journey so far, we were tabbing along the dual carriageway around 90-100 k’s and some young lad came past us, after about 500 metres he failed to make a sweeping turn as he had left his side stand down. He could not correct and was forced into the central reservation where he hit the curb in a cloud of dust! We turned back but he was motionless. Many others stopped that were better equipped than us, and so we journeyed on. It makes you realise how a single second can alter your life (not always for the worse). The rest of the ride into Udaipur was pretty much subdued. Udaipur has many lakes it reminds me of how Switzerland would be without greenery and chocolate box houses and watches and … well ok it’s nothing like Switzerland except it has a lake well many lakes and a palace in the middle made famous to the general world via Octopussy. We had the afternoon to wander before some unremarkable food in a place called savage garden, the food was and there was no garden .. maybe the German owner just liked the name of the band. The hotel well no flushing water in the loo, had to fill a bucket to flush it and when one turned the tap on one was drenched as one did not see the shower rose above my head !!! The sink also had no running water !! I am spoilt living in a five star hotel. Bed calls and the noise outside is like I am living in an industrial kitchen that is killing wild dogs ready for tomorrow’s lunch … glad I am leaving this hotel … but the view from the roof is great.
One post script so tonight I was walking through the streets and digs are coming towards me barking, above my head is a monkey it’s large standing up over 4ft, it is running on the wall then jumps onto the electrical wires running down the street , can’t keep its balance and then drops to the road and straight into an apartment block , followed by four barking dogs , and then another monkey chasing them !!!. The ironic thing here is that 3 mins later a guy from the top floor drops a basket on a rope and a delivery guy delivers bananas!!! Only in india !
It must have been a joke; breakfast at 8am I am here and they have gone !, never mind the day starts broom broom :-).
We went up to the top of the hill to get a view over the city before we headed south to the Bishnoi Temple. Around 1500AD, some bright spark realised the world was doomed as it was consuming too many natural resources so he broke away from Hinduism, Buddhism and Jain and set up a new religion with its fundamentals in protecting what we have. This guy was wayyyyy ahead of his time. World leaders take note and China you didn’t invent this either. After this a nice bit of off roading to the Temple of the Royal Enfield, yes a temple to a motor bike. The annoying thing here was people trying to sell us Pom poms to hang from our handlebars !!! The price started at 200 and dropped to 40! We still were not tempted to look like a cheerleader troop on motorbikes, they seemed to think I was a Muslim, I am now getting worried coming back to the UK. We partook in the chat ritual and was off to the lunch spot which could be described as rustic or one step up from yesterday’s transport cafe as we did not have a cow trying to eat our food this
After this a nice bit of off roading to the Temple of the Royal Enfield, yes a temple to a motor bike. The annoying thing here was people trying to sell us Pom poms to hang from our handlebars !!! The price started at 200 and dropped to 40! We still were not tempted to look like a cheerleader troop on motorbikes, they seemed to think I was a Muslim, I am now getting worried coming back to the UK. We partook in the chat ritual and was off to the lunch spot which could be described as rustic or one step up from yesterday’s transport cafe as we did not have a cow trying to eat our food this time. After lunch the final ride into a more mountainous region with little villages, children running out to greet us and trying to high 5 us as we rode past, my poor left palm. Then we were riding through on village and Bourdain recognised a child, he had stopped in this village before years ago. Suddenly we were surrounded by children and the mother came out and invited us into her home for Chai!!! There was grandma having her hair done in the court yard, more and more children poured in! At first, they were scared then suddenly we were all friends they were fascinated by the camera function of the mobile phone, soon neighbours were looking over the high wall, followed by the family goat! It was magical to think these people with nothing invited us in, asked for nothing and still more children came. After 40 mins we left and I took my shema off and the children realised I was bald, they asked why? I said after three divorces your hair falls out! Of course that was lost on them but still, they were transfixed with this bald man with a beard. One reached to touch my head next thing 40 of them were smacking my head, I now know where the term slap head comes from !!! Yes there is video evidence of this. Of which I will attempt to convince the French to take off their iPhones 🙂 . After another 80 minutes we were pulling into our night stop, a run down Royal Palace which in its day would have been wonderful but sadly it was left in neglected and the present owner with little money is attempting to do the place up, slowly, very slowly but this is what gives it such charm, so a coldie down while I am writing this and I feel chilled , or in west coast speak “super” chilled.
Due to a mad tuk tuk ride tonight where 6 of us sardined into one carzy little space, going in pot holes and weaving around the cows .. we have been allowed an extra hour in bed !! Huzzarrr !!
So breakfast at 8, laundry is back and we should set off around 9am to visit the southern part of Jodhpur, before leaving the city and heading to the ancient Mewar Kingdom, staying in a fort overnight in Ghanerao a ride of approx 170k’s which is about 5 hours in the saddle.
Today is a rest day and a chance to reorganise, get laundry done. I have had a chance to find an ATM that only dispenses the equivalent of 1 pound notes or for my Chinese friends 10 quai notes my pockets are now stuffed with 100 notes.
Today we walk through the old town up to the fort, I did offer to give Bourdain a Wi-fi camera and I would just watch from the comfort of a bar, of course, that offer was turned down.
So the long walk is concluded, my Fitbit says I climbed 40 stories, my heart says I am not fit so why pretend I am, with a Fitbit.
The Mehrangarh Fort is amazing, actually seeing battle scars and the hand prints of former wives of the Prince , who on leaving the fort after the death of their loved one, place their hand print at the gate of the fort for one last time before walking through the town, giving poor folks some money and then getting burnt alive with their deceased husband !
Interestedly some young chap agreed to be buried alive in the stone work as a human sacrifice. Your right you couldn’t get away with this on the BBC, well may be on the Games of Thrones.
Lunch was spent over looking the Toorji Ka Jhlara step well, for those of you that don’t know what a step well is, it’s a well, with steps, Those clever Indians …. for my Banister followers not a Banister in sight.
And after lunch one went to get measured for a pair of Jodhpurs in memory of Sir Pratap Singh who took the London fashion scene by storm in 1887 attending Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, in a pair of the afore said trousers. I will follow in his footsteps. Sir Pratap also lead the last Cavalry charge in History in 1918 where he took the Jodhpur Lancers to take the fortified city of Haifa, I will not be taking the Enfield Lancers on their Triumphs for any such charge in some far flung outpost sadly.