Delhi then ... Merry Christmas - from Bangkok

Well I'm out of India...

 

I'm happy and sad about leaving India.   Sad that I didnt get to go south as I had intended, sad that I didnt get to Rajasthan as per my revised plan.  I ended up riding straight from Agra to Delhi to catch a flight here to Bangkok, Thailand.  I'm also sad that the green line on my map now has two very big holes in the trip home.  In all I think I've only covered about 1000km in India - and thats not much of India.

 

On the other hand, its nice to be away from the cold and very humid weather in that part of northern India. 

 cold and wet - until quite late each morning - Northern India

(not that hot and humid has ever been a favorite of mine either).   It's nice to get away from the dirt too - everything in India had a thick layer of dust on it - which seems amazing considering the monsoon season has only just finished.  All the leaves on the trees, every surface you touched was covered so if you touched something you got covered in it.

 

Unfortunately, my week long stay in hospital in Agra didn't clear up the bug i caught, so I really do not feel much better than several weeks ago.  I'm hoping the warmer weather here in Thailand will help.   So for the moment I'm spending a few days getting some R&R in the tourist filled Khao San Road. I'll head north on the train after Christmas to resume my southward journey from somewhere near Chiang Mai - a very popular part of Thailand that I've not been to before.

 

Delhi like all big cities was interesting to come into with no maps nor any idea where you were and where you needed to go.  I - for the first time ever - bought a city map from a book store after i'd given up trying to find a tourist office to dispense one free.   (I couldnt even find a posh hotel, which historically have been very good at giving me maps free without me checking-in - I think they all feel sympathy for the poor cyclist).   Eventually I found Connaught Circuit, I'd heard that was the central part but had no idea what it was ( a large circular one way road ) so didnt know I had already crossed it earlier.  Here I did manage to find an out-of-price-range hotel - How much out of range they would'nt tell me - I asked how much a room was, and they wouldnt say - they just asked how much i wanted to spend.  (If you have to ask the price - you cant afford it)  These people did give me a free map and showed me on the map the area of Pahar Ganj the place where all the "in budget" hotels are.  As is most often the case, the cheap hotels are near the railway station and yes there were plenty to choose from.   I went a bit up-budget at about $9 Aussie dollars per night in Delhi and had my own bathroom, double bed and TV (with pay tv channels that seemed to dissappear from time to time so I dont think they were quite kosha).  My time in Delhi included a couple of rest days and a couple of days riding around exploring the touristy and not so touristy bits.    

     

One of the Old Delhi gates / Raj Ghat - cremation site of Mahatama Gandhi / Auto Rickshaws everywhere

   Haircut, Delhi style

The electricity in Delhi is like everywhere else in India off for at least some of the time every day - usually several hours.  Being a more upmarket hotel they would generally start up the generator within a few minutes.  Good for someone resting and doing nothing than scanning for english on the TV.  Watched a few movies which tended to have english subtitles as well.  (probably so the locals can get used to the accents and improve their english skills.)

 

There is always a lot of interest in the bike - particularly in India where no bikes have gears (for the most part you dont need them unless you are up in the Himalayan areas).  The locals would often ask if the bike was indian.  After all, it is a steel frame (small tubes) and painted black just like 99% of the Indian ones.  I manged to go through all of india using the excuse "I'm not sure in Rupee's, I got it in Australia" when asked how much it was worth.  Doing a conversion from some form of dollar to rupee never seemed to occur to them, which I was thankful about.  I'm not as inventive as some when asked questions like that.  The swiss rider Roli I met a few times in Turkey & Iran always had a good answer - usually including a ridicularly cheap price when asked that question.

 

Packing the bike in Delhi I was a little worried about.  India manufactures its own bikes - so they dont get shipped in boxes from other cheap S.E. Asian countries like all the bigs international brand bikes do to the rest of the world.  But in the end I did find the local bike bazaar and for 150 ruppee helped a man pull a new Indian bike out of a box so I could take the box with me.   It turns out that bikes made near Chennai do get boxed before being shipped to Delhi.   The box was actually the best one I've ever had.  Most indian bikes are 28 inch wheel bikes - like mine and although this bike box had a 26" wheel bike in it the box was the same size they'd use for the large ones.  It made packing just a little easier with a bit more space inside the box.

 On the way to Delhi airport - the bike box hangs out the side, the panniers in the back and on the back seat.  Me sitting on scrunched up legs on top of the back seat.

 

The major forms of public transport (other than bus & train) are Rickshaws and Auto-Rickshaws and Taxi's tend to be very small, so I opted for an auto-richshaw (like a thai Tuk Tuk) to the airport - that way the bike could hang out the sides - no doors to get in the way like a small taxi would have.   It was a little chilly since i was heading to the airport for a flight at 1am. But with a couple of pannicky roll starts at traffic lights half way there I got to the airport and onto my flight. (after paying excess baggage for the first time ever -  One of the problems with an airline like the india "Jet Airways" is that it is a discount airline and hence more strict in any policy that involves passengers paying extra.    I was quite surprised to have free meals and drinks and in-seat video on demand - so they arent a "no frills" airline).

 

In Bangkok I arrived at the new BKK airport (new since I was here a few years back) in the early morning, had to wait for ages for the bike to show up at the oversize luggage counter then headed for Khao San Road in peak hour - but in a taxi - I was originally planning on staying in china town like I had a few years ago - away from the touristy strip, but I figured plain food would be a lot easier in the main tourist precinct of Khao San Road.  I am still very careful with the way I eat and am very much looking forward to being well again.

 

I enjoyed my little trip to a Bangkok supermarket the other day, getting all sorts of things that I've not seen since Europe, fruit flavoured Yogurt and the like.  It was just like a supermarket back home - except for not being able to read the labels - pictures on packaging & see through bags are a great thing.  The last time I saw a supermarket like this was back in Croatia, and prior to that in the Tesco stores the Czech Republic, and thats a long time ago.   I am determined to never enter a McDonalds or similar during this trip (not even as tourists often do to use the loo) but western style supermarkets I dont rule out.  It can be really nice for a change to have such choice.

 

Here I spend my time on the net or reading - yes me reading - I picked up a copy of the John Grisham novel "The Firm" to help me fill the time in Bangkok, but it isn't lasting very long.  I'm more than half way through and I only bought it yesterday.   Having done the "Palace" and other tourist traps last time I was here I am trying to rest more and therefore havent unpacked the bike.  For the next few days Khao San road is home.

 

A very Merry Christmas to all and I will be in touch again next year, from somewhere up north of here.

 

Jeff
--
www.whereonearthisjeff.com

Agra, India

Home of the Taj Mahal,

 

 Agra - the view from my real hotel roof.

 

Well I didn't leave Varanasi when I hoped to, I still hadn't (haven't) managed to beat off the bug that has been ailing me for many weeks, so I hung around resting. 

 

   early morning by the Ganges - Varanasi

Due to the time I lost in Varanasi I have also revised my India intentions and will now cycle west - yes West - to Agra, then Jaipur and on to Delhi  (health permitting -  instead of heading down to Chennai).   This of course means I'll be visiting the India Tourist haunts of the Taj Mahal and Rajastan. I'll be glad to have seen these places, but sad that I missed going south.

 

The roads in Uttar Pradesh have continued to be heaps better than those in Bihar were, much to my relief.  National Highway 2 is even divided, smooth and with a nice shoulder for quite long lengths in places.

 I can't believe it, a real highway  - Uttar Pradesh

 

For my last few camps before Agra I've taken to camping in service stations or beside police posts.  The advantage being that you don't have people standing staring at you for hours on end.   You still have a continual audience but at least they move on.   If it's a petrol station they are on their way to somewhere, and if it's a police post they tend not to hang around endlessly.   I had read of other people camping at police stations for security, I don't feel it as a security issue just a peace of mind and privacy one.    Of course, once you retire into the tent and do up the zip they get bored and disappear reasonably quickly, but as long as you are visible (even as a shape through a fly screen, they will stay and stare) .   It is different to the other countries I've passed through. Those that have read my Iran posts will know I commented about the crowds gathering around and saying I expect the same or more of it in India - but in Iran the crowd gathered around were, happy, smiling and eager to talk or communicate with you saying "hello tourist" or any other English they might have known ("what's your name", "I love you").  Here in India the crowd gathers around totally silently, with expressionless faces and they stand there 5 metres away and just stare for hours (literally) if you don't shoo them away.    The really off putting part is the totally silent expressionless faces.  It really gets to you.   You really do feel like a zoo animal or like you've just stepped off a space ship.

   camping police psts and petrol service stations

 

 

On the occasions when they do talk to you - generally in towns rather than beside the road - they ask you your country, you say Australia and they respond with "Ricky Ponting".  Cricket really is the national obsession here.

   The national obsession

 

As I said in the heading,  I'm in Agra, home of the Taj Mahal,  I visited it on my first day in Agra - several days ago and it really is a spectacular piece of architecture.  It was actually larger than I expected.  I have heard so many people say that it was smaller than they expected that I had lowered my expectation.  It is actually about the size I had always expected it to be.   Unfortunately like so many of the places I've been on this tour the famous fountains etc have been dry.  I did manage to get one beautiful reflection shot from a puddle in one of them, but I had to get the camera so low that you get the building and nothing else - no garden at all - so it doesn't have the appeal that the Taj Mahal shots should have.   But it's another place I can tick off my "seen that" list add to my photo collection, and it was great to see.

 

After self catering since Varanasi, cooking on the floor of my hotel room in Kanpur whilst I rested there for a couple of days - and being on Cold & Flu tablets the whole time - I ate out my first night in Agra.   I don't know if it was the food I ate or the fact that I ran out of Cold & Flu tablets that caused me to vomit endlessly that night, but my first night in Agra was not a good one.  As a result I once again headed to the doctor the next day.    The good and bad thing about Agra is that it has a reputation of being a wrort capital - paying commissions for just about anything etc.  As soon a I mentioned "doctor" to the hotel reception desk they heard the cash register sound and the dollar signs appeared in their eyes.  They rushed me free to the local full-service centre who quite early in the conversation used the words "tests" and "insurance".  I'll call it "full-service" rather than "over-service" because, (a.) over servicing would be a crime in Aus and (b.)  I couldn't fault the logic in the following argument - I've been to doctors in Varanasi and Kanpur and been given cocktails of drugs with no tests to determine what the problem really was.  And I havent got any better.  Here they would do the tests to determine the appropriate treatment.   So with many samples going to the Pathology labs for analysis, Chest Xrays & ultrasounds  (it just happens to be the Agra IVF centre). I've now spent a couple of days in the http://www.agratesttubebabycentre.com also known as the Amit Jaggi  Memorial Hospita l and will spend at least a couple more days in Agra before moving on to continue my journey.  I still suffer from the nasal congestion that I am sure was causing the nausea and vomiting - but started a new Antibiotic yesterday after some of the lab results came back.   Fingers crossed I'll be on the road again soon and properly well for the first time in nearly 2 months.

   Agra Fort / Repairs to the mosque outside the Taj

   The Taj / My other (full service) hotel room in Agra with I.V. drip

 

Jeff
www.whereonearthisjeff.com

Varanasi, India

Greetings from Varanasi

Well here I am in India after a couple of days climbing the hills of Nepal to get here.

The scenic route from Kathmandu to Daman and then to Raxaul Bazaar in India takes you over the Daman Pass - at 2488 metres it doesn't sound high but boy-oh-boy is it a climb - and a corresponding drop on the other side + more.
The morning I left Kathmandu it looked somewhat similar to the first time I was here in 2004. I'm not sure what the protest was and I wasn't about to hang around to find out - lest a another curfew be imposed.
The view from Daman

Daman
The view of the mountain ranges from Daman is reputedly the best in Nepal - as far as the the number of peaks you can see. The nine highest peaks being visible on a clear day - and yes it was magnificently clear my day. I did end up being in Kathmandu until the 13th - when the embassy opened for pre-poll, so I left Kathmandu about 11am - later in the day than I'd like to have. The good thing about leaving late was that it meant I ended up riding into Palung - below Daman - in the dark and staying there the night. That meant the climb from Palung to Daman was done in the morning not in the afternoon - really good news for getting views. The air is clearer and the mountains less likely to be covered with cloud in the morning, and it was a fantastic ride up broken up by a huge number of stops to take photos (and rest). With the photo/rest stops it actually took me about 3 hours to do just over 10km from Palung to the pass. The best views are from Daman township not the pass itself and the clouds rolled over the peaks as I climbed from Daman to the pass - perfect timing for Daman.

On the other side of the pass it's down, and boy is it....

"Down" from Daman to India

There's the occasional little piece of "up" to remind you that your legs have just done the climb but it is the longest down I think I'll ever do. (you do it at a controlled speed though as you really can't trust the road surface nor any drivers that may be coming the other way. I've seen way too many bus crashes here in Nepal - so many I've actually lost count - and I've only travelled the roads here on 4 days - head on collisions, roll overs, run off the side, you name it the buses here do it.)

The next night in Hetauda (Nepal) left me at the bottom of the hills, with just a relatively nice 10 or 20km "up" the next morning, then essentially flat all the way to where I am now. The hills are lovely and the road to and from Daman were spectacular for scenery - but the legs do appreciate the flat when they get it. My first two days out of Kathmandu I only rode 70 to 80km and I was (very) pooped. I wondered if the month of no riding had taken all my condition away. - But it was just THAT hill, the day from Hetauda south I did 100km reasonably comfortably - well as comfortably as 100km ever is with a heavily laden bike. (and on roads yet to be discussed)

The border of India is pretty much a free for all with large masses of people going hither & thither with no checking. There's a guy looking for anybody that appears foreign - like me - and he calls and beckons them over to Immigration - to do the paperwork. And yes Nepal and India both still do it as paperwork. A big bound book and you get to be one line in the book, passport number dates etc. On the India side of the border I actually had to look for the immigration office in amongst all the shops and things in Raxhaul Bazaar - they didn't have anyone grabbing the foreigners that passed. Even changing money I had to go looking. The road through Raxaul Bazaar I cannot describe and convey to you the condition. It is the worst road I have ever seen anywhere - either in the 12000km so far this trip - or at any other time. I think its even beats the Maasi Mara road in Kenya. The worst part is that the the road was typical of all the ones I used in the state of Bihar (and yes I was on the highways - I dread to think what minor roads are like)

At last some bitumen in India

The road takes its toll on my cheap rear tyre - Supervisors watching me change to one of my high quality spares. But the cheapy got me from Istanbul to here.

I think Bihar is also the mosquito capital - with its low lying flooded areas and lakes and rivers everywhere. I was in hotels the first few nights - but still sleeping in the tent (with the tent inner erected on top of the bed, and using hiking boots hanging by their laces to keep it up).


Bihar - mosquito heaven

The first night I tried to seal off the room and kill the mozzies inside, but it was fruitless, a few hours and two more killing sessions later i got the tent out. Now i just do it - and get a good nights sleep.

Fortunately I'm now in Uttar Pradesh and the roads are a lot better - I even saw a road sign today (in Uttar Pradesh). In Bihar there are no roadsigns of any description, nothing to say what road goes where, nothing to say speed up or slow down, no warnings about bumps or turns, no give way no stop, nothing !!! (the compass is your best friend in Bihar)


- A typical roadscene in Bihar or Uttar Pradesh
- Its not yet 9am but the cricket has started

Varanasi

The old and very holy city of Varanasi - and lots of Indian & International tourists. The Indian tourists in the Ganges, the international tourists watching from the side.

It's festival time here too. "Deep Dewali" which I believe roughly translates to "Festival of Light".

There was plenty of river side entertainment on the banks of the "Ganga" the night I arrived in Varanasi. And I finished the evening eating a meal from a high priced restaurant (180 Rs) with a local internet cafe owner instead of eating at a cheap roadside seller (20Rs) and spent the next 36 hours in bed. When I'm feeling a little more normal I'll be back on the bike... Maybe tomorrow...

Jeff
--
http://www.whereonearthisjeff.com/

Annapurna circuit and sanctuary complete - preparing to ride again

Well, I'm back from my trek around Annapurna Circuit and resting up, ridding my self of the second dose of Diarrhoea in two weeks and preparing to ride from here down into India and beyond. 

 

In fact the 19 day literary for the Trek of Annapurna Circuit was way too conservative and by day two I was already one day ahead of schedule and heading into day four territory.  My guide, named - very appropriately - Pasang Sherpa, was very flexible and didn't mind what I did in the 19 days, so we decided to do the circuit and then head into Annapurna Sanctuary and the Macchapuchare &  Annapurna Base Camps. 

 

On day 1, I met a French couple, Olivier and Odile, also planning the combined circuit and sanctuary trek so we spent most of the next 19 days together in some way.  Walking together, or staying in the same village/hostel/room.   The added bonus with O&O was that they had just arrived here in Nepal from France with bicycles and were doing this trek before commencing their bicycle trip around the Himalaya's. (Cycling Nepal, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, China and finishing in Pakistan - taking the next 9 months).  So we had heaps to talk about.    They were great company for the trip and I became their official trek photographer as they'd lost their cameras in Kathmandu immediately before the trek.  You can see a few more of my photos - including different ones - on their French language blog. http://o2tourdelhimalaya.over-blog.com/

The trek wasn't as much of a doddle as I'd thought it might be - given the popularity of the circuit.  It had lots of very steep up and down, and places with thousands of steps  (which use exactly the same leg muscles as bike riding - yippee).  The trek also includes Thorung La a high pass at 5300 metres.  But, as I said above, the 19 days was very conservative and would have had me spending most of each day sitting in teahouses instead of actually trekking had i not changed it to include the sanctuary. 

 

I'm glad to think that I made it with no real knee problems especially since I had ruled out ever trekking in Nepal about 8 years ago  - but then I'd never have dreamt that I'd ride 12000km through Europe to Asia then either.

 

Thorung La at 5300 metres is not as high as Mt Kilimanjaro which I did 10 years ago, so I was hopeful before hand that I'd be OK at altitude.  As it turned out I picked up a bout of Diarrhoea in Menang a few days before the pass and got symptoms very much like altitude sickness AFTER I'd done the pass.  Because this is such a popular tourist trek they are well equipped to handle cases of AMS (acute mountain sickness) with medical centres in Menang and in Thorung Phedi (typically 2 or 3, and 1 day before the pass).   After the pass in Muktinath though - where I got sick - there is nothing like that.    Reading a bit more - in another trekkers guide book - about the typical diarrhoea here in Nepal it too has head aches and vomitting as symptoms, and I copped it pretty bad toilet wise, so I think in hindsight that what i felt was belated AMS after the pass was in fact just those other stomach problems.  Dosing myself with Cyprofloxin and Metronidazole cleared that up within a couple of days and I was once again able to enjoy the trek.   Now back in Kathmandu it seems like I have another bout of it - no doubt from lunch yesterday in a bus stop half way between Pokhara and Kathmandu.   The joys of travel in Nepal - one of the worst places in the world for Diarrhoea.  (I don't expect India to be much different)

 

But for the next couple of days I'll be here in Kathmandu.   I opened the bike box yesterday - it survived the flights and storage - so it will be assembled in the next day or two ready for heading south.

 

Below are are few photos from the trek - there's more in the Annapurna Trek Sub album of Nepal (just click one of these to get there)

 

Also Attached to this is a kml file  of the trek for anybody familiar with Google Earth.  You'll be able to see pretty much where the trek went - give or take a little.

 

 

  Day 1 trekking through the lower valleys with luscious green rice paddies

 

 Trekking in cycling gear is actually very comfortable - and cycling leg warmers work great above 5000 metres 

 

 along the route before the pass you have the Annapurna range on the left and stunning views

 

 The Annapurna range from the northern side

 

 rehearsals for a village festival in full progress.  The men dancing and singing the women in hysterics at the side of the room.   (and the kids rubbing the strangely bald head of the man taking photos - there are no bald Nepalese)

 

 Menang and Annapurna 1

 

 a day of acclimatisation takes us up 1000m above Menang to "Ice Lake" at 4600m and back.

 

 back on the track towards our pre-pass stop, Olivier & Odile my trekking buddies from France

 

 Thorung La,  5300 metres

 

 Down the other side of Thorung La you enter a wide river valley for a couple of days of "less interesting" views and Bloody strong headwinds.

 

 

 Poon Hill provides the masses of early morning tourists specy views of the mountains.

 

  Heading away from the circuit path toward the sanctuary

 

 Olivier and Odile in the sanctuary (Annapurna Base Camp or A.B.C)

 

 An icy creek at A.B.C

 

 Back into the lower valleys as we head out and down to finish the trek.

 

 The decorated taxi ride to Pokhara

 

 The bus from Pokhara to Kathmandu the next day, mechanical problems.

 

 

For those in Australia, take a listen to the track Too Happy Too Soon by Liz Stringer - a local Melbourne Singer Songwriter.  It's a track I've been carrying with me since I left Aus over 6 months ago on my little mp3 player and seems somewhat relevant at the moment.   I'll need to leave Kathmandu before I can "do my bit" to help - and wont be in a suitable part of India.   I leave it to you.

 

 

jeff
 

--
www.whereonearthisjeff.com

Ditching the bike for 3 weeks - Trekking Annapurna Circuit

My India Visa has now been issued, so I'm free to leave Kathmandu and head to India, but first to see a little bit of the country.

 

As I have for many years had dicky knees, I dont want to do anything too testing for them and ruin the rest of the bike trip so I've opted for Annapurna circuit.  It's about 3 weeks of trekking but everybody tells me its not that hard - and there are lots of "oldies" here doing it. 

 

So dont expect any updates or pictures in the next few weeks.

 

Bye for now - and a few more pics

 

Theres a couple of 2004 shots amonst the following.  The last time I was in Kathmandu I was stuck in a hotel for 5 days until I managed to book a flight to Bangkok - stuck in the hotel day and night because riots had occured following the killing of 12 Nepalise hostages in Iraq.   Buildings of businesses from the middle east were torched and youths set tyres alight on many street corners. 

 

 

Jeff

 

 Weddings everywhere

 

 2004    The same street 2007

 

 2004  The same building 2007

 Durbar Square

 

 Holy men

--
www.whereonearthisjeff.com