Day 105: Rest day in Mumbai, bike fixing

Lovely, helpful people in a great city 

This post is sponsored by Ozone Ventures, importers of Schwalbe tyres into India - sort of. They were kind enough to gift us a pair of great tyres anyhow.

 We’ve really enjoyed Mumbai. What a great, energetic, exciting melting pot of so many cultures, influences and people. There’s great architecture, great food and opulence rubbing shoulders with great poverty, which is not uplifting - but that’s the reality of India.

Today we headed north about 12km to Dadar, to Keny Cycles. We wanted to get our bikes serviced and pick up a load of spares. Most of all, we wanted some new tyres for Tiger’s bike to stop the succession of punctures over the last week.

We’re big fans of the Schwalbe Marathon Modial Evolution tyres, which have done us proud so far, so we were trying to obtain some in India. However, it seems they just don’t get brought in to the company. From contacting the importer - Ozone Ventures we could be sure there were actually none of this model in the country. However, they did have the rigid version, so we decided that would be good enough. Ozone Ventures were kind enough to send there across to Mumbai (they are based in Pune) and then didn’t even charge us for the tyres. We’re so grateful for this lovely gesture, and Tiger’s bike is now looking great again. When you’re on a long journey like this it’s amazing the people you meet and how kind they are. Thank you Mihir for sending us the tyres, and Manoj for driving over with them.

Tiger with his new Schwalbe Marathon Mondial that Manoj brought over from Pune

Another set of great people we met were this bunch. They commute by bike in Mumbai, and Dixit met us the other day on the Konkan Coast and was kind enough to give us a load of helpful advice and tips. We were hoping to go to an event with them this afternoon with the Cycling Mayor of Mumbai and a BBC crew, but we ran out of time fixing the bikes and it didn’t happen. Shame, but thanks guys. Catch you next time - or come and see us in the UK!

Dixit and the Smart Commuting crowd

The other big task of the day was servicing the bike and getting everything sorted to head off into northern India tomorrow. Mark and his team at Keny Cycles did a great job of fixing all the wear and tear - new chain and bottom bracket for Tiger, new cables and a spoke for Blue Strawberry, plus a raft of spares to replenish our stocks. We should be sorted right into Europe now. Thanks again guys.

All of which has meant that these patched and very secondhand tubes can go in the bin.

We’ve really enjoyed Mumbai and are looking forward to the next chapter of India - northern Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Agra and Delhi.

Day 104: Rest day in Mumbai

One amazing city

We exhausted ourselves by midday, and didn’t see half of what Mumbai has to offer.  

The human powered washing machine, operated by a whole suburb  

The station is like St. Pancras with the flavour of India

Grosvenor Square? 

A moment of calm and reassuring familiarity  

The Gateway of India looking grandiose and splendid  

Day 103: Murud to Mumbai

The Gateway of India

Our final day on the Konkan Coast before boarding a ferry to Mumbai, and it was a very pleasant ride. We could feel the villages changing in character as we approached the “Gateway of India”. Gone were the small fishing villages and tiny, dark shops and in came supermarkets, flash cars and a lot of advertising for new housing estates. We’re into commuter country, especially with the bridge that they are building (although it could be a decade away yet.)

The ferry was even relatively sane - with plenty of room for our bikes, even if the boarding was accompanied with a ludicrous amount of unnecessary shouting.

And so, the Gateway of India came into view - both the city, and the actual Gateway, a massive arch built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911. We disembarked into a maelstrom of tourist, hawkers and all sorts going on in the square around the Gateway. The selfie requests started flooding in and we had to ride our way out of there!

The worst tourist pic of The Gateway of India ever (I was busy dealing with the selfie horde)

Now, we’re off to watch a Bollywood film.

Bollywood time watching Luka Chuppi

Ok, some was on a ferry, but who’s counting? 

Day 102: Ade to Murud

Holi-day madness

Holi is the festival that is also called the “Festival of Colours,” where the downfall of Holika is celebrated by the throwing of coloured powders and spraying of coloured water. It always looks like a lot of fun when you see it on telly. We’d decided not to go seeking a Holi celebration, but rather see if it found us, and eventually it did.

The day started very sleepily, as many people seemed to be having a lie in after the bonfire celebrations of yesterday. We made good progress along scenic roads and stopped in a ridiculously quaint village called Kelsi for breakfast. It took a while to get all three of us breakfast, but we were eventually fuelled with potato things and ginger chai and ready to face the rest of the journey.

A lot of today’s route followed the coastal roads, with views of sweeping bays and coconut plantations below. There were a few climbs, but not much to worry us now.

Punctures did return to bother us though - as Tiger fell prey to yet another flat. We did get to fix it atop a cliff whilst sipping coconut milk from a shell - even the day’s troubles are pretty cool.

Sarina making friends at lunch

Whilst puncture fixing, we met some Mumbai cyclists, Dixit and a friend, who wanted to know about our trip. They may be a help in Mumbai in a day or too.

Dixit and friends whilst we fix Tiger’s puncture  

Tombs of the Siddis

At this point we had seen some kids having a water fight, but that was the extent of the Holi celebrations we’d witnessed.

That changed when we rounded a corner to see around a hundred villagers dancing to a band. The men all wore orange, the women all wore the same saree design and they were dancing in the middle of the road. We rode slowly passed, but a few of the men came running after us and persuaded a very hesitant Tiger and I to join them.

Luckily, the dance was not very complicated - raising both arms in the air and dancing to the beat seemed to suffice. All our fellow revellers’ faces were covered in different colour powders - an incredibly powerful scene.

I was then led over to the shrine, where an effigy of Lord Shiva was being honoured. I decided this wasn’t a time to enter into a philosophical discussion about religions’ place in reality, and made a quick bow to Shiva. In return I was honoured with some blessed food - a bunch of bananas, very handy.

Tiger was led over to the shrine too and also made a confused attempt at “doing the right thing.” As he was returning though he was hit by a fusillade of red powder across his back - adding a very effective pattern to his blue cycling top.

The dancing masses

Tiger’s new colour scheme - very on trend

We thanked our hosts and made our way northwards once again - Tiger now looking much more in keeping with the festival spirit. We drew chuckles and shouts of “Holi Holi!” as we passed people now and they saw Tiger’s jersey.

A little while later, in another small coastal town we came across a water fight in progress. We were to cycle right through the middle, but a command was obviously issued by some of the mothers that we should not be harmed.

Everyone pulled back and lowered their water guns - which seemed a little out of keeping with the day. Tiger got through unharmed, but I thought we should get involved and grabbed a water bottle and took aim at some of the assembled combatants. Immediately it was game on, and coloured water was fired from all sides. We got a few hits, but we scored some hits too!

Cycling away from the battle, we realised the red dye may be a little more permanent than I’d expected. Blue Strawberry may have a little more strawberry colour about her from now on.

Still, if the new colour scheme turns out to be permanent, it will always remind us of a very happy day riding through the Konkan Coast during Holi.

A touch of strawberry on the Strawberry  

​Day 101: Guhagar to Ade

Happy Holi Dahan

It was the run up to Holi, the colours festival today, which is like bonfire night. An effigy of Holika (I’m seeing her as The Wicked Witch) is burnt on a bonfire and a lot of partying happens.

Another ferry ride  

We had a fun ride, with just about every village preparing their celebrations. We were accosted by a man in a monkey costume, shouted at by children and everyone was a lot more boisterous than usual. We have a suspicion alcohol or bangh (cannabis based drink) may be responsible.

This guy was scary as you like. Not sure what the costume was but Tiger though he looked like a monkey  

Both breakfast and lunch were a triumph of our technique of sitting in a restaurant and just saying “feed us please.” It means we get to eat what they normally make and we try new things. Coconut rice for breakfast, fried potato things for lunch.

Gremlins struck in the afternoon with two punctures and a broken gear cable for Tiger, plus the gears locking up on Blue Strawberry. All easily fixed though, but we didn’t get quite as far as we hoped.

Tiger fixing puncture - me helping by taking a photo  

Fish drying on the coast

We found a guesthouse on the beach, and after they’d cleaned all the sand out, it was a nice little room to stay in.

It also had a great view of people parading a coconut palm up and down the beach. Another part of Holi Dahan I guess.

We also got to meet a lot of inebriated men (no women), who all like to chat.

The local gentlemen pay us a visit  

Route update - Iran’s off the menu

We had a family meeting a couple of days ago and have decided the difficulty in getting a visa for British citizens in Iran, and the restrictions on movement once there make it too hard. We’re keen to visit countries that are keen for us to visit. Iran doesn’t seem keen to have us. 

Day 100: Ratnagiri to Guhagar

Thali ho! Our century is up

We celebrated our one hundredth day of  riding with our best yet in India. Our route took us along the coastline, on cliffs above blue green ocean before descending to white sand beaches. All in all a splendid day, reigniting the passion for India after some lacklustre day’s. 

We stayed in a lovely “bungalow” by the water last night, with a very helpful host who kept an exceptionally clean and tidy establishment.  

Also there were a family who were very interested in our tandem as the father rode a triple bike with a partially sighted rider. He was very helpful and gave us some good hint and some contacts in case we have any problems. We meet so many kind people on our journey.  

Once we started riding, after a second breakfast stop in Ratnagiri, it was clear we were in for a treat. We were closer to the ocean today and the views were amazing. We topped one cliff and we just had to stop - the view was so good. And there happened to be a woman selling chai and coconuts. Perfect.  

The day did try to burst our bubble as Blue Strawberry celebrated with a mound bang that she had a puncture.  

That’s not a puncture- that’s un petit explosion! 

Finally the landscape became a little less idyllic as we approached the port - but we needed to catch a ferry over the next river. It was just next to a large coal fired power station, so not the best view. ​

Once the ferry arrived we did get 10 minutes of entertainment as a tractor and trailer tried to get off the RORO ferry. That’s “roll on, reverse off” in this case. I’m sure he’d have had it done much quicker if it wasn’t for the mob of experts giving advice. I’ll admit I may have joined in. ​

Finally, he made it.  

We got one with a lot less fuss.  

The final stretch of our journey involved a few vicious hills, including a couple with cobbles or even dirt track.  

This was really steep - 20% on dirt and cobbles! 

We’re safely tucked up in our room tonight, surrounded by the usual washing line and drying kit.  

The laundry that is our bedroom.  

And the thali? We’re pretty much fueled by thalis at present. Lunch and dinner for the last two days have been a thali - it seems to be the thing they do round here, and it works for us. We’ve even pretty much cracked the eating with your hands thing.  

Day 99: Devgad to Ratnagiri

Big day, but we were up for it. It’s not the distance that’s wearing, it’s the constant descending and ascending. 1,600m of climbing today, which would be nothing normally on a road bike, but on a fully laden touring bike, it’s a big day.

Still, the landscape today was very attractive. Mango plantations rolling down to fishing villages and occasional white sand beaches.  

We’re finding eating little but often helps too. Multiple snack stops keep us charged up.  

Snack stop one with mango cakes.  

Snack stop two with a banana and a Kitkat.  

The brightest colours are nearly always the women in their sarees.  

Lunch was lovely too. We spotted a good eating sign, and there didn’t look to be much for a while so we pulled over. However, it wasn’t looking very open, until a guy shouts from the back, “One minute.” So we wait and then get shown in to the eating area. “Chicke thali” we’re told - ok. We’ve given up being veggie pescetarean fussy eaters at present. We eat the food that’s available.

Then he says, “My son is at school and I must pick him up. You wait five minutes.”

It sounds like this was going to take forever, but in fact his wife was out the back cooking the whole time and we very soon had a beautiful chicken thali in front of us. 

At lunch stop. 

The afternoon excitement was meeting another group of cycle tourists. We were having another snack stop when three guys pulled up outside. They were Swiss cyclists riding from Mumbai to Bangalore - the reverse of our route. 

We had a good chat about what to expect up the road - more rolling hills for us - and then headed off again.  

Day 98: Malvan to Devgad

Hard grind

These hills are killing us. Only 750m of climbing today, but that was on only 50km of riding. Winding Blue Strawberry and five bags, plus the weight of the Captain and Stoker, up all these hills is a hard paper round. 

Sunday morning on Malvan beach

Breakfast was a samosa and a tomato roll sat on Malvan beach - it was the best we could muster from the shops that were open. The was also a couple of small chais involved of course. Sarina and I have become quite enamoured with the marsala tea. It’s never as good as the ginger chai from Chai Point in Bengaluru, but it’s still good. Tiger’s not so impressed. 

Local guy fancies a go! 

Then we plodded out of town, feeling weary even as we started.  

We did get a little further in understanding the mystery of the red blocks from yesterday. The piles on the plateaus are there because that’s where they’ve been cut. There are nomadic stone cutting crews up there, cutting the stones and leaving them in piles for trucks to pick up.  

We made it to our hotel for the day though and Tiger and I had a very pleasant time on a deserted beach nearby. Mercifully free of rubbish.  (Sarina opted for a nap.)

Our route down to the beach

More body surfing by the boy wonder

Day 97: Calungate to Malvan

Happy birthday to me

What better treat for your birthday than a ride with your family up the Konkan Coast of India. It turns out this is where they grow the best cashews - and we’ve seen them on trees, which is a new experience.  

The road followed the coast, but after every river crossing we climbed up on to a barren plateau. There were many abandoned houses, nicely laid out fields divided by red stone walls and then constant piles of new red stones, as if someone was about to lay out some more fields but suddenly thought better of it and moved to Mumbai. 

There’s a pile of red stones there somewhere  

That meant a lot of climbing- so we’re all a bit cream crackeed. Plus, we had another rapid-unscheduled-dismount when a rogue red rock that had left its pile caught our front pannier. Luckily, only I was hurt this time, with a blow to my knee. It will be fine, but I feel the local onlookers who witnessed us sliding across the red unmade road might have some form of post traumatic stress issue. Everyone ok though  

We made it to seaside Malvan in time to see the fishing boats landing their catches, and then went out for a fish meal, with Thalia of ver fresh crab and mackerel.  Trying to dissect a crab with only your right hand was an impossible task - we cheated. 

Birthday boy yacking  

Fishy thali time

Day 96: Rest day in Calungate, Goa

A real rest day. We’ve done pretty much nothing today.  

Tiger had a go at going diving. He was on the boat on the way out to the dive site when a police boat pulled them over. It turned out that they didn’t have the correct permits and they had to return to base.  

The other thing we got done was a bit of afternoon napping. Very nice.  

​Day 95: Palolem to Calungate

Transfer day

We went from one beach to another today - and quite a different beach it is. We’re staying in a lovely little guest house by Calungate beach, with a ‘60s modernist feel about it and a quiet garden that runs down to the beach. However, when the sun goes down, the otherwise sedate cafés - which are just huts on the beach, fire up their sound systems and suddenly there are ten discos banging out tunes all right next to each other - and a large number of inebriated holiday makers - more on the beach than the dance floor.

Add banging soundtrack and you’re here

We had thought we’d eat on the beach - that decision was rapidly changed and we headed into town for a nice selection of Goan fish dishes.

The journey here was pleasant to start with, along the coast road from southern Goa. Then we hit another major infrastructure project improving the river crossings around the airport and we were riding in a construction site the rest of the way.

This new bridge goes on for ever!

The other thing of note is the billboards. As Tiger put it, “Billboards are like a native tree here,” and the forests are everywhere.

Billboards proliferate - these weren’t even the big ones

We have another night here. Let’s see whether we can get one of the discos to play some New Order and I’ll have a dance.

Day 94: Karwar to Palolem

Beached as bro, it’s Goa

 We took an easy day today, with just 40km up the road to a beach in Goa. 

Our favourite hotel chain of the moment, Citrus

Welcome to Goa

Finally, back on the beach - our first in India

Bicycle cleaning time

Day 93: Dandelli to Karwar

 “No Tiger spotting for you!”

 We set out this morning with a plan, after saying goodbye to Vinay and his mum whose homestay we’d lodged at overnight. 

We wanted to get to the Kali Tiger Reserve’s Nature Camp and go on a safari or two into the reserve.  We’d only see a Tiger if we weee really lucky, but we wouldn’t see one if we didn’t try. 

We’d had some trouble booking the place online, but a phone call seemed to have fixed that. ​

The road to Anshi was very pretty, climbing through the forest. It was quiet as well, they even advise against vehicles using their horns - and some drivers even took notice. 

We wclimbed a gentle gradient for a long time, gradually gaining height until our snack stop had a view over the forested hilltops below. ​

A little more riding and we were at the Nature Camp - and it was firmly locked. A gate at the side was unlocked though so we let ourselves in - to a ghost town. This is quite a big camp, with about 10 large permanent tents, a similar number of huts and some dormitories. It would sleep over 100 people, but it was deserted.  

We started looking around and eventually found signs of life at the back of the large dining area. No one seemed keen to come out of their dark huts though - a full siesta was in progress. 

We left it a little and discussed our options but still no-one emergesd to talk to this random trio of English people who’d noisily let themselves in on bicycles.  

Another, even louder, exploration finally yielded some people to talk to.  

“We’ve booked two tents for tonight.” 

The response was “No.” 

”No really, we have, we phoned Jenerapan (spelling?) yesterday.”

“Oh.” 

So they call the booking office and after much discussion I speak again to Jenerapan, who denies we booked the tents yesterday. With the people on site looking very reluctant to do some work and the booking staff making no sense we decided to call it quits and head to the coast instead. 

The good thing about that was descending around 600m over 10km - we soared down to the river valley below. 

So, instead of searching for Tigers, we’re holed up in a little seaside town, ready to push up into Goa tomorrow. 

Day 92: Hubli to Dandelli

Into the trees at last

As we approach the coast we’re starting to get into the Western Ghats, the forested hills of this region. It means more climbing, but we get a lot more shade.

Our morning surprise was another puncture on Blue Strawberry. That puts us into double figures and enough was enough, I changed both the tyres to new rubber. We’d been carrying spares since Sydney so it was time to make use of them.

The road out of Hubli was nice, lined with “pre-university” colleges- a big thing here. Tiger’s pre-university college is his bicycle. I don’t think they come better than that.

Soon we turned off the main road and headed into the countryside along a winding tree-lined road on which the kilometres seemed to fly by. We’d cracked off 30 km before we knew it and stopped for a break and a raisin and nut snack.

The road started to lose the fields and there were ever more trees around as we neared the Anshi Forest National Park.

Now we’ve reached our base for the night, a homestay in Dandelli. The family are lovely and we’ll be getting a home cooked meal tonight, which is a treat.

However, only 2G cellphone network here, so no pics.

Day 91: Gadag to Hubali

We slept too well to get out early this morning and then we spent some time faffing around to try and get some cash. It turned out the ATMs don’t function on a Sunday in Gadag, so we finally got rolling. 

A water stop in a little village that was very happy to see us.  

We get a lot of requests for selfies as we roll along. We’ve decided to say we’re not stopping but you can take a selfie alongside us as we ride - and many cars and motorbikes have done this. For the first time today a group of guys decided this wasn’t good enough. The parked their bike across the road ahead of us and stood in front of us to stop us. 

To say we weren’t very impressed would be an understatement. We let them know, quite forcibly, that this was dangerous and we set off again. Luckily they took the hint and didn’t try again. 

The boys wanted their selfie and they weren’t taking no for an answer  

We wanted to stay off the highway today if possible, and Tiger had selected a route on backroads. We maybe got a little too rural at times, with a dirt farm track varying from rideable to not so rideable at times. 

It was great to spend some time in the countryside, for long periods we were alone, a rare experience in India. 

Lunch was back on the highway where we discovered that Marsala, daal and paratha was collectively called “prodah” - although not sure how to spell it. 

Lunch was “prodah” with these guys  

Finally we made it to our hotel, after battling the headwind for the final 40km, and we had a pool! Our first pool in India, and it was so welcome.  

Day 90: Hampi to Gadag

Clocking up 5,000km

The kids at our guesthouse  

Leaving Hampi the stylish way involves descending many steps with the bikes, waiting on a rock and then catching the ferry across to the island the other side of the river. There are a few cafés and lodges on the island, but it’s an even more laid back place than the bazaar, with mainly temporary structure and huts. The road was dirt too, but not hard to get through on a bicycle, so we soon got to the short causeway that takes you off the island.

The boat ride across the river

Then it was a beautiful paddy field lined road, with occasional rocky outcrops, making for some spectacular views.

Blue Strawberry resting  

Eventually though we had to join the main road - another main road they are rebuilding, so it was some serious schlepping over ridiculous potholes to start with.

In fact, the surface was so bad the Blue Strawberry managed to get a double puncture. We sat in a service station and fixed them whilst the guys who fill the fuel for occasional trucks quizzed us on all sorts of things.

Thankfully, with tyres fully inflated, the road surface improved, and we were able to knock off the remaining 60km without too much trouble.

We also brought up a big milestone - we passed the 5,000km mark in our journey. We’re about a third of the way home that means, and it does feel like we’ve come a spectacular distance from Melbourne.

Day 89: Rest day in Hampi

Breathtaking stuff

We weren’t disappointed as we headed out to explore the ruins of Vijayanagar today at Hampi.

Sarina surveys the view  

We set out on our bikes, heading to the long colonnade of the bazaar. A little climb up the steps at the end and we crest a hill to see the breathtaking sight of Achyutaraya Temple nestled in amongst the banana trees. It was like dropping in to the set of The Jungle Book with King Louie swinging round a tree. 

The view of Achyutaraya Temple from above

We cycled round and explored from ground level and, close up, the stonemasonary was incredible. It must have taken hundreds of masons over many, many years to create this. Every pillar is carved with ornate pictures and patterns, the overhanging roof pieces are all curved on the front and then detailed on the back. Each pillar has a separate smaller pillar in front, carved from the same piece of stone. Amazing.

So much carving  

We set off along the river to the Vijaya Vittala Temple, the jewel in the Vijayanaga crown, with the world famous stone Carr at its entrance. To be honest, it wasn’t quite as impressive as what we’d just seen, but we’ve ticked it off.

Tiger sketching with an audience of student bankers

The famed stone cart

An amazing day exploring a historic civilisation I’d never heard of a couple of weeks ago. I think I’ll view Hampton Court Palace in a different light now - it’s a similar age, and doing quite well! (It helps to not get invaded by a Deccan syndicate.)

Day 88: Kudigli to Hampi

Day 87: Kudigli to Hampi

Wow! Socks knocked off

Today’s ride was relatively short and mostly along the main road. We got up early again and were able to beat the heat. The now usual crowd gathered as we bought water and snacks and then we were off.

Our favoured snack of the moment for mid-ride is like an Eccles cake, but with candied fruit rather than  raisins. Eccles and India will have to fight it out for who came up with it first.

The long straight main road was good to cycle on, but the traffic has definitely increased as we go north, as has the industrialisation, with several steel plants and a large mine by the road here.

We turned off the main road to head in to Hosapete, the biggest town around here and the gateway to Hampi - our destination.

We managed to get an ATM to give us some money (not always a given) and I managed to get a SIM card for my phone (a difficult procedure outside the big cities it seems). Getting a SIM card took quite a while, allowing Sarina to discuss the merits of disc brakes and dynamo hubs with an large crowd, and one particularly interested chap.

Then, we were off to Hampi.

Hampi is the site of the medieval city of Vijayanagar, capital of one of the largest Hindu empires in history, and by the sixteenth century a bustling metropolis of over 500,000 residents. It was finally sacked by the combined forces of the Deccan sultans from the northand has lain in ruins ever since.

That much you can read in the books, and as we rode into the area it wasn’t a surprise to see some ancient buildings in the fields around in various states of ruin.

We checked in to our guesthouse in the Hampi bazaar area and had a bit of a rest before heading out to watch the sun set from a nearby ridge.

It was a bit unclear which direction to head and we ended up behind a modern looking building looking confused a local guy popped up and asked if we were looking for the sunset and the pointed us up some steps. At the top, a young boy led us down some steps into a cave. This was feeling pretty weird at this point  (Tiger’s spidey-sense was tingling - the sun doesn’t often set inside caves), but the boy led us on through an opening out into a large boulder amongst the ruins.

Following a small boy into a dark cave

The light was already golden and the view was incredible. Like another world, magical.

We had time to take it in before the sun dipped below the horizon and we headed back down the hill.

The construction of so many buildings out of the rock is so simple, and yet such an immense undertaking. Tiger pointed out you could see where the rocks had been split, and even sometimes, where the had failed to split a rock.

The structures all followed a similar pattern, columns supporting a cross shaped piece that supports up to four lintels. This pattern even being repeated to create a precarious looking second storey on occasion.

Amazing place, we’re “blown away.”

Day 87: Challakere to Kudigli

Back on track

With the temperature forecast to hit 37°C again today we decided it was a smart idea to get going early. Also, Tiger was feeling better, but not quite at 100% yet. So we decided a breakfast of fruit cake and satsumas in our hotel room at 7am this morning was the best choice, before heading out onto the cool roads. The fruit cake was great, and a little safer than the fermented rice iddly, which are more commonly eaten for breakfast round here.

We were able to stick to a pretty rural road to start with, getting to see India waking up, having breakfast and catching the school bus. It’s all farming country around here, with some people living in coconut mat huts, but it’s still a common sight to see a guy in the back of an oxen cart watching videos on his phone. A country of many contrasts.

We stopped by a large wall for a quick break and a passing van stopped and a man in Army uniform strolled towards us. At this point I read the sign on the wall that revealed we were by a defence research base. “This might be a problem,” I though, but it turned out he just wanted a chat and a selfie. What’s new?

We stopped for snacks a little way up the road and again stopped traffic. The big pull was Tiger, who held an impromptu “Ask Me Anything” in the street with an audience of 20 locals.

Tiger’s AMA

We were planning to take a risk on a very minor road out of town to cut about 10km off the journey, so we took a right turn and cycled out into the countryside. A motorcycle raced up alongside us and said “No, the other road!” And after a while we got the sense this road was not finished, not tarmaced or something. Anyway, we decided it was better to take the advice of a local who’d gone out of their way to warn us and headed back to the main road.

After 10km we were on the big main road again, heading north with a lot of trucks. This road is in the middle of being rebuilt, with many sections having a lane closed off. However, this was often a brand new stretch of tarmac and we often had the whole carriageway to ourselves.

This unused tarmac did attract other riders though. Occasionally we saw goats being herded along it, and more often, farmers were laying out their crop to dry and then threshing it on the road. What they’ll do once the road opens I don’t know, but it works well for now.

The main road took us all the way to Kudigli, where we have a very nice room in the only hotel in town. It has AC, but only a mat for Tiger and no WiFi. Well, you can’t have everything.

Our hotel for tonight.  

​Day 86 - Hiriyur to Challakere

Un jour sans

(A day without)

We took a bit of a rest day today, slowly making our way just under 50km up the road in some pretty rural country. Tiger was still lacking energy, so we voted to take it easy and avoid the hottest part of the day.

There’s not much English spoken when we stop at a roadside café for a chai, but that doesn’t mean we don’t get a lot of questions. It’s good to know the British aren’t the only ones who, when foreigners don’t understand them, just repeat the question louder.

It’s all very good natured though, and if you’ve ever wanted to know what it’s like to be a Kardashian, ride a tandem through rural India.