It was raining in the sleepy south Nepali town of Hetauba as the regional traffic police chiefs held a meeting in Hotel Seema on ways to reduce accidents. A great thud from outside on the street brought two of them hurrying down to investigate. It was me. I had taken out a three wheel pick-up ricksaw. It had turned right across my path and I had no chance. The bike buried into the side of the van and I followed right behind. The tank bag, stuffed with electronic gadgetry, cushioning my impact fantastically and I walked away, at least after I caught my breath. My chest was well-bruised but it could have been much worse. The headlight crash frame and headlight unit and screen were all badly smashed and bent.
It took a day of repairs at the engineering workshop who owned the van. I settled on compensation as repairing the bike (there were five of us on it for about 5 hours and all my Araldite is used up!), doing a few extra odd jobs on it (like remounting the automatic chain lubricator, Scottoiler, the 6000km range reservoir mountings of which had vibrated away at the hands of the Indian roads.
That happened three days and 250km ago. I'm now in Kathmandu, the capitol of Nepal. It's just brilliant to be in the mountains again, fantastic scenery and there are still some rhododendrums in bloom - Nepal has 2% of the world flowering plants. The place is actually clean too! The rainy season is in swing, but it never rains for more for than an hour and is always followed by the sun. I've been made to feel very welcome and the Tayoma Hotel has given me a nice free room for a week. There is a noticeable difference to India, though both countries are of comparable poverty.
My body has nearly stopped aching and I'm in the middle of planning a press conference and fundraising. Then I plan to ride up to the Chinese border and around to some of the sights of Nepal. I wonder how far my bike could get up Everest - I don't think I have the jets for it though. However this is the white water rafting season, the real thing, no boating lake like last time.
I hope I can get a good deal, like the PIA one, to get me to Australia first
choice, Singapore second, or Bangkok third, where it is the rainy season.
All depends on those wonderful generous airline people. It may seem strange to you being out here in the middle of the Himalayas and not really knowing where I am headed to next. It's a great feeling, such freedom. The reason I'm not shipping from India is because of the awful bureaucracy involved.
I'm in an internet cafe, so there is still the outstanding India email you haven't had which is waiting on the Psion. You may get it from Australia. This came about because there was no GSM network in Varanasi India and British Telecom has no roaming agreement with Nepal. Typical. Nothing, you see, if ever easy.
India made me laugh and cry, mostly the latter! Here's what you will get later:
- Hilarious Pak-Indo border ceremony,
- meeting the Dalai Lama in McCleod Ganj,
- making a funny video in Manali courtesy www.nirvanamanali.com,
- the Kashmiri right to their promised vote, 15-30 people killed daily.
- no Delhi belly but definitely Delhi blues,
- Taj Mahal discrimination (foreigners pay 50 times the amount of Indians to enter, will be upped soon to 100 times, all the extra cash goes into officials' pockets according to the locals. So they can stuff the Taj, and this brand of nationalism, right up where the sun don't shine.
- More on Varanasi, I saw dead bodies floating down the Ganges, being chewed by stray dogs on the banks. People swam and washed clothes nearby. The hardcore Sadhus, Hindu holy men, actually partake of this human flesh each night! I turned to harmonica practise (first time since the Saudi desert!) and managed to break a reed. I did buy a Saree for my future wife though, don't know who she will be, could be a good litmus test, you know, colour match and all that. It's orange and green, bit reggaeish in fact.
Varanasi eased a little my opinion about India. My regret is spending 3
weeks in Delhi when I could have spent it in Kashmir. Maybe I just expected
too much of India.
Take care and see you soon.
Simon
ps. I've still got the same toilet roll that I left Belgium with, amazing
eh?
This interim report is intended for those who support the Millennium Motorcycle Ride. Share this dream while raising funds for medical health care registered charities Médecins Sans Frontières (worldwide) and Riders for Health (Gambia appeal). For 20 Euro/US$ + goodwill donation you get a commemorative pin badges and this regular email updates. Corporate sponsors welcome.
PLEASE LINK: www.millennium-ride.com
|
[
[
[
[
[
[