There’s a reason why we’ve avoided visiting India’s main cities, completely bypassing the likes of the Taj Mahal, Ganges and other Indian must-sees. They’re dreadful for cycling. At least we think so. The city of Pondicherry, our first real city experience, was an absolute nightmare after so long in rural India…
We finally got that downhill we’ve worked so hard for these last couple of weeks. And it was worth the wait. It was also the longest downhill either of us has ever done before; we descended 2,000 m over 49 km. We went from minus figures and down jackets to sweltering heat and t-shirts in about 2 hours – madness…
15th December: the last time we really cycled anywhere. That’s eleven days of being in a sedentary state on a beautiful beach. The pathetic bit of cycling we did do over the last couple of weeks was to merely move beaches. We ended up visiting five Goan beaches, which is impressive when you think Goa is only 100 km long (it’s one of the smallest states in India). We got so lazy, so to say the first ride after Christmas was tough would definitely be an understatement.
We started this week with roughly 180km and 2,000m of climbing standing between us and beers on a Goan beach with a friend. Oh and we only had three days to do it in. Now I’ll admit that sounds like plenty of time, but we’d already cycled three hilly days straight and were in desperate need of a day off. If you remember we clocked 481km and 4,080m last week. We were shattered…
India has done it: she finally broke us. It’s taken five-weeks, but at some point this week, we’ve each exclaimed how we’re over it; it being India. This happens to pretty much every traveller here for various reasons, as travelling around India is difficult. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the overly-curious people, erratic driving, or nonsensical rules that sent us over the edge. It was accommodation…
We gave the History Channel a run for its money this week, as we traversed centuries of history along the Gujarati coast. Usually we have to cycle hundreds of kilometres between sights we have pinpointed on the map. But this week, we got lucky. The last 376km has offered up eight-hundred-and-sixty-four temples, a few beaches, a fort, palace, mausoleum – and beer…
Project ‘Avoid The Sun’s Hottest Hours So We Don’t Get Ill Again’ got underway this week (we really need a better name). The plan is to be up and cycling at 6am, before the sunrises at 6.30am. That gives us seven-hours to pedal in the cooler hours, before it becomes unbearably hot at 1pm. Then we’d just call it a day. The sun sets again at 6pm, so it’s pointless going much further when it gets cool around 4pm. You won’t be surprised to learn that our perfect plan had some teething problems during the first week…
India. The land of colour, curries and endless selfies. As you know, our first few days here were spent cooped up on some sort of transport, so this week has been the first time that we truly felt like we had left Nepal and arrived in India. Wow. It’s been a sensory overload – and it’s only the beginning…
Bike problems are a given on a cycle tour, we get that. But our second cracked rim became something of a real pain in the ####. Not only did it force us to rent me a mountain bike for £140, leave the Annapurna Circuit early, and reluctantly order Dan a new wheel (third time is not a charm), we also had to collect the wheels in person from Kathmandu airport customs and pay a stinking VAT bill…
As you know, last week, we went on a Twelve Day Everest Base Camp Trek. This was meant to be a treat to ourselves after surviving the mess in Russia. We actually borrowed money from our house fund to pay for it *slaps wrist*. Yet this turned out to be another hellish experience, which resulted in Dan being airlifted to hospital in Kathmandu – and it wasn’t for altitude sickness...
Oh man, where do we even begin. Firstly, I’ll apologise: I think we’re cheating a little by grouping three week’s worth of blog posts together. We do have a good excuse, mind you. We’ve been riding around in the Himalayas, going where the oxygen gets so thin that it starts messing with your body. Idiots, I know, but it’s just too much fun.
With the odd exception, Dan and I have spent most of the last six-months as a lonesome twosome, having fleeting moments of communication with other humans in shops, hotels and restaurants. This week, however, we had a full-time friend and second visitor, Dan’s cousin, Tom (the guy whose wedding we went back for in June)…
As you know, we’ve had some time off the bikes due to recent scandals and scams. We’ve been slowly easing ourselves back into cycling with some flat, easy rides around Kathmandu Valley. This week, we had our first fully-loaded hill climb in about six weeks – since we were in Europe. Wow. It was tough…
We’ve lived some weird kind of groundhog day this week, as we nursed Dan back to full peddle power. We’d wake up and eat last night’s cold pizza, before going out for a late eggs Benedict breakfast (yes, we were still digging for that bone). We’d then spend the afternoon watching films and gorging on bourbon biscuits. Come dinnertime, we’d head back out for pizza, doggy-bagging the slices we couldn’t fit in our faces, to eat cold the following morning. I kid you not. We did this four days in a row…
It’s been a relatively normal week this week. No court appearances. No visa problems. No in-flight fires. Just your standard week in Nepal. Things got so normal, we even had a duvet day and watched three films back-to-back. Obviously we never actually got in the duvet because it’s practically 100°c. We binged on Toy Story, The Post and The Death of Stalin, only leaving the hotel room to eat…
