INDIA - A LAND OF INFINITE VARIETY

The final two days in Myanmar were spent riding through remote mountainous regions where the landscape was as you’d imagine from this country... gorgeous vistas, open plains in dusty, hot conditions along narrow, rough, windy roads. It was a spectacular scenic send off for this beautiful country and after several more military checkpoints on the final day, we arrived at the Indian border!

Before I arrived in this country, this is the scenery I dreamt of!

Fields with farm animals, serene.

A fork in the road, heading towards the border.

Dramatic weather with near perfect lighting!

The last sunrise in Myanmar.

Sunflower fields for miles, stunning!

Some heavy traffic at times...

The path less traveled...

The mountains of India in the distance.

Tropic of cancer pass!

Our group, many good friendships were formed!

The final bridge before the border.

The border crossing into India had a few niggles but everything was taken care of by the guides. Whilst we waited around I had time to admire the large Indian military presence at the border, with soldiers on every foot-hill wielding loaded machine guns. This was just the start for what was going to come in the North-East.

A late arrival into India due to military checkpoints, but what a sunset welcome!

On our first day in India we said farewell to Ben and Sophie, hoping to catch up again in the mountains a few days later. From here we set off along the Border Roads (BRO) which featured amazing landscapes, great roads and frequent motivational signs on the roadside. After struggling to find petrol near Imphal we finally came across some outside of town (very strange). Here we also met 3 other round the world bikers from Europe, it’s phenomenal how many I've met on the road!

Every kilometer there was one of these signs with a different message, awesome!

Mountain cities sprinkled across the landscape.

The mountain roads also had guard rails for the first time in Asia, too bad it was made of barbed wire! Then later coming into a town a Tuk Tuk crashed into the back of my bike, no damage but frustrating nonetheless... Late that night after finding a hotel we had our first experience with a hoard (it was only the beginning). Everyone was totally awestruck by the bikes, white people and I’m not sure what else. Hundreds of people gathered around us, staring with blank expressions, no concept of personal space, literally touching us, the bikes, practically breathing down our necks. Police came to disperse crowd and the bikes were moved inside the hotel. In the morning mirrors, switches, everything had still been moved... so the hotel staff had been all over them during the night.

Leandro with the coppers!

At first there was no one...

5 minutes later... and this was only the beginning!

The following morning started off with me witnessing a violent scooter crash, not very awesome.. But the rest of the day was “uneventful,” we were now on roads leading towards the "highway". Lots of construction going on, cows, bicycles, children... everyone is on these roads... it’s like a playground, just with trucks honking and near misses everywhere. That night we took a dirt track off the side of the main road for a few kilometers until we found a pretty decent camp site, it was raining as we arrived... we thought it was perfect! By 6 pm we had setup our tents and the rain had stopped. This was when we noticed the first person off in the distance, 100 m away, alone. 615 pm there were now 5 of them 50 m away. 630 pm, 10 people, 10 m away. By 8 pm there was more than 30 people with us, they brought chairs... they sat in silence with us until 10 pm (we didn't cook or do anything, trying to be as boring as possible... hoping they would leave). This was when the police rocked up, we were told to pack up our stuff and come with them. The final count had been 34 people at our campsite, after a short escort we were at a guesthouse near the police station. Over 100 photos with cops, their friends and randoms coming into our rooms we were given a free meal and allowed to sleep. What a night!

My first stack since being overseas, Tobias helping me pick up the beast!

Our campsite for the night... or so we thought.

My audience, watching me pack up my tent.

Friendly officers, our room for the night!

It goes without saying that in the morning another mob had formed around us, we were getting used to it... but it’s still not comfortable. From here we rode up towards Melli, the border town for the region Sikkim. Along the way there were signs saying “Elephants have right of way” and “No horn for your safety”, unfortunately I didn't see any of these beasts on the road... In Sikkim that night we all noticed immediately the change in culture, we had some privacy back! That night we tried the local beer (HIT), and to be honest it wasn't too great. Kingfisher is much better!

Sometimes it was fun...

Lunch time again, loving the food here!

Crossing a bridge with a typical Indian truck.

And sometimes it was just too much.... remember this happens every time we stopped!

On our first day in the mountains we traveled up through Namchi and then on to a lake near Pelling, most of the bridges had a sign saying “Weak bridge, one at a time please”... confidence inspiring! Here we had hoped to try camping again, however it was totally touristy... entry fees and everything. It was a rainy night so we spent it inside planning the rest of our India route, four of us sharing a single room.

Heavenly temperature, weather and roads... fresh air!

I've been in Asia for a while now, but monkeys are still adorable!

Follow the valleys before making the climb!

Rooftop beers before the rain struck.

I'm not used to the cold!

We set off early in the morning, the plan was to arrive in Darjeeling for lunch time to enjoy a local tea in the afternoon sun, sounds simple right? After heading down the planned road we were turned back after 2 km, apparently no tourists were allowed to enter. This added 70 km to our day (about 3 hours on these roads). From here it then started raining very heavily but we pushed on up the steep roads, it was getting cold and my hands were getting numb. The boys in the car told me it had dropped to 9° C... and then the hail started. The traffic up the mountain got progressively worse, after many hours we made it into town where we struggled with parking and due to a festival it was also very difficult to find accommodation in our price range. Finally, soaked to the core, I crashed in the room and ate some hot food from the local market.

Early morning ride down the mountain.

Steve and Tobias flying their drone above the valley!

Just stay positive... it will stop eventually...

And then it began to hail, OUCH!

But at the top we were rewarded with a glimpse of the 3rd highest mountain in the world! Over 8500 m high.

After a sleep-in to recover from the previous day we set off in to town to explore breakfast options and see what the markets were like. Just as we were heading back to the hotel the earthquake struck in Nepal, roughly 400 km from where we were. At first none of us knew what was happening, I felt drunk, struggling to maintain footing and then came the screaming and people running through the streets. We were lucky to have been so far away. We would only find out later the devastation that had been dealt in Kathmandu and its surroundings.

Fish markets in Darjeeling.

An old steam train, debatable how old... 1800's maybe 1900's, no one was really sure.

More cute monkeys near the temples.

That night we met up with Ben and Sophie again and were glad to hear from Leandro and Fernanda (who were in Kathmandu) that they had survived and were well.

The following morning we left at 6 am and managed to get away before the parking dude could charge us. It was 8° C. I said farewell to Steve, Tobias and Chris as they turned off for Nepal and I continued South through India. I was now riding solo again! Not long after we split I came across a scooter wobbling aimlessly across the highway in-front of me, I hit the skids... grabbing a handful of front brake and stomping on the rear. This was when my front brake line failed, the lever pulled straight to the bar. The rear locked up in a huge plume of smoke and I missed the scooter by a hair length. He was oblivious to the whole thing of course. I pulled over and upon inspection noticed a hole had worn through my brake line as it had gotten snagged and was rubbing on the disc... not ideal! After stopping at 2 bike shops along the way with no available help I nursed the bike in to Gorakhpur.

OH SHIT, the front brake is responsible for almost 80% of the braking power...

Lots of interested people, no one able to help though.

Sunrise over Gorakhpur.

It had been 13 hours on the road and I was exhausted. At Dominos (I deserved it) they asked me to please wash myself before ordering... I must have looked shocking! Whilst having a pizza I met Akash who managed to get me a hotel room for half the price of my food and offered to help me fix my bike the following day! In the morning he bought me breakfast and took me to a local mechanic to try and fix my bike.

Attempted fix with metal putty, instant failure.

Half the population of Gorakhpur watched on...

Then they tried plumber's tape with glue... also immediate failure. They said in Delhi it could be replaced, only 700 km away!

Trying to program my GPS, feeling some pressure from my audience haha..

From Lucknow I made an early start (the logic being: less traffic means less braking). Unfortunately for me it took over an hour to leave the city as a huge storm had struck, reducing my vision... and also knocking over several huge trees onto the road, after a few detours through muddy farms I was on the highway heading for Agra. On the way I stopped for food ordering a coffee and some bread, what I received was curry and bread... the perfect breakfast am I right...

20 km outside of Agra I bumped into 3 local riders that were just returning from Nepal, after finding out that my bike had been without front brakes for the last 1,000 km they put me in touch with Jay, an Indian round the world biker who also rides the exact same bike as me! Through Facebook we got in touch and Jay took me over to Bikers Clinic, run by Shahzad where we removed the old brake line and a new one was made at a hydraulic shop in a day... fantastic!

Myself (left), Shahzad (middle) and Jay (right)... with a horse, who's owner was asleep on its back!

Shahzad also noticed my front bearings were on their way out... lucky I had spares!

Brake line, front bearings and two new tires were fitted!

These two 10 year olds spoke better English than I did at their age and were super friendly, hope you guys see this!

From here I organised my Iranian visa (successfully!) and was then rewarded with Delhi belly, so I was stuck in bed watching Breaking Bad. It was kind of nice to relax for a day though. I've now met up with the boys again and we've begun planning our route up to Ladakh and the highest roads in the world!

Delhi at night, surprisingly clean... but as usual in India, lots of honking!

All the difficult visas are done!

The route since the last blog, time for another oil change soon!

PS: I’m halfway to Europe! WOOOO!

I'd like to summarize this first half of India... as it probably seems like it's been a bit of an ordeal. Honestly it has been difficult with the bike here, in 2009 I was here with my family for a month using trains and buses, and it was far less stressful. Although it has been taxing, it has also been an absolutely worthwhile adventure. Sometimes the people have been overwhelming and the noise is just beyond ridiculous, but then I have met the most amazing people, which I dare say are friends of mine now. The journey has definitely been amazing and I will miss the chaos when I leave, but first I ride to Ladakh... before crossing in to Pakistan!