Bikespod’s Blog

Well, what to say about these places in Gujarat. Udaipur had a certain charm, and was centered around a lake that was once a sparkling jewel in the state, with a fairy tale palace built in the lake and a wonderful palace overlooking from the hill. Unfortunately the lake has turned into the local landfill site and is now polluted and full of all types of rubbish. It does serve a purpose however, as a mosquito farm.

I will never understand the mentality that allows a people to pollute their enviroment so completely. India has a serious problem that needs to be addressed at a government level, and that is waste disposal and sanitation. the poor are obviously the worst affected, and the water courses and environment also. These tourist spots are surely living on borrowed time unless they are cleaned up soon. Obviously as a developing country India has a wealth of problems that need addressing, but tourism can help pull areas out of poverty and filth, as the demands of visitors result in improved sanitation etc. I’m probably being naive and simplistic, but something has to be done about the incredible amounts of rubbish that is just everywhere in India.

we arrived in Udaipur at 5 am, and wandered the streets and the ghats until stuff started to open. This was not before we encountered a nice looking old lady down by the lake. She saw us approaching, snorted, spat and then let out an enormous wet fart, delightful! I was enamoured by the city already. We went to the lake edge and i helped a whimpering puppy up a big step so it could rejoin its family, things were looking up a bit, and we returned from where we’d been. Ahh, the lovely lady was now defecating into an open sewer at the side of the road, what a charmer she was.

We then found a chai stall opening, and the owner practically insisted we go in, so we did. It was a welcome break from the twilight of dawn in a strange and polluted city. The owner and his staff were friendly and the chai was good, but nothing prepared us for meeting his daughter. What a delight she was, all of 8 years old, fluent in english and more to say than a politician on election day. She was hilarious, and i’m certain she will either become head of state or a headteacher.

After this we had breakfast and got a room, and then looked around the palace, which was predictably ostentatious. we followed this with a cream tea overlooking the lake, but i won’t go into this as Gaia found the reality somewhat different from what she had imagined, the staff were terrified by the ensuing wrath!!

From here we got a sleeper bus to Amedabad, 8 hours, no sleep and then arrived in an amazingly polluted city, the air was quite literally unbreathable. We checked in to our place and set about following up on Gaias leads for her book and columns. Why is it that scientists choose the most horrible places to work and live? Still there were some great places to eat and the people were freindly and helpful.

We visited a village that was simply immaculate, the village head was an educated man and he had set out rules for the village that if broken resulted in aseries of fines and eventual expulsion. These included no littering or defecating in the street, every house must have a toilet with a treatment tank, the sewers would be clean, and no plastic was allowed out of the village shops or into the village from outside. The whole village had an equal say in meetings, irrespective of caste. What a difference! the place was spotless, the people happy, and much to the delight of the village head, Gaia pointed out that the only solids in the sewers were flower petals.

He had also used satellite imaging to locate a fissure in the ground near the village, where impermeable soils were removed and put on the fields to improve their fertility, and at the same time expose the fissure to the monsoon rains so the aquifers would be recharged more efficiently in the monsoon. He also had a lake dug downhill of the fissure, again reusing the soil and creating a permanent lake for irrigation of the crops using drip irrigation. This lasted through the dry season and crop yeilds were up significantly.

One of the best bits about the village was that the way it empowered people and allowed the lowest caste people tp have a decent house and a good standard of living. This place is the way forward for rural India, it would make a great model, but they were trying to keep politics out of the village to avoid interference from the government and politicians trying to claim all the glory for its success.

We met with many people and organisations in Amadabad, but you can look to Gaia’s blog for info on those.

Next we go another, sleeper(not)bus to Junagadh, what an utter hole of a place. We arrived here having booked a room in a hotel that according to the book had spotless rooms, hotel president. It was simply disgusting and we dropped our bags and went in search of somewhere else. The town was weird beyond belief, and had absolutely no redeeming features. Even its wonderful mausoleums were falling into disrepair, everyone stared even more than normal and that’s a difficult thing to acheive, which anyone who’s been to India will appreciate.

We only stayed here so we could go to Gir national park to see the asiatic lions, but we were out of luck. the park was abit of a farce and seemed to be set up simply to fleece people of their money. Our guides tried really hard however and were nice chaps.

After this disappointment we tried to arrange our way out of this hell hole, only to find out the trains were booked. I was getting worried we’d never be able to leave and would end up as backward as most of its inhabitants, but we eventually secured a bus back to Amedabad and a flight from there to Kerela. I never thought i’d be glad to be back in Amadabad, but i really was. If you want to go to Gir national park, stay in Sasan Gir, it can’t be as bad as Junagadh.

having got a train to Jodhpur from Dehli we were met by a driver from the place we were going to be staying at in Jaisalmer. He then drove us for 4 hours from the station to Jodhpur.

What an impression the fort makes as you approach. It occupies such aprominent position you’d have to be asleep for it not to have an impact. It didn’t disappoint on the inside either, being elaborately decorated and constructed with the most detailed stone work i have ever seen.

After we had our fill of this fort we headed off again in the car for a further 5 or so hours until we arrived in Jaisalmer.

 Here we were staying in a wonderful guest house run by the enigmatic Jora, it was called The Shahi Palace and was approx 70m from the fort walls with an excellent view both in the day and at night. Jora had worked his way up the hotel ladder from the bottom and now owns 3 guest houses in Jaisalmer, with another in the planning process. This all from a man who cannot read or write, incredible.

He is the most friendly and helpful man and made our stay in Rajasthan very smooth and pleasant. All of the staff were excellent too and followed their leaders approach to sucessful running of the guest house.

Not only that, but he used to have a hotel inside the fort, which was very lucrative, but when the man overseeing the restoration of the fort told him how the waste water from the hotels was destroying it, he moved his buisnesses out. This damage is plain to see ( see my pics ) and we were given a few guided tours of areas that were out of bounds to others to see the true extent of the damage.

Below the big hotels the walls are soaking wet and these hotels are pumping so much water into the fort to satisfy tourist demand, that the foundations are literally being washed away, and  raw sewage can be seen oozing from the outer walls due to the excessive pressure placed on a sewage system that was never designed to cope with the amounts now entering it.

Greed is the main motivator here, and their shot sightedness could cause their investment to litterally crumble around them, and all of the beautiful and anchient havelis and temples too. I’m all for keeping it as the oldest living fort, but the damage is so apparent that something must be done soon.

We ended up staying six days with Jora and he took us to his house and we ate with him and his kids. He was a really kind hearted man and i’d love to go back one day to see if he has continued with his hard earned success.

We also went on a camel trek to the desert and slept out under the stars in the sand dunes. I saw 11 shooting stars and the whole sky was filled with light. There was a resident skanky dog ( they are everywhere ) and we were assured we didn’t need a tent as it would go away for the night. This turned out to be untrue as Gaia was woken by a sound like a helicopter, which was the dog scratching its mange/fleas/ticks directly over her head at 5am, nice!

Still it was great to get away from the town for a day and breathe the fresh air, punctuated by camel farts of course. Also i got to play with my knife and fire steel to get the campfire going in the morning while our guide was off collecting the camels. Anyone who knows me will know how much i enjoyed that, sad but true.

We started off staying in Karol Bagh in a hotel we booked on line, and initially it looked ok. Unfortunately it was run by muppets, who seemed to have no idea what westerners wanted. we had to keep phoning down as they were forever turning the boiler off when you wanted a shower. They were also far too interested in the hard sell for various trips. We decided to move after asking for breakfast at 9.30 and it arrived at 7.15, and consisted of a bowl of cornflakes, yes, just the one.

After finding somewhere nice in Paranganj, which is a bit grubbier, but altogether better set up for tourists, we headed off to TERI to visit their enthusiastic and informative PR person. What an amazing organisation, headed by the nobel prize winning Rajenda Patchauri.

We also went to the museum to see some pretty amazing exhibits from ancient civilizations.

After our street spent an afternoon and evening having some sort of running battle between two groups of rock throwing and shouting men we decided it was time to move on to Rajasthan.

We stayed in a lovely guest house just outside the park and were able to walk to the park where we hired the most beaten up and uncomfortable bicycles to spend the day on. The wildlife was numerous and interesting, unsurprisingly mostly birds.

After riding on pretty rough roads for most of the day, we took a boat trip up a channel and out onto the wetland sytem, where we saw all sorts of life. Most notably we got close to Indias biggest antelope, the Nilgai. See pics on Flickr. My arse was incredibly sore after the cycling and Gaia even had blisters!

We searched in vain for pythons, but did see a monitor lizard. After staying at our lovely guest house for one more night we headed off to Delhi to take Rachel to the airport and say our farewells.

Not too much to say about Agra except that the Taj Mahal is every bit as spectacular as it says in the books. The level of detail and the quality of workmanship is amazing. It was good we got there early before the hoards, and before they turned on the fountains, so i could compose that ever so original shot with the reflection.

After the Taj we went to the red fort, which was equally impressive for its sheer size, but not quite as delicate and luminous as the marble construction of the Taj.

We followed this up with Fatehpur Sikri, which was half on a ticket and half free entry. Our christian driver, Solomon warned us about the people here and to be careful, but this was unfounded and everyone was friendly and helpful. We even managed to get a guide and not pay, as Gaia said at the start we don’t need a guide, but he was welcome to join us, but no money would change hands. We had been systematically fleeced at the Taj (750 rp for us, 30 rp for Indians) plus ridiculous rules about not taking any charging cables, ipods,tripods etc inside.

Anyhoo, it was all pretty amazing and interesting and we then caught a bus to the bird park, which was interesting. The lighting system went bang (literally) but luckily not the headlights as it was now dark. We then missed our point to get off and had to arrange a tuk tuk back the way we’d come.

Khana national park, all i can say is Tigers, Tigers, Tigers. See my pics in the flickr link. Look for the set called Tigers. Shall i say that again, Tigers. We saw two on the same day. One female with cubs, although they were hidden in the long grass, and one in the afternoon taking an amble down the road as we headed back after a slightly disappointing safari.

The morning sighting was amazing, we drove in the jeep to where the elephants could pick us up, and boarded our mount via a ladder. The elephant farts were both pungent and voluminous, something Gaia is obviously used to luiving with me, but i was at the back of the seat.

All thoughts of this evapourated as we saw the stunningly beautiful female tiger resting in the grass a few yards from her recent kill. I was  just gobsmaked by her obvious power and grace. When the other elephant got too close she raised herself slightly and hissed and roared at them as they were too close to the cubs. Check the photos, which of these teeth do you want in you? take your pick or maybe all of them. At one point she looked right into me and held my eyes for a minute or so, then she got up slightly. To say i was a tad nervous is an understatement, luckily she was just shifting position.

We saw all sorts of stuff, again see the pics. It was beautiful here, but slightly mad in that you couldn’t walk anywhere because they were worried about snakes, scorpions etc More likely they were worried about their wallets as the jeeps cost an arm and a leg (same as an encounter with a tiger) and it cost everytime you enter the park, and for a guide etc etc

This was even more ridiculous when they took us into the kitchen to see a Krait that had slithered in, these are deadly and a man was flicking it around with a stick, time for a sharp exit.

Well, what can i say about Bhopal. If first impressions are important then it has no hope of impressing. We arrived after a sleepless night on the train with a group of young Indians who were hell bent on staying up all night and one of them had a laugh like a hyena. Twats.
s we stepped from the train it started to rain and it was still dark as we made our way out of the station to find a hotel. HOW were we to know that the doctors exams for the region were taking place that weekend. There was not a single available room, except one at an extortionate price. With phone lines down also we eventually had to opt for a fairly high end place who would pick us up also.
As it turned out this was the saviour of Bhopal, as we met a lovely Muslim woman from America/Hyderabad. She was a ray of sunshine and one of the warmest people i have ever met. She invited us to her sons wedding, and we went to the first day and ate with her and her family. We were also invited to the mosque ceremony, but we were typically British and arrived on time. Indians are not often on time it seems, and we thought it must be the wrong mosque, so as we set about getting a tuk tuk to the other big red mosque, we missed the ceremony, shame.
After this farsical attempt at witnessing other cultures, Gaia and i visited the Ayurvedic clinic dealing with the people suffering from the disaster from 25 years ago. The staff were very friendly and informative and it had a very calm and healing atmosphere.
Its disgusting what happened when the Union carbide plant leaked the gas and many people are yet to receive compensation and many more are still suffering. The ground water is still being contaminated even now, as man made lakes that were supposed to contain the chemical biproducts are leaking, the HDPE membranes having failed. Only some of the people now get piped clean water, and thats a quarter of a century on!! ‘Disgraceful’ doesn’t even come close to covering it.
I wasn’t sad to leave Bhopal, some of the hotels told us they don’t take tourists, when questioned as to why we were told, ‘don’t ask, please leave’. Ok we will, on to Khana

After Bardia we met up with our friend Rachel in Varanasi. Was I in for an introduction to India or what? Anyone who has been there will undestand fully what i mean, for those who have not been, two words sum it up. Wonderful and Dirty. It has an amazing charm, with back streets that wind endlessly and randomly, things going on in tiny shops that are unimaginable, and more excrement of varied types than you could shake a shitty stick at. The rubbish on the streets is truly terrible, yet within a day you almost forget its there and develop a walking dance as you dodge the varied steaming piles.

We stayed at Vishnu rest house, which was basic, but the staff were friendly and the food good. They did have hot water which made Gaia very happy.

This was right next to the washing ghat, which meant a 5am wake up call as the washers pounded clothes on slabs sticking into the Ganges. These could be right next to a big pile of rubbish, half in and half out of the water. Needless to say i did my own washing here.

We walked the ghats and fought off the constant offers of a boat, the mist was so thick there was little point. We alsdo had to go shopping for blankets as it was so cold at night.

After a lot of wandering the narrow streets and eating we had to head off for the next destination. It was a charming and incredibly spiritual place, but they can keep the water to themselves, how it could possibly purify anyones Karma i have no idea. Definitely not a case of  “when in rome…”

Tales from Bardya. We arrived at Bardya jungle cottage pretty late and after the 2 hour drive, punctuated by army checkpoints, we sat down for some masala tea. Our host was a lovely man who had worked for the park for 25 years, in the office doing accounts and as a guide. He had then retired and built the guest house complex just outside the park. We were not alone in the guest house, as a group of men who distributed cheesy balls had opted to stay after plying their wares, and they had hired the local dance/music group for their entertainment. The group was about 20 strong, with drums, bells and singing. They were from the Tharau tribe, the original nepalis as we were told.
They sang and danced for about 3 hours, and as the buisiness men got more and more drunk, they put more and more money down. This was strange, as it involved a young girl doing the crab and picking up the money with her mouth, as they didn’t like to be seen grabbing money with their hands. Whatever the reason, the very pretty girl bending over backwards and using her tongue to pick up filthy banknotes was doing it for the men. I’m sure their wallets were much lighter by the end.
Gaia and I left them to it and went to bed after a delicious curry. We didn’t even see the new year in!!
The next morning we woke early to head off with our guide Sitaram who had been a guide for 7 years. It was only a 5 minute walk to the main entrance and we were almost immediately greeted by a young elephant. Its mum and handler were nearby, but it came straight over to say hello, and no doubt check if we had food. What amazing animals, their hair is so coarse its like plastic and their trunks are quite simply a miracle of evolution.
After this enchanting rendezvous, we set off on foot to track down some wild animals, notably tiger, rhino, and elephant. We set about finding some tracks and after losing them while crossing a river, picked up the trail again.
We kept our eyes peeled for vultures circling a kill and our ears open for the alarm calls of deer and monkey. It wasn’t long before we heard a tiger roar and headed off in that direction. I have to say this felt a little unnatural, as normally you’d go the opposite direction from a huge wild carnivore.
As we pushed through thick bush on a trail that was clearly created by animals, we heard a new noise. I motioned to the guide and mimed an animal chewing bones. He nodded in response and we crept onwards in silence and tried not to stand on dry twigs that were everywhere. Slowly we got closer to the source of the sound, until suddenly there was a roar and something big jumped for the cover of the bushes. We only saw a dark shape, followed by thrashing bushes as it made good its escape. A tiger! We moved to where it was, a matter of 3m and sure enough a large tiger sized area of vegetation was flattened, still warm and strewn with deer fur, bones and the upper and lower jaw. There was a fair amount of blood around too.
We tried to pick up its tracks again, but had no luck. Pretty happy with this close encounter, we picked up some fresh rhino tracks. It was great using tracking skills and techniques I’d seen on tv, and watching and learning from our guide. We kept checking its dung for warmth and picked up the pace as we got closer.
then suddenly the guide signaled to stop, and literally 10 m from us was a huge rhino. I couldn’t get a good shot with the camera and then heard a loud crash. Next thing I see is Gaia half way up a tree trying to get a better view. The only problem was the rhino noticed too.
The guide and I were still on the ground and the rhino had moved closer and was looking directly at us. It was now about 2 m from Gaia and 4 from us. While Gaia took photos we two on the ground were looking for escape routes. There was nothing of substance between us and a 3 ton armoured animal with a foot long spike on its nose. As I was retreating towards a far too skinny tree, it took fright and crashed off through the jungle in the opposite direction thankfully.
That was pretty intense and lasted about 10 or 15 mins ( read as- a lifetime ) so buzzing with relief, excitement and fear we went to the river to have lunch. This was on a nice high bank to avoid the mugger crocodiles.
Whilst eating our lunch we were surprised by the rhino again, as he’d come to the river for a drink. We heard a disapproving snort and crashing vegetation as he headed back to the forest.
We saw other animals, mostly deer and birds, and just soaked in the beautiful ruggedness of the surroundings. After a final attempt at tracking wild elephant we had to head back. A thrilling and exhausting day. We got back as dark fell, ate and went to bed. Maybe we will see a tiger properly in India. Here’s hoping.
Nick

So we survived the four day trek to a height of 3300m. The journey began in Pokhara, where there is a beautiful lake with a temple on an island. When we arrived there was a demonstration which meant no taxis or buses, so the back of a motorbike was the only option. For those who don’t know me, I’ve ridden bikes for many years in all seasons in London and outside the U.K. and I hate being on the back seat, especially when its a teenager in control.
Anyhow we got to our accommodation ok had a meal and a drink and hit the sack. The word sack I thought at the time was quite appropriate as this was the same approximate thickness of the mattress.
We awoke after a restless night and had breakfast and then set off in our transport for the trip to Beni. (It was from here we would commence our trek.) Our vehicles would have to cope with a 3 hour drive on tarmac roads, but with many a detour to the side to avoid trucks, buses, cows etc and then a further hour or two on a road of rocks, holes, landslide damage etc. Which 4×4 did we have at our disposal?? The little known (in the west) ’73 Toyota corolla. Imagine the benefits to both places, if we could swap all the 4×4′s in London for all these toyotas. They would then be used for their intended purposes in both countries, fantastic.
I digress, but the taxi drivers here simply put extra steel in the leaf spring suspension and off road they go. Tough little cars indeed. See pics in my flickr link.
We arrived in Beni in the dark and said farewell to our drivers. If I thought the bed in Pokhara was hard, I was in for a wake up call, literally. Still after a nice cold shower it was dinner and bed, ready for an early breakfast and setting off for the villages.
We asked our friend and all round amazing man Mahabir what the day would bring, his reply, ’8 maybe 9 hours, steep uphill, some short climb’ I reflected on the wisdom of knee surgery 5 weeks prior to leaving the UK.
The climb didn’t disappoint, it was indeed steep and took around 10 hours. I’m sure our companions on the trip won’t mind me saying it was because they were a little out of shape, both being from office orientated jobs. It was a bit of a shock to the system to be suddenly faced with 8 hours of uneven stone stairs. Neither of them had undertaken anything similar in the past, and Gaia and I had only climbed mt kinnabalu in Borneo at a height of 4095m.

It always amazes me on these kind of climbs, just how much material has been moved to create an easier path up, presumably especially in monsoon season. Some sensible Nepalis had in the past, built resting spots at sensibly spaced intervals (approx 20 mins apart) which gave you time to catch your breath and have a chat or buy some oranges from girls that clearly should be in school, but were instead forced to carry a basket with at least 15 kilos in it down the very same path. My pack weighed around 10 kilos and i came to hate those steps on the way down a few days later.

We continued up, taking regular breaks, and seemed to be being followed by two vultures. They could clearly pick out the weak ones on the mountain ( Gaia excepted, i didn’t even see her break a sweat) and at one point the vultures effortless thermal riding brought it close enough to me, that if i’d chosen i could have touched it. A quick break at a noodle soup hut and another at a high level tea hut and we kind of levelled off and started walking through a forest and on to our first stop for the night, the village of Nangi.

We were so slow that we arrived in the dark, but were greeted warmly by the people running things in and around the school and two volunteers. This was Mahabirs village and where he grew up in a time when noone had shoes, not even for when it snowed. We had a lovely meal and some raksi, a bit of a chat, and then we were all so knackered we had to head to bed. Our accommodation was in a roundhouse with lovely comfy beds ( definitely thicker than the previous two matresses put together ) On the way to the hay in turned off the torch and the stars were simply breathtaking.

After a hearty breakfast and a tour of various parts of the village amenities, such as the clinic, the computer lab and the boarding accommodation, we said our thanks and our farewells and we set off for the second day of trekking. We were sent on our way with a garland of flowers, just like when we arrived.

I once again made the mistake of asking how long the trek would be. The reply was predictable, –’6 or 8 hours up’.–That sounds ok i thought, but he wasn’t finished. –’Then some not so steep, then maybe 1 hour very steep.’ –Ok, i can still cope……’then we fix a radio at the relay and its 1 hour down to where we stay,(pause) probably in the dark as we are so slow.’–ahh, i see, best not tell the other two just yet.

Mahabir was as true to his word as ever, it was uphill almost continually, but through some truly breathtaking scenery. The trouble was it really was starting to be ‘breathtaking’ as available oxygen slowly decreased.

We passed the not so steep bit and Gaia seemed to be acting a little drunk and quite obstinate. Nothing unusual there i hear you say, but i could definitely see the altitude affecting her judgement. I had to take a diamox to make sure she had one. The very steep bit up to the relay was precarious to say the least, with a tiny path, plenty of trip hazards and a long drop to the right. I was glad to get her inside the barbed wire enclosure, where she then decided to conduct one of the radio interviews.

Unfortunately i was still in a tshirt and shorts at this point, and as the sun set and the wind rose i was forced to retrieve my bag and fleece from Gaia’s side and nuts to the BBC recording (sorry) After this we witnessed a man climb a very tall tree in the dark and replace the broken radio transmitter. Meanwhile our companions who had arrived 3 days previously from Thailand were busy donning all their clothes.

After some noodle soup again, we set off down the mountain in the dark towards the lodge and some hot Raksi, food and very comfortable beds. The predicted hour was obviously optomistic, and i couldn’t help thinking about jaguar being largely nocturnal. However, we eventually arrived and were greeted with a big fire and eveything else as promised. I may have overdone the intake of raksi a tad, and slept just fine. Gaia however was cold and had to get another duvet from our hosts between bouts of shouting at me for not getting it.

The next day was a shorter trek which was mostly downhill through the woods and took us about 6 hours. We finished in a village called Tikot, where our hosts were absolutely fantastic. We stayed in their beautiful house, with its mud floor, stone and mud walls and hardwood timbers. The roof slates were some of the biggest slabs of stone you could imagine lifting on to a roof. The woman of the house cooked for about 12 of us including various teachers and headmasters we had collected on our travels. One such chap was a headmaster, carpenter, porter, wireless expert, cook and drum player. Multi skilled indeed.

Our hosts also gave up their beds for us, while the family slept on cushions downstairs, we had the beds upstairs. i tried in vain to swap for approx 20 mins, but they were insistent.

We awoke early and made our way downstairs to a good Nepali breakfast, curry and rice and veg. Excellent trekking food. Said our thanks and farewells, and after a tour of the school ( which incidentally had a playground with an open gate, that led directly to a sheer 300m drop, no nanny state here, just kids with common sense ) we were off again with garlands of flowers around our necks.

Thelast day was spent in agony descending stone step after stone step, and everyone seemed to just focus on getting down as fast as was safe, to minimise the pain. Even Tim who had brought up the rear the whole trip, suddenly shot off down the mountain and was spotted running along one path quite a way down. A cool fanta was calling from a roadside cafe.

When we did reach flatish land, we had time for a drink before our trusty chariots reappeared to return us to Pokhara, only another 5 hours in a 33 year old car then. Hey ho.