Author: Garry

Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 is cycle touring in India on Monday, 24th-October-2016. Panjh to Sagar. 48 miles. Much earlier start to the day; I was woken up at about 5.30. The call to prayer, which I tend to hear most mornings. So I’ve gotten used to it. Was followed by a load of women chanting just outside my door! I don’t think it was me that they were chanting at, but you never know!

Probably just as well I found that guesthouse last night as after that village, it was a jungle, and there were loads of monkeys. And as much as I like monkeys, spending the night with them is not high on my list of things to do! It was cool to see them this morning, though.

Short ride today I just didn’t fancy another late night. And looking at the map, it didn’t look as if there would be much chance of finding somewhere for a long time after Sagar. Thinking I’d found a nice hotel with wifi, I was wrong! The hotel itself was okay, but as for the wifi, forget it!

On the ride into Sagar, I got pulled over by a man on a motorcycle. He asked me to come to his school and meet his students. To which I was obviously more than happy; it was only about 400 yards back down the road.

Back To School For Garry

It was only a small school with about 130 pupils aged between 7 and 11. At first, they were very nervous. But after a while, they came out of their shells, and I was completely surrounded by pupils wanting to shake my hand. Their English wasn’t that good, and the only real question they asked was what was my name? 

I got the impression that it was more of an ego trip for the headmaster or whatever he was than an educational thing for the children. But hey, I enjoyed it, and so did the children, I think!

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Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 is cycle touring in India on Sunday, 23rd-October-2016. Sehore to Panjh. 85 miles. Frustrating start to the day I couldn’t check out of the hotel as nobody was around! And I couldn’t just leave even if I wanted to because they had my passport. And I couldn’t get out of the grounds as the gate was locked!

Normally there’s a security guard present, and he’ll get somebody to help you check out. But unfortunately, there was nobody! So I just had to sit around take deep breaths and wait! I eventually managed to leave at about 8.30! After my late start, the day just went from bad to worse, really!

I got lost in Bhopal and couldn’t find my way out. And I was there for a couple of hours. Eventually after finding my way out I decided that I would stop at the next hotel I found as I could tell that it was going to be one of those days! I really should learn and follow my own rules!

The number one rule is to always stop at the first place you come across! Like an idiot, I didn’t! I was all set to stop at a hotel when a car pulled up, and the occupant got out to say hello, which is the norm. After we’d spoken for a while, he said that I was better off pushing onto the next town of Vidasha. As there was a good hotel there. And if that wasn’t any good, there were plenty of others.

Big Mistake

With his advice and to my better judgement I continued on towards Vidisha, passing several other hotels on the way! When I arrived at Vidisha I couldn’t find the hotel that I’d been told to go to so I looked around for another hotel. The streets were manic, and it was hard to spot a hotel and also keep an eye on the road!

I stopped at a couple, and they were all full. So I thought balls to this, I was getting bored of this now, so I just did what I do best cycled out of town in the hope that I may find something down the road!

After a couple of hours cycling it was starting to get dark. I started to prepare myself for a night of sleeping rough and stopped off at one of the many stalls that litter the side of the road to get something to eat. After filling up on samosas and tea, I started to head off. As I was leaving, I asked if there were any guesthouses nearby, and somebody said 5km down the road. Although I’m always a bit sceptical when it comes to asking people distances as half the time when they say 10km it’s usually about 20 or 30!

A Sign Of Life

But hey, it was a good sign that somebody even said that there was one on this road. I set off with renewed vigour that somewhere along this road. Hopefully not too far away would be a guest house! I was further geed up when I saw a sign. I don’t know what it said but something was 5km away. Perhaps a town or village with maybe a guesthouse?

After arriving in Panjh and stopping and asking countless people where the guest house was (just so I didn’t miss it). I eventually found it, but there was nobody there! I decided that I wasn’t going to go any further and I’d sleep on the steps if necessary. So I just sat on the steps until somebody arrived, which they eventually did after about an hour!

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Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 is cycle touring in India on Saturday, 22nd-October-2016. Indore to Sehore. 91 miles. It’s been a fairly flat and uneventful ride today I’ve just been putting the miles in.

As I was leaving the hotel this morning, I noticed a sign pinned to the lift saying, “All rooms had to be vacated on the 22nd and 23rd for government officials!” Think I was a bit lucky getting a room last night, and just as well, I didn’t arrive today! The only reason I put in such a long day yesterday was to get to Indore as A; I’ve not had a beer since leaving Dhule! And B, I’ve been eating “pure veg food” since leaving Mumbai. And I knew that there were western-style hotels in Indore where I could have got a beer and some meat. Two things I really enjoy! So it was a double disappointment not to find a hotel!

My Lucks In

I was going to push on to Bhopal tonight for the same reasons as above, but passing through Sehore, I just noticed this place. The hotel Cresent. The sign said “hotel, bar and restaurant,” the key word being bar!

I cycled in to be met by a man who didn’t speak any English, but he obviously knew what I wanted. And before I knew it, Passepartout and I were being shown to a room which was more like an igloo in shape. In fact, the whole hotel was a cluster of igloo-shaped buildings.

Not only could I get a beer here, but the hotel restaurant sold meat! After last night’s disappointment, it was a triple bonus: beer, meat and Passepartout safe in the room with me! What more could I ask for? Maybe the internet. But hey I’ll take meat and beer tonight instead!

Nearly started to regret ordering the butter chicken tonight when all I got was a spoon to eat it with! And I drank the bar dry, which is nothing really surprising, not that I drank a huge amount (I could have had they not sold out!). But I remember my last trip to India, the bars always ran out. They just don’t stock enough, well not enough for some fat overweight Brit on a cycle tour!

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Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 is cycle touring in India on Friday, 21st-October-2016. Sendhwa to Indore. 108 miles. I Had to fix one of my panniers last night. One of the nuts had come loose and fallen off (and I don’t mean me!) Luckily, I carry some spares, so it wasn’t a major problem, just more of an inconvenience having to empty the pannier!

It’s been a really long day with some big ghats (hills) to go up. I was on the road before 7 o’clock this morning as I knew I had to cover a lot of miles. And I didn’t arrive at Indore until about 7.30 pm! Then only to find out all the hotels were full! I was on my 6th hotel before I found a room. Apparently, the prime minister is coming to town tomorrow, and that’s why everywhere is full! I eventually got into my room at about 9.30!

Despite my really long day and some long climbs, it’s been an enjoyable day. It was really good to get back into the routine of cycling all day. And stopping fairly late (although maybe not quite as late as tonight!). I have to find somewhere to eat, write my blog and sleep before it all starts again! 

Saw some monkeys today, the first on this trip. They just make me smile. It’s something that, being a European, you don’t just see along the side of the road!

There were also a lot of camels and goats. Not too sure whether it was market day, but there were herds of goats being driven along the road and causing havoc with the traffic!

Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest.