Bike-Ride To Australia Tuesday 27th-December 2011 Calcutta. After filling up at breakfast, I went for a shave. I’ve got more hair on my chin than on my head after getting scalped the other day! It’s so cheap it’s easier to get somebody else to do it! And there’s a man just outside the hotel.

After my shave, I serviced my bike well I changed the oil in my gears. I don’t have a standard derailleur. I’ve got a Rohloff Speedhub, which I was very sceptical about when I brought the bike! But now I think it’s brilliant! Once I’d changed the oil and checked the bike over, I went off for a ride. The chain needed cleaning, and I didn’t have anything to clean it with.

Out on my ride, I found a motor factor, or rather India’s version, a little street stall! As soon as I pulled up, I drew a crowd. I explained what I wanted and what I wanted it for, not knowing if they had anything. Somebody, who knows if it was the stallholder or not! But they came out with some petrol, that’ll do I thought, I just need a brush to apply it. But India being India, I didn’t need to find a brush. There was somebody there that, for a few rupees, would clean it for me. That was fine with me. It’s such a messy job. I’m more than happy to let somebody else do it!

It’s Clean, But!

I let them get on with it, thinking they would use a brush or something similar to clean the chain. I wish I hadn’t! There’s no doubting they did a good job; it was just the way it was done! There was no brush or anything; instead, he used his hand! He would dip his hand repeatedly into a pot filled with petrol and rub it on the chain until the old oil and dust had gone! All I had to do was re-oil the chain with the oil I carry!

I’ve now got my visa for Bangladesh and will leave straight after breakfast tomorrow. Hopefully, I’ll make it to Dhaka either Friday or Saturday, where I’ll have to stay for a few days while I sort out a visa for China. I’m also hoping to meet up with my good friends, the Barrs. They’ve been cycling in Bangladesh over Christmas. Hopefully, we’ll get to spend New Year together.

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Bike-Ride To Australia Monday 26th-December 2011 Calcutta. Considering this is quite a posh hotel, I don’t think much of the bar! They only ran out of beer. Then after switching to gin, they ran out of that! I wasn’t a happy bunny! However, I can’t complain about the breakfast. There’s a vast choice, with different stations, one serving a European style breakfast, eggs, bacon, croissants and the like. An American counter with pancakes, syrup and waffles. And an Asian counter. All very nice, and of course I’ve tried them all!

After breakfast, I went back to the Bangladeshi high commission. When I was there the other day, a guard had told me to be there by 8 o’clock as it gets busy! He also said which window to go to, as there were several. I arrived at the high commission at 7.45, and there was already a big queue! Luckily though, not at my window, which I also found out, didn’t open until 9.15!

As I waited for the window to open, touts kept coming up, trying to sell me a visa application form. In the end, I caved in and bought one. After all, it might save a bit of time, and I had nothing else to do while waiting! The man who sold me the form said that I needed two, which didn’t surprise me. He also said not to make any corrections on the form as it would get rejected. And yes, of course, I made a mistake and had to buy another form! Everything is so bureaucratic and gets duplicated here!

Finally

The window eventually opened at 10 o’clock, and I handed over the forms along with my passport and photographs. The woman behind the counter looked over my application, stamped it, gave me one of my forms back and told me to come back at 11.30 for an interview! Apparently, it’s just Indians that have to fill out two forms.

I went back at 11.30 and was taken through the high commission to see the ambassador. He was a jolly, chubby little man, not quite what I expected! It felt as if I was going for a job interview! But when I met him, I relaxed. He gave me a cup of tea and asked what I was doing. And that was it! He just said to come back tomorrow at 5 pm to pick up my passport and visa.

I now plan to leave Calcutta on Wednesday after breakfast. Some good friends from back home are in Bangladesh, so I hope to meet up with them.

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Bike-Ride To Australia Sunday 25th-December 2011 Calcutta. Happy Christmas, everyone. I hope you’ve all had a lovely day. No doubt many of you are sitting down full to the gunnels watching television! I’ve been playing the tourist!

I was stuck in my room for the first couple of hours of the day. The internet is so slow, and I was still trying to update the website, which I started yesterday and had even left running all night! Eventually, the website updated and went out for a walk.

Off To Play The Tourist

I noticed a barber just around the corner from the hotel and decided to get a haircut. And a haircut is what I got! The barber asked me what grade I wanted, “one or two?” Three please, I replied. One it is then! And he proceeded to scalp me! As my daughter described me, I now look like somebody off Crimewatch! He also gave me a head and upper body massage, which was nice until he started to slap me around the head!

After my haircut went to the Park Street Cemetery, I figured the police wouldn’t find me there! Bit of a strange place to visit, you might think, but it is one of Calcutta’s sights. And I thought it might be a little less touristy, which it was! It was a very eerie place, with moss-covered tombs surrounded by jungle. It reminded me of something from the Tomb Raider games.

You get hassled a lot more in Calcutta than you do in Mumbai or any other city I’ve visited in India! They all want you to visit their shop and buy something. It felt as if I was back in Istanbul!

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Happy Christmas Garry!!!!!