Category: Odd Photos

Bike-Ride To Australia Saturday 17th-December 2011 Deori to Raipur. 90 miles. It seems a bit cooler today but still pleasantly warm. I didn’t have the nicest of starts to the day. After about an hour of cycling, I came across a truck, upside down, down an embankment. There’s nothing new there. I see lorries that have crashed all the time. This one must have happened recently. There was a body lying on the side of the road covered with a blanket! Not nice!

I was all set for a nice early finish today when I got stopped by a man on a motorcycle about twenty miles from Raipur. Nothing new there. I keep getting stopped for a chat. The man introduced himself and said that his friend ran a newspaper and wanted to interview me! They had passed me earlier in the day and wanted to know where I was going! Why not, I thought, and off we set with me following another scooter.

At The Daily Planet

I got introduced to Mr Chittor and his colleague Mr Vires at the newspaper’s office. After hearing where I was going and its motivations, Mr Chittor explained that Mr Vires wife also had cancer! After we’d been talking for a while, another man turned up with a TV crew! They got me to ride up and down the road while they filmed. Before sitting me down in front of my bike, the TV man interviewed me. After a while, a crowd started to gather, as normal! When the interviewer had finished, he asked I had a message for the people of India! Blimey, talk about being put on the spot. I think I just said thank you for all being so kind to a stranger!

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Bike-Ride To Australia Friday 16th-December 2011 Nagpur to Deori. 91 miles. Thanks to all for my birthday messages. I had a great day and something different to my typical birthday! There was a group of local businessmen on the table next to me in the hotel restaurant last night. Who meet at the hotel a couple of times a week. After talking to them for a while, they insisted I join them. It was fascinating talking to them about Indians and Indian culture. I was saying how Indian people are always interested in what I’m doing and want to help in any way they can! They said we say, “in India, we respect guests as a god”. No wonder I get mobbed whenever I stop! They also bought me a birthday cake! Which was a nice gesture and very much appreciated.

Indians do like their whiskey! The Indians who I sat with last night got through two bottles! There was only five of them! They tried to get me to drink some, but I was a good boy and stuck to my beer. The memory of my night with that Romanian football team is still fresh in my mind!

Watch Out

The area I’ve been cycling through today is tiger territory! Two people have warned me to be careful! I didn’t see any, only more monkeys! I did try standing by the jungle and calling “here kitty kitty,” but it didn’t work! Just as well, really!

The difference in accommodation from one night to the next is amazing. Last night it was a big posh hotel costing me £50. Tonight’s has cost me £2.50! I never know what I’m going to get from one day to the next! That’s the joys of travelling the way I do.

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Bike-Ride To Australia Thursday 15th-December 2011 Tivsa to Nagpur. 81 miles. Yay, it’s my birthday! What a noisy night I had last night! At about 2 am, there was a lot of noise outside my room and in the courtyard outside! The guesthouse was attached to some sort of temple! At around 4 am, I gave up trying to sleep and got up. I wanted to be on the road nice and early anyway, so it wasn’t too bad. I wanted to finish early. So that I could sit around drinking beer for my birthday!

An eventful ride today! There have been quite a few accidents, none involving me, thankfully! And none that I’ve witnessed, I’ve arrived at them after they’ve happened. Some of them looked pretty nasty, although I didn’t look too closely! I’m surprised there are not even more accidents considering how they drive! The road has also been blocked! Protesters blocked the road by burning tyres! I’m not sure what they were protesting against, but they sounded angry! I was a bit uneasy about the situation and got past as quickly as possible!

Monkeys

I’ve also seen some monkeys! Monkeys on the road! It’s just something you never see in Europe! I got rather excited about that. I could see them running from one side of the road to the other in the distance. As I approached, I got my camera ready. I had to get a picture of a monkey! As I got nearer, I noticed one sat on a milestone, but he didn’t look too friendly! So rather than stop, I snapped him as I rode past! It was so cool to see monkeys in the wild, even if they didn’t look too friendly!

I also met a couple of fellow travellers, Stefano and Annamaria, from Italy. They were doing more or less the same journey as myself but on motorbikes. Now you know what I’ve said about always attracting a crowd when I stop! Well, today’s gathering was beyond words. We were mobed! I bumped into Stefano and Annamaria on the outskirts of some village, and we stood by the side of the road talking. But it wasn’t long before we started to attract a big crowd of people that were starting to block the road! I could sense that Annamaria wasn’t too happy. I also felt a bit uneasy about the situation, so we took a few quick photos before continuing on our way.

Time For A Drink

I arrived in Nagpur nice and early. I wanted to find an upmarket hotel with the internet and a bar! After all, it is my birthday! Nagpur was so busy, and I got stuck in the flow of traffic, unable to escape! When I finally got out of the traffic, I was completely lost! Luckily two lads on a motorbike asked me where I wanted to go. They said to follow them. They’ve led me to a rather large, business type hotel which isn’t cheap! But hey, it’s my birthday! Normally I’d go for a curry on my birthday. I can’t see tonight being any different!?!

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