Bicycle Touring South Asia: India, Orai to Kanpur

Cycling around South Asia, my latest bicycle touring update from India. Orai to Kanpur. 69 miles. I got a good night’s sleep last night, possibly because I had such a tough day yesterday, on top of little sleep. Or it may have been down sleeping in my own bedding. Either way, I wasn’t grumpy today.

If you remember, I said I might put my tent up in my room yesterday because the guesthouse wasn’t the cleanest. Or rather, to be fair to the guesthouse, the general cleanliness of the place wasn’t that bad. It was the bed that I took issue with. It was minging. I think the floor was cleaner than the bed. At least that got washed! Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough room to put my tent up. So, instead, I put my groundsheet on the bed and slept in my sleeping bag on top of that. I was still cautious about lying on the bed. But at least with my groundsheet, I was relatively isolated from the bed and all its bugs!

The roads were a lot better today, and I had a fast ride into Kanpur, although, for the last twenty-five miles or so, the road was hectic, even by my standards! I was on a six-lane highway, with all the chaos of the smaller roads. Apart from the traffic, cows, goats, and people were coming at me from every direction!

I’m staying in a nice Western-style hotel with good internet tonight, so at least I can see what’s happening outside India. Although I’m probably better off not knowing.

I had a little walk around Kanpur tonight, blimey, it was busy! It might have been down to Diwali, the festival of lights this weekend, one of the major festivals celebrated by Hindus. It symbolises how good (light) will always win over evil (darkness).

Tour Information

It’s been years since I took this ride, but the memories (and the data) are all archived:

• Photos: See my photos on Flickr
• The route: View my route across India & Nepal
• Videos: Check out my YouTube videos
• Tour page: Ride overview

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