Week 13

Day 85

Saturday 21st September 2019

Guntur to Tadepalleguden.

Spent the evening trying the bend the back disc brake back into shape.

After breakfast we headed off deciding to stick to the main roads to make up some miles we lost after yesterday’s mobbings and hospitality.

Headed out of Guntur in the busy traffic towards Vijayawada where we were chased by a man, who possibly had a mental health issue and who was only partially (naked) dressed, who ran at us screaming. Raz shouted “Run Cat Run” (no mention of Forrest) - it was quite tricky to run as we were riding a bike - but we managed a swerve to avoid the aforementioned man and to loose him in traffic.

We stopped at a decathlon shop to try to get a new brake disc - unfortunately they didn’t have one. We also stopped for coffee - after waiting 20 minutes for to it to be made, I went to encourage the barista to get on with it!

We passed lots of wetlands and lush fields. It’s wonderful to see kingfisher, storks, egrets and others birds from the bike.

We saw a number of trucks transporting goats in a completely inhuman way - which was sickening.

We were followed a few times - Had to swerve to avoid motorcycles taking selfies. And answered lots of the usual questions about where we are from and where we are going. Plus experienced a few flashings (all inadvertent I’m sure!).

As we headed into Tadepalleguden a car stopped and kindly directed us to a hotel. The guys in the car have set up a “press conference” for the morning - should be interesting!

Day 86

Sunday 22nd September 2019

Tadepalleguden to Annavaram.

No sign of any press at 8am this morning so we set off.

We headed off the main road again - travelling through lovely countryside. Lots of wetlands teeming with birds and lush fields being farmed with ancient tractors. We watched water buffaloes swimming and storks flying over head.

If an alien landed in India and jumped on the back of the tandem she would think that the population of India is about 80 % men. Apart from in the towns we see very few women. It’s rare to see a women on a scooter apart from sitting side saddle on the back. Where are all the women? They are not in Cafes and restaurants we stop at they are not on scooters. They do seem to be working in the fields and queueing for water at stand pipes. Just makes you think!

Men and boys continue to buzz around everywhere on scooters. I’m starting to think that most of the scooters in Indian must have passed us on the tandem and asked us where we are going and where we are from or just stared in silence. It’s hard not to get jaded with it and to remember they are seeing Alice for the first time.

We headed through Rajahmundry over a massive bridge - then a bit of a hill climb - the first in a few days. We stopped to disable the back brake when it started rubbing again.

Finally arrived in Annavaram in the dark. Staying in a weird hotel - no restaurant so sent out for food which finally arrived (we had to order twice the hotel staff forgot the first time) - unfortunately the hotel has no cutlery- think we’ll give breakfast a miss!

Day 87

Monday 23rd September 2019

Annavaram to Visakhapatnam.

Irrespective of what you do, life has a way of getting you to form routines. 87 days into the ride we have a routine. Get up - shower (if we are lucky), pack the bags, eat (yellow curry), order black tea with no milk and sugar, try to drink the tea that’s delivered that has milk and sugar (abandon it), look at the route, pack Alice, set off, moan about how sore our bums are until we get used to sitting on them. Today followed this routine apart from not having breakfast and, as such, we went in search of somewhere to eat. We were excited to come across a Coffee Day Cafe (we get excited about coffee). The barista was on the phone to her boyfriend (or girlfriend) when we entered. We ordered. She continued the conversation- after about 15 minutes with no sign of coffee we mentioned that it would be nice if she made our coffee. Reluctantly she finally did. We ordered a second cup. We really did disturb her morning.

We continued cycling through wetlands and past paddy fields sticking to the main road to get the miles done and to avoid the mobbings in the villages. We got caught in a downpour and soaking wet we tried to shelter and drink tea.

We finally arrived in Visakhapatnam and went in search of an allusive bike shop trying to get the brake fixed. Followed the directions to the shop but ended up (after a particularly gruelling hill climb) in a residential area with no shop. We travelled back into town in the dark finding a hotel and ordering curry number 3 for dinner!

Day 88

Tuesday 24th September 2019

Visakhapatnam to Srikakulam.

Decided to set off late so we could visit a bike shop and either replace the back brake rota or get it fixed. It was nice to have a lie in! Arrived at the bike shop at the prescribed opening time. Half an hour later a lovely man arrived and set to work on Alice. A big thank you to #Firefoxbikestation. Everything was working wonderfully until the first hill of the day and the chain broke. Second chain to snap on this trip. We fixed it and headed off again.

A man on a scooter started riding along side us and asked if we were Christian. He explained he was a pastor. Raz thought he said he could ride faster, (which was true given that we were going up hill and he had a motor) (Raz is down a hearing aid at the moment), - anyway he blessed us and rode off.

We stopped for lunch and a man was curious to know where the men, who clearly must be accompanying us, where. He asked us “where are the gents?” I was tempted to say out the back next door to the ladies but instead explained we were unaccompanied!.

We also had lots of men trying to flag us down so they can take a selfie with us. This must happen between 15- 20 times per day. We politely say we can’t stop but take a photo whilst we are riding if you want. Today three very large men in a car tried to stop us. We dodged them and they were pretty disgruntled we didn’t stop when they demanded it!

The other day we had a man clicked his fingers telling us to stop - well you can imagine- we simply didn’t.

Today was a shorter day’s riding we continued head along the coast. We rode through a lovely wildlife sanctuary which was forested and hilly. It’s hot and humid with the occasional rain storm. We passed by paddy fields and wetlands as we ride north towards Calcutta.

Day 89

Wednesday 25th September 2019

Srikakulam to Berhampur.

Got up early in anticipation of a long day in the saddle. We had checked the route and saw that there were no hotels until we got to Bethampur which was nearly 100 miles away. We skipped breakfast to get an early start. It was pouring down - the rain was bouncing off the roads and looked as if it had set in for the day. We set off and soon got very wet! The countryside was lovely paddy fields and wetlands teeming with birds but now with a back drop of mountains.

We have seen some shocking things, which seem to be common place in India. Today we saw a dog with a broken back, which only had the use of its front legs, drag itself across the road in search off food. We saw a man without legs who could only get about by rolling himself down the roads in the mud and wet - to mention just 2 of today’s horrors. That’s why India is so full of contradictions the beauty of the people, countryside and temples and the horror of the rubbish, the poverty and the wretched - it can be a sensory overload and exhausting at times.

There were few places to stop today but we found one medium sized town with a restaurant. As we sat down and ordered everyone in the restaurant gathered around our table - no pressure.

We broke our not stopping for selfie requests when we were flagged down by the police it turned out purely for a selfie.

We arrived in Berhampur in search of a hotel. We saw the biggest strike of lightening I have every seen and struggled to get the bike and us under cover whilst the heavens opened. Everyone stood around watching.

At reception Raz was asked how old she was when asking about the price. This apparently was to ascertain how much stamina she had. Raz replied you don’t ask people’s age and more stamina than you - I’ve just cycled over 10,000kms!

Day 90

Thursday 26th September 2019

Berhampur to Khordha.

Torrential rain all evening killed the WiFi in the hotel. We looked out of the window in the morning to see more rain. The monsoon is certainly back! We waited for the worse to stop and set off. A mile or so into the ride whilst we were still battling to get out of town, the tyre exploded! It was a right off! A crowd quickly gathered as we went to work fixing it! Finally after bumpy roads and muddy tracks we escaped the town and continued our journey north.

Places to stay are far apart in this area so in spite of the late start we knew we had to ride around 100 miles again. We passed through Balukhand wildlife reserve - there was a sign for elephants but unfortunately didn’t see any.

We also travelled along the side of a lake and past wetlands - keeping an eye out for wildlife as we went. The days are getting shorter and it’s dark by 6pm. Kindly a man on a scooter rather than asking where we were from etc escorted us down the road (so we had better light) and took us to a hotel in Khordha. It’s basic - by this I mean filthy! There are men sleeping on the floor outside the room. My monastic cell of the other day looks like the Ritz. We ordered take out curry (for a change) from an Indian Marty Feldman lookalike and had a curry picnic on a bed - classy.

Day 91

Friday 27th September 2019

Khordha to Bhadrak.

Left the “doss house” we were staying at early to get a few miles done.

We had seen that there was a “Coffee Day” after 15 miles so thought we would head for that. We arrived but it wasn’t open - after all who needs coffee in the morning . We went to get a few snacks and thankfully Coffee Day was open when we returned. Knowing how long the coffees take to make, Raz went to order and I went to find an ATM. Raz was still trying to order extremely politely when I arrived back. I said emphatically 2 coffees please (or words to that effect) - anyway we got our coffees.

All was going well until we decided to stop at Decathlon (sports shop)... the best laid plans.. Alice’s gears needed a bit of fine tuning after the chain change. Much easier to do on a stand. We thought we’d ask for the gears to be adjusted while we got a new tyre and some straps to keep the panniers on. Came back, (with no tyre but armed with straps), to a gear disaster. Anyway - this resulted in a new cable and having to strip down a shifter. Raz has a new rule - no one touches the gears but me! It took almost 2 hours to sort. Then there were the obligatory selfies and photos. Finally we got away - we had 75 more miles to ride. We rode pretty much without a break for the rest of the day. Over bridges, alongside paddy fields and through towns. Listening to music to keep us going. 20 miles to go it poured . Massive thunderstorm with lightening lighting up the sky.

Arrived at a hotel with dodgy wiring in the dark. Just drank a lime soda smelling of rotten eggs - at least I hope it’s the soda I did think it was Raz at first (only joking).