Week 9

Day 57

Saturday 24th August 2019

We arrived in Tbilisi on Wednesday evening 21st August and will be leaving early Monday morning on a flight to Mumbai.

Tbilisi.

It was fantastic to arrive in Tbilisi with the prospect of a few days off to rest before our flight to India. Tbilisi is an amazing city and we had accommodation arranged thanks to the kind and incredibly generous Nina.

The buildings in the Old City are a photographer’s dream - ornate and crumbing apart from the areas which have been restored which when you walk through them is like stepping back in time.

We were also hoping to get some new clothes courtesy of the generous Andy Gorman at Stolen Goat, a flight bag for Alice and inner tubes - thanks to Rick Locker and a replacement tool bag! All sounds straight forward but no! After at least 6 calls to DHL we worked out that because I wasn’t a tax payer in Georgia I had to register for tax and pay duty. After another few calls we got the address of the Revenue (the first address sent by DHL was wrong) and headed off in a taxi. I registered as a tax payer - and got my tax number. DHL was then supposed to send an email confirming the amount owing. It didn’t arrive. We called again. Got the email. Went to the bank and paid. We contacted DHL to confirm we had paid the money. They had said they would send the parcel by 2pm the next day. Cutting the story short - they simply didn’t deliver. UPS which was due to deliver the tool bag - didn’t deliver and the inner tubes didn’t arrive.

We did however meet 3 amazing guys bike packing around the world at the Bike Shed and have had Alice packed ready for the flight. We’ve also seen a bit of Tbilisi and thoroughly enjoyed it. This morning we went up in a cable car to see amazing views of the City. We doing a bit of planning for India and are excited about it. We fly early Monday morning and although we have lost a few days because of flight times I’m sure the rest will have done us good although I must say it’s a lot less stressful riding!

Day 58

Resting in Tbilisi

Day 59

Monday 26 August 2019

Fly to Mumbai

Day 60

Tuesday 27th August 2019

Mumbai to south of Pen.

Arrived in India with Alice in 2 boxes, (which was a relief as it was a manual check in at Tbilisi) and spent the evening reassembling her to an audience of the hotel staff and guests.

We decided to take a ferry out of Mumbai which meant we could see the gateway to India and some of the famous colonial buildings including Taj Mahal Palace scene of the terrible bombing a few years ago. We got up early heading into the frenetic traffic. It was exhilarating so much colour, life and rubbish all existing together- somehow it just seems to work!

4 miles into the ride the gear cable snapped. We stopped and soon a crowd gathered. The brother in law of one of the spectators was a bike mechanic. We were escorted to Imperial Cycles and the bike mechanic was got out of bed! I don’t think he’d seen shimano shifters before so it took a while. Chai was brought in a plastic bag and we chatted to the mother of the mechanic who spoke good English. We finally set off again passing all forms of life including the slum made famous in Slum Dog Millionaire. We arrived at the ferry terminal and was told that there were no ferries. This would have meant cycling back the 20 mile we had come and then out of Mumbai through the outskirts. We decided to have lunch and consider options. We ended up is a very nice restaurant (above the budget) which was freezing as the air conditioning was on overdrive- but the food was great. We worked out we could get a ferry a few miles up the road. We set off. We had people taking pictures and videoing us as we cycled along. People kept asking where we were from - and where we were going. We got to the ferry and Alice was man handled on board (there was later a charge for this). We arrived across the water setting off out of the towns and into paddy fields. It was raining off and on and we got caught in a massive downpour and rode down a street totally submerged in water. The roads were a challenge lots of gravel, craters and mud but we survived our first day stopping in a basic hotel on the Karakoram Highway. India is amazing!

Day 61.

Wednesday 28th August 2019

South of Pen to Kehed

Curry for breakfast with sweet tea (much to Raz’s disgust- with the tea) and headed back onto the highway. It was dusty and like cycling in a sauna with the humidity of the monsoon. We stopped for unsweetened tea and continued through small towns and villages all frenetic with markets selling fruit and veg and the traffic weaving in and out.

Lunch was Onion Bhaji kindly paid for by an by a women who loved London shows. We were stopped by the police (again) but they just wanted a selfie and to offer us tea. We were filmed and photographed by people passing in cars and a moped nearly run off trying to get a selfie (the driver rather than the moped). Covered in mud we were relived to get off the main highway and into the hills. A man gave me a very funny hand shake, tried to get on Alice and hugged Razzle Marsden in a strange village and then we were in the green and beautiful countryside with the birds singing and amazing views as we climbed.

The only problem was that the repair on the gears in Mumbai was not great and we had no low gears - so the climbing was hard. After an amazing descent with waterfalls and views across a lake we followed a stream down back into the highway. Finally found a hotel as it was getting dark.

Day 62

Thursday 29th August 2019

Khed to the middle of nowhere (Devrukh)

Gears fixed we set off immediately into a hard climb on a rough road. Stopped for black tea and assessed the day ahead. The ride would be hilly, on pot holed roads and the sky was black. It started to rain and continued for most of the day. We stopped at a restaurant - we ordered two teas - one arrived. We asked for two and ended up with two cups but no more tea. We headed into the mountains having passed a number of huge factories skirted by slum dwellings. There couldn’t have been more of a contrast. The mountains with the lush emerald green vegetation and birds including Kingfisher flitting in and out of the trees couldn’t have been more beautiful. We passed waterfalls and Hindu temples in the low cloud - very close to a wildlife sanctuary with leopard and peacocks.

We were in search of somewhere to stay and the light was fading. We headed to the nearest town in search of a hotel. The rain was torrential running in rivers down the road and we found ourselves climbing again into the mountains. We finally came to a village and asked about accommodation. We were told there was a hotel up the road. It was pitch black by now. Finally more by luck than anything else we found it. It was run by a lovely man who had studied English and wanted to come to London but he couldn’t get a visa. He now wanted to build a cinema for the local community. Everything was wet but we ate and slept ready for the next day

Day 63.

Friday 30th August 2019

Middle of nowhere (LeisurePoint) to Kharepatan (Hotel Madhuban).

Left Leisure Point in the rain having had the obligatory selfies with all the staff. Today was a beautiful ride through the Indian countryside. It’s lush green and forested with spectacular views across valleys. We saw monkey, Hornbill and a huge variety of birds - however the going was slow as it was hilly and the road surface rough. We saw water buffaloes in a river and passed camps of people living under plastic sheeting.

It was also lovely to see children on route to school all looking immaculate in their uniforms. It was 3pm and we arrived at the highway. Tried to get a few miles done before dusk along the wet muddy highway as the lorries passed. We had been trying to get money from an ATM for the last few days. I’d tried numerous ATMs but none had paid out. We finally managed to get £10 out which would pay for the night’s accommodation. We stopped at a crumbling old colonial building which was literally falling down and stayed the night. We asked for the filthy sheets and pillow cases to be changed. Raz had the first beer for days which left us with £1. I have a cold so feeling a bit rough. In search of money for breakfast in the morning.