Last Few Wks in India

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I spent a couple of weeks in Dharamsala, trying to sort Bob out.....again, and recovering! The whole Kashmir thing had been pretty full on, so it was nice just to kick back and relax. Having said that, I didn't do too much relaxing as such. I immersed myself in activities, trying to keep busy and keep my mind off what had happened with Cloud.......yoga, silver jewellry making, macrame (jewellery making using knotwork).

The yoga was fantastic. I found an amazing teacher at Buddha Hall up in Bhagsu. His name was Pancaj. Only a young guy, mid late twenties or so, who taught 6 months in Varanassis and 6 months in Dharamsala. For me, he was a great teacher. I say for me because I think everyone looks for something different when it comes to a yoga teacher. There were many reasons I liked his class. They were relatively small (max 8 or 10 people) so he tailored the class to the different people, sometimes having different people doing different assanas, so you had a lot more individual attention than many group classes. He made you explore the limits of your flexibility! I put it like that, rather than saying 'he pushed you', as I think that implies he forces you further than you can go, which wasn't true. He knew exactly how far you could go and he ensured you were right on that limit, as well as ensuring you were in the correct position. He did relatively few assanas during the class, but made you hold each one for up to a few minutes, which I felt gave you a lot more benefit than doing many assanas for a second or two each, like you seem to in a lot of classes. He also did a really thorough warmup which a lot of classes seem to bypass and go straight into sun salutations, which I find bizzare. Also, and one of the things I liked most was that we did a headstand every lesson......When I first started yoga over here, that was one of the things that made me go back for a second class! And finally, everyone got a 10 second neck and shoulder massage at the end, before the relaxation. Short but very very sweet and well needed by the end of it!
I went everyday for the two weeks I was there.....apart from one or two days when I was sorting out the bike. I really felt like I got a lot more flexible in that time as well. All those years of running back home have really taken their toll on my hips, knees and ankles and when I first started yoga I was so unflexible it wasn't true. Pancaj suggested I use 'muster oil' which he reckoned was the best oil to rub into your joints to help make them more flexible. I'd never heard of it before, but thought I'd give it a go and dutifully headed down to the local shop to get some. The guy pointed me down the aisle leading to the food section. He could obviously tell I was a bit confused so he hopped out from behind the till and joined me down the aisle where he picked up a bottle of mustard oil. I was expecting a nice massage oil, not food oil and wasn't sure if somewhere along the lines, something had been lost in translation! It was only 30 ruppees though, so I decided to get it and check with Pancaj the next day. I picked it up and turned round just as a friend of mine Jez walked up behind me. Having explained why I had a bottle of mustard oil in my hand he said that the person who had his room before him had left half a bottle in there which I was welcome to if I wanted. Maybe this mustard oil trick was well known round here after all! Having collected the said oil, I went back to my guest house for my self massage and headed to bed, smelling like an old frying pan :O) The next day I checked with Pancaj......he had meant Mustard oil after all.

The silver jewellry making was also really good. The teacher, Ravi, was really good. He showed you loads of techniques on the first day, and then you chose what you wanted to make and made it. At the end, if you wanted to keep what you made, you paid for it, and if you didn't you left it. I spent a few mornings doing this and made a couple of bracelets and a couple of pendants. The pendants weren't really that good, but I kept them just because I made them. The bracelets were ok though, being that I was a beginner! The Macrame jewellry making was also really good. I did this with a guy in a little jewellry shop on the road from Mcleod up to Bhagsu. Again, I made lots and ended up going a lot more than the alloted 3 days for a course. They didn't charge me for the extra time, but I did buy a fair few stones and threads from them though which I guess made up their money so everyone was happy.

My other 'activity' was Bob. He'd broken down in Lower Dharamsala when I arrived, which is a good 8 - 10 ks down the hill from Mcleod. Hence, most days there was a journey down there to keep me occupied. I'd taken him to Royal Motors. They were really nice and very helpful and in the end, had Bob running amazingly well. I say in the end because it was quite a saga getting to that point. First they changed the piston and rebored the cylinder. After that, it worked fine for 30ks or so, but then oil was again coming into the cylinder. This time, because of the added pressure in the engine the head had blown..... On one side, the valve housing had worked loose and on the other, a hair line crack had appeared. That meant replacing the head or fixing it. I didn't think fixing it was a good idea, so I opted for a second hand head to be fitted.

Along with the head, Bob also had new clutch plates; the carb taken apart, cleaned and serviced; the gearbox taken apart, cleaned, serviced and a load of grease instead of oil put in; new seat; alternator rewired; tuning and a petrol lock........that's all I think! Another few thousand ruppees, taking the grand total spent on Bob to nearly 11000 ruppees. That sounds like a lot, and in Indian terms, it is! but in English pounds it works out to about 140, which isn't actually that much considering what he'd had done. It took many visits to Royal motors to uncover all the problems, but it was a pleasant enough workshop to be in.........chai (tea) and bread omlettes readily available from the dhaba next door and plenty of conversation with the guy who owned the workshop. In the end, the mechanic there had Bob running so well I couldn't believe it myself. Morning times took one kick.....no choke, no throttle, just one kick. What a good boy!

I saw Cloud again in Dharamsala, four or five days after I got there. He'd gone to Manali, thinking his friends were there, but then realised they were in Dharamsala, so he'd come back to see them there. It was a suprise to see him. When I didn't see him for a few days, I'd figured he'd gone to Manali and that would be the last I saw of him. It was good to see him though and it meant we could swop photos of the journey we'd done together. Also seeing him helped me 'put to bed' what had happened, which was a good thing.

Having got Bob fixed, I really wanted to do one last journey on him before I left India. I only had a couple more weeks left on my visa now and figured I'd head to Rishikesh and hopefully find somewhere to keep him there. I didn't find anyone else heading that way, so I ended up doing the journey alone. I was nervous.....it's a different ball game riding alone, there's no-one there if something goes wrong and no-one expecting you at the destination to raise the alarm if you don't turn up. It needed to be done though, otherwise I'd regret it. Bob was running too well now not to make the most of it. Originally, I was going to head down to Mandi and then maybe stop and Parvatti for a night or two and then carry on down to Rishikesh, but the guy at my hotel showed me another route on the map where the roads were apparently better. That meant heading down through Hamirpur and Bilaspur, from where you can bypass Shimla and head down to Solan, Nahan, Paonta Sahib and from there into Uttaranchal, the state where Rishikesh is.

The journey took two and a half days. The first day, I had a very relaxed start. I went to yoga (one final class!) then had a shower and packed, got Bob loaded up, popped into Mcleod to say goodbye to a few people and then headed off about 1ish. That's the good thing about riding alone......you can take your time and do things in a nice calm, relaxed way. If I'd been riding with Cloud, he'd have been going mad by that time! I made good time that day once I set off, making it passed Hamirpur. The roads that day had been great. There was evidence of a few landslides, but they'd already been cleared so there were no holdups. Just as the sun started going down and I was getting tired, I passed a government guest house. Bob and I did a quick u-y to check it out. I was greeted by 3 or 4 police seargents (or high ranking officers of some sort) in the driveway. Having gone through the normal conversation with them, I went in to check out the guest house. It looked really nice and I was expecting a price to match. It turned out to be just 200 ruppees, full board with breakfast and dinner and a really nice big, clean room with hot water. Very nice :O)

The next day, after breakfast, I set off. I was going to bypass Shimla, but decided not to in the end. When I first got to India last year, I took a bus up from Delhi to Manali. I remembered Shimla as a horrible place, but I'd heard many people talking about it since as though it's worth a visit. Hence I thought I'd head there and see if they were right. They weren't! It was a horrible place, and not worth the extra couple of hours travelling time, getting caught in all the traffic. That done, I carried on toards Solan, where you headed off the main road down towards Paonta Sahib, the last point in Himachel Pradesh before reaching Utaranchal.

The guest houses in Solan looked pretty rank, so I found the country road which would take me to Paonta Sahib thinking I'll stop at the first one I see along there. The first one turned out to be really expensive - 1000 rups per night, which I managed to get down to 800. I asked if there was anywhere cheaper along that road and they said it was the only hotel along here. 'A likely story' I thought, but I was so tired I really didn't want to get back on the bike again to look. The room was fab as well.....a bit of luxury. Room service, cable tv, posh bed with pillows AND cushions! Very nice. It also had enough floor space to do some yoga in the morning in front of the floor to ceiling windows which had a fantastic view down over the valley. It was 800 rups well spent! Having spent the evening watching cable tv and enjoying room service, I left the next day well relaxed and ready for what would probably be the final day of the journey.

Having set off, (before brekky as the menu was as expensive as the room and probably not much better than what you'd get in a local restaurant up the road) it turned out the guys in the hotel were telling the truth. There wasn't another hotel for a good 150ks up that road. I was really glad I hadn't set out trying to find somewhere cheaper the night before! I stopped up the road in a little village and had chai and omlette for breakfast before carrying on. The road for the first part of that day was lovely. Virtually no traffic, lots of bends and really good quality road for the most part. Its just a shame that the weather, although dry, wasn't that clear, so the view wasn't fantastic. You could tell it would have been if it wasn't for the haze though.

When we got to Paonta Sahib, the road changed completely. It was flat, straight and horribly busy. Being flat and straight though, we covered the ks really quickly. I stopped about 50ks outside Rishikesh for something to eat......having not had anything since the omlette for brekky I was starving and couldn't make it all the way without a quick snack! Pulling into a roadside dhaba, I had the best chowmein for 12 rups. Only a small plate, but enough to fill the gap and get me to Rishikesh.

When I got to Rishikesh, it took a while to get my bearings. It had only been a year or so since I'd been here, but it looked different somehow. Things hadn't changed though and pretty soon I realised where I was and headed towards Laxman Jhula where I stayed last time. I remembered a hotel where a friend of mine with a bike had stayed. It was good, reasonably clean, cheap (100 rups) with bathroom and hot water, and most importantly had a car park for Bob. Hotel Divya.

Almost immediately I arrived the guy asked what I was doing with Bob when my visa ran out......when you check in they have to take visa details so he saw mine was up in a couple of wks. I said I'd like to keep him as I'd spent a lot of money getting him up togeher and hence was thinking of finding someone to look after him or somewhere to leave him for a while. He immediately said I could either leave him with him to use....for free, or I could leave him in the hotel carpark, covered and take the keys with me for 500 ruppees a month. I had no idea it would be that easy! Seemed perfect.

After getting to Rishikesh, I had about 10 days before I had to make my way to Calcutta. I'd booked a flight to Thailand on 25th Sept when my visa ran out. The air fare was only 5300 rups (about 65 pounds) from Calcutta, compared to 12000 from Delhi, so less than half price, making it well worth spending 36 hours on a train to get there. That meant I had 10 days to enjoy the yoga before I left. Rishikesh is yoga capital of India. There are hundreds of teachers here.......probably literally! You'd need a month to try them all, I'm sure. It's actually a bit difficult to know where to start looking unless you have a recommendation as you are quite spoilt for choice. Hence I started with the ones nearest to my hotel, including the one in my hotel.....which turned out to be not so good! I ended up finding a fab Asthanga yoga class in the hotel next door, and an ok hatha yoga class in an ashram opposite, but no-one quite matched up to Pancaj!

A few days after I got to Rishikesh, I came down with a horrible flu-like virus. Not so good! Having spent a couple of days in bed, I was ok again though. The time in bed also got me thinking about Bob. I wasn't sure when I was going to be back in India again. Now that it was coming up to leaving, I wanted to be back as soon as possible......I was missing India already and I hadn't even left yet! That said though, you never know and I was beginning to think that leaving him here for when I came back may not be such a good idea. It was just that he was running so well, it seemed a shame to sell him now, but if I left him with the hotel guy to use, there was no way he'd be running as well when I got back. Also, if I left him standing for 6 months to a year, again, he'd be running like a heap of wotnot when I got back for sure. Also, the nearest mechanic was a few kms away in Rishikesh town which would be awkward to get him to when I got back. I didn't know what to do really, so I decided to let fate run it's course. I'd put a for sale sign on Bob and around the town, and see what happened. If someone gave me the same as I paid for him, I'd sell him, and if not, I'd keep him.

I didn't hear anything for a few days after I put the for sale signs up, but then I had about 3 phonecalls and a couple of locals, who I think just bought and sold enfields asking about him. There was no way they'd give me 20,000 for him though. I'd paid over the top for Bob, based on his age (he's almost as old as I am!) and I wanted to get the same money back. That said, it was going to have to be a tourist who'd pay that. Someone wanting to resell would never get more than that for him.

Once I was feeling mostly over the cold I'd had, I decided to go for a ride. I ended up going to the waterfall a few kms outside Laxman Jula. I'd been to one pretty close to this one, but this one was a few kms further on. I was glad I'd stopped......well I was once I'd found it!.. You park on the road and then walk up the hill to it. Only I'd walked a bit too far up and ended up taking the wrong path to get back down to it. One which no-one had taken in a while, judging by the spiders hanging across the path! The path was hairy too, especially with all the rain, really slippy. I turned back three times thinking, this can't be it!, but on the fourth time, determined to get to the waterfall, I made it down and then realised it joined another path further down!. On the way back out, I realised the other path was a whole lot easier than the one I'd taken! The waterfall was well worth the effort though. It was pretty tall, and you could have got right under it. I didn't fancy getting back on Bob soaking wet though!

A couple of days before I left, Ivan from Russia phoned me. He wanted to test drive Bob. He loved him instantly. I wasn't really that suprised....he was running so well now. In a way I was glad.....I'd found a buyer, but also I was really sad and protective. He didn't give me any deposit though, just said he'd be back the next day. The next day he turned up as he said. He wanted to take Bob to a mechanic for an opinion and some advice on insurance. I'd just finished yoga and needed a shower so I said he could take him and I'd see him in an hour or so. Trusting I know! I did take his mobile off him before he went though ........that was the only thing he had of value on him!

After I had a shower, I went to have some breakfast and found Ivan and Bob still where I'd left him. Ivan was sweating buckets, trying to get Bob going! It did make me chuckle! The times I've been in that state too, I could really sympathise. He'd basically been trying to start him, giving him a lot of throttle and flooded him I kind of thought that would be the sale off, but once I'd explained the problem and he'd left it a few minutes and tried again, he started no problem and he seemed happy. I ended up going with him to the mechanic, after which he was still happy. Hence, Bob and I departed company with me 300 euro better off.

It had all happened fairly quickly, which was good, as I didn't have too much time to think about it! I was sad to let him go......we'd been through a lot together.....for better, for worse as they say!! There had been a lot of problems with him, but to be fair, that's true with a lot of Enfields. They're not normally plain sailing, even the new ones, and Bob definitely didn't come into the new category. He had real character though. It was the sound I liked best. All enfields have a real deep, loud noise.....kinda like Bob bob bob bob bob, (hence his name!) but Bob sounded deeper and louder than most others I heard. It was a fab noise. The sort of sound a lot of people back home spend a fortune on custom pipes to get. I'd loved the adventures I'd had on him too. All of them, even the bad ones. I'd do it again. I think that says it all.

I left Rishikesh on 23rd, really early. The taxi picked me up about 4.30am. My train left Haridwar at 6.30 and the guy in the hotel thought it would be better to allow a couple of hours to get there. He wasn't that far off, suprisingly. I thought it'd be much quicker that time in the morning. The train arrived in Delhi at 11.30am giving me 5 hours or so until the train to Calcutta at 4.30pm. I spent the 5 hours in an internet cafe. I still remember my experiences in Delhi when I first arrived and didn't fancy going any further afield! Even then, I ended up having to run back to the station to catch the train......desperate to get as many photos loaded as possible, I'd left it right til the last minute to make a move back! You'd think I'd have learnt from the last time around!

Anyhow, I made it to the train with about 5 minutes to spare, knackered and sweaty, but I made it! Having recovered, I realised I was surrounded by a family with 2 kids and a group of young indian lads. mmmm. Didn't relish the thought of the next 36 hours much! It turned out to be ok though. The young lads were from some karate club going to take part in an international championship in Calcutta for a few days and were actually really nice. I ended up playing cards with them! The kids were actually really cute too. I thought I'd be surrounded by 'screaming kids' for 36 hours, but actually, they were quite entertaining. It was wierd being back on public transport after having Bob for a few months!

When we finally made it to Calcutta, it was early evening. My plane wasn't til 6 the following morning. I didn't want to waste money on a hotel..... being that I'd have to check out around 3 in the morning, it didn't seem worth it. Instead I went to the airport straight off and slept on a couch there instead. Luckily I found a plug socket so I could charge my phone, otherwise I wouldn't have had an alarm to wake me up for check in. It wasn't the most comfortable sleep I'd had, but I did manage to get a few hours in. Enough to get me to a hotel on Ko San road in Thailand the next day.

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