In some ways the north of India is not like the north of England...... it is incredibly hot (we have hit over 50 degrees and it is more developed than the south.
In other ways it is very similar: the men spit a lot, goats, camels, dogs and bison roam the streets freely and we got mugged!!!!
As I am hot and bothered I will tell our latest story in pictures.......
We have now given away over 300 pens so are running out quickly!
They like to fill the load on the trailers:
Some temple or other:
"Excuse me security guard, please may I have your big scary gun?" "Of course you can white man, it would be an honour"
James shortly before blowing the security guard's right ear off:
Although the heat has been killing us, the roads up here are 100 ties better than the south -this is the main road across the north (M62) - 2 lanes and very little traffic!!!!
Thunderstorm in Varanasi - you may notice i (Chris) am slightly wetter than the others - next time I try to dip my hand in the holy Ganges, I will check the grips on my bloody flip flops - I went swimming in the most septic river on the planet - bye bye phone and wallet!!!
More pens please!!!!
Driving down the freeway in the hot hot sun....... a bang so we stop check the engine - oh dear where is the other half - oh yeas its 200 yards back there on the road - Bluey!!!!!!!!
The typical bus journey to work
We stop for refreshments and one waits with Bluey - within about 30 seconds, we usually have a crowd of 10-40 curious locals:
The main intersection in of Calcutta - a city of 13 million people: the equivalent of where the M1 joins the M25. Those with good eyesight may see Bluey in the middle. Those with really good eyesight may notice he is jacked up and missing a wheel - 3rd blow out that day!
View for Mumbai window
Overall we have had a really positive 5 days. We were a full 2 days adrift but are now in Calcutta dead on time. This is down to three things:
Whilst the scenery is less interesting (dessert in the main) the cities have been really interesting. The main problem is the heat - starting at 04:30 has allowed us to make hay while it not scorching but from 1:00 onwards its been so tuogh - Bluey gives you no respite - it feels like someon is blowing incredibly hot, powerful hair dryers in our faces for 8 hours a day. By 13:00 the conversation has dwindled and we are not happy chappies!!!!
Udaipur was beautiful - we all loved it and could have stayed a week. Favourite city in the whole country.
Puskar was very fun: hill station town, very hippyish, relaxed, city centre wildlife included boars fighting dogs, monkeys, 2 bulls locking horns (knocked a few people down), bison, goats. The usual really but a great place to spend time (shame we couldn't!).
Agra had the big temple but other than that not much to report.
Biggest disappointment so far was Varanasi - the holiest city in India lying on the Ganga - home to burning of the Ghats et al. Sorry to the very good guys we have met over here but they seem to have sold out bug time: touts everywhere trying to flog anything, tat for sale, absolutely rammed - more like Blackpool than Mecca - although I must admit I haven't been to either. Falling in the Ganga probably didn't help but getting mugged wasn't fun either. Burning of the bodies in the Ghats was interesting but note to self - don"t take pictures or you end up in a spot of bother!!!
Anyhow, we are now in Calcutta and it has been the best of the big 4 - typically Indian, so busy and bustling but friendly and fun.
We enter the final stretch now - just the east coast to go and as long as Bluey doesn't break and we can keep ourselves together for another 7 days we are in with a shout of reaching the chequered flag.
In other ways it is very similar: the men spit a lot, goats, camels, dogs and bison roam the streets freely and we got mugged!!!!
As I am hot and bothered I will tell our latest story in pictures.......
We have now given away over 300 pens so are running out quickly!
They like to fill the load on the trailers:
James has gone for the local lungi or "manskirt"
Some temple or other:
"Excuse me security guard, please may I have your big scary gun?" "Of course you can white man, it would be an honour"
James shortly before blowing the security guard's right ear off:
Although the heat has been killing us, the roads up here are 100 ties better than the south -this is the main road across the north (M62) - 2 lanes and very little traffic!!!!
Thunderstorm in Varanasi - you may notice i (Chris) am slightly wetter than the others - next time I try to dip my hand in the holy Ganges, I will check the grips on my bloody flip flops - I went swimming in the most septic river on the planet - bye bye phone and wallet!!!
More pens please!!!!
Driving down the freeway in the hot hot sun....... a bang so we stop check the engine - oh dear where is the other half - oh yeas its 200 yards back there on the road - Bluey!!!!!!!!
The typical bus journey to work
We stop for refreshments and one waits with Bluey - within about 30 seconds, we usually have a crowd of 10-40 curious locals:
The main intersection in of Calcutta - a city of 13 million people: the equivalent of where the M1 joins the M25. Those with good eyesight may see Bluey in the middle. Those with really good eyesight may notice he is jacked up and missing a wheel - 3rd blow out that day!
View for Mumbai window
Overall we have had a really positive 5 days. We were a full 2 days adrift but are now in Calcutta dead on time. This is down to three things:
- Good roads
- Bluey still breaking down but us getting results quicker!
- 3 bloodyminded idiots driving from 04:30 - 19:00 most days
Whilst the scenery is less interesting (dessert in the main) the cities have been really interesting. The main problem is the heat - starting at 04:30 has allowed us to make hay while it not scorching but from 1:00 onwards its been so tuogh - Bluey gives you no respite - it feels like someon is blowing incredibly hot, powerful hair dryers in our faces for 8 hours a day. By 13:00 the conversation has dwindled and we are not happy chappies!!!!
Udaipur was beautiful - we all loved it and could have stayed a week. Favourite city in the whole country.
Puskar was very fun: hill station town, very hippyish, relaxed, city centre wildlife included boars fighting dogs, monkeys, 2 bulls locking horns (knocked a few people down), bison, goats. The usual really but a great place to spend time (shame we couldn't!).
Agra had the big temple but other than that not much to report.
Biggest disappointment so far was Varanasi - the holiest city in India lying on the Ganga - home to burning of the Ghats et al. Sorry to the very good guys we have met over here but they seem to have sold out bug time: touts everywhere trying to flog anything, tat for sale, absolutely rammed - more like Blackpool than Mecca - although I must admit I haven't been to either. Falling in the Ganga probably didn't help but getting mugged wasn't fun either. Burning of the bodies in the Ghats was interesting but note to self - don"t take pictures or you end up in a spot of bother!!!
Anyhow, we are now in Calcutta and it has been the best of the big 4 - typically Indian, so busy and bustling but friendly and fun.
We enter the final stretch now - just the east coast to go and as long as Bluey doesn't break and we can keep ourselves together for another 7 days we are in with a shout of reaching the chequered flag.
What an adventure you guys are having!! Brilliant updates as ever Chris love the blog and photos are fab. You're all doing so incredibly well (not that we ever doubted you I promise!) Very brave and very good spirits it seems so well done!! I'll send you an email soon to update you on the goss from the pub/business as Charl tells me you could do with a good read!! I'll be in touch and well done again, keep it up not long to go now!! (I do realise it's a lot easier to say these things sat comfortably at home not melting and not exhausted!!) Love Liz and Rich xx
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