Dec. 18 : Ajmer

Sunday, December 18 :: Ajmer, India :: 137km today / 619km total

Out on the road just before sunrise, happy to get out of the 2 million+ city of Jaipur and into the countryside. The road was fantastic... flat, 3 lanes in each direction, and a paved shoulder! What more could I ask for. Happily I spun along, waving and chatting with the Indians. When they're not a) driving or b) hanging around a tourist site, Indians are among the friendliest, most gracious people I have ever met.

The cultivated fields on both sides of the road slowly gave way to near-desert as the day progressed. The Rajasthan Desert is ahead, and I will be crossing it in a few days to or from Jaisalmer (I will ride one way from Jodhpur, and take a bus or train the other way). Already the land is quite arid and there are rocky, barren hills on both sides, similar to some areas of Southern California near the Mohave. The wind remained neutral today, more good fortune, and I made short, easy work of the miles.

The food today was fantastic; I had dal and chapati for breakfast, chicken tikka and naan for lunch, and chana masala and rice for dinner. YUM. I am staying away from roadside vendors simply because their cooking and eating areas are beyond dirty. I can't imagine even the locals eating at these places (but they do). Almost every hotel or guesthouse has a restaurant attached, most are very clean and have open, steaming, busy kitchens, so this is what I look for as I pedal down the road.

Even with a 3 lane divided highway the insanity continued; while I was safely tucked away on one side of the road, truckers still managed to mangle themselves into each other, or flip their vehicles over and/or off the road. It really is quite unbelievable how bad these drivers are. Its not purely the driver's fault, though; there are innumberable breakdowns, many quite catastrophic, and I'm sure mechanical failures play a significant part in the accident rate. In only 5 days and 600km+ of road I've seen impossible-looking accidents, things you'd expect to see only in a Hollywood action movie, but here they are, commonplace in India.

In Ajmer I set out on foot to visit a Muslim pilgrimage site (Dargah). My route took me through twisting labyrinthine warrens, passageways too narrow for cars but with the occasional scooter appearing out of nowhere and passing by within inches (but always within inches, never touching). Hopelessly lost, I had to ask for directions numerous times, and the Indians couldn't have been friendlier, even to the point of being appreciative that I was visiting their city, their shrine. Finally it emerged in front of me, a hubbub of pilgrims entering through a large gate. Shoes off, cap on, fully covered of course, in i went barefoot. It was interesting enough, certainly the pilgrims were taking it extremely seriously, and after ditching my "tour guide" I made my way around the back passageways of the shrine so as not to disturb their prayers and meditation.

Leaving Dargah it felt like all hell broke loose... the only white face in Ajmer, the beggars were all over me, hardcore. I should have returned the way I came, through the narrow passageways but like an idiot I took the main route, right through the wide marketplace which was lined with the crippled, helpless, and destitute. What could I do? While I have tremendous empathy and sadness for these people, I cannot solve India's social problems. I had to quicken my step and move through as fast as I could. There was no other way.

Jodhpur is 205km away, but I'm not planning on making it tomorrow - only with a galeforce tailwind would I attempt it. Saddlesoreness is keeping my mileage sane, for now.