Feb. 3 - Khatima, India
Friday, February 3 :: Khatima, India :: 31km today / 3357km total
The morning bus ride to the border town of Mahendranagar was uneventful. THANK GOD. I don't want any kind of excitement today. I slipped into my riding gear and slowly made my way to the immigration posts. The Nepali Immigration Officer told me that I was the first foreigner he'd seen in a week. No doubt. They're all smart enough not to come to rural Western Nepal when there's a civil war going on. The border was even more chaotic than the Eastern border, with no sense of continuity at all - the road on the Nepali side abruptly ended, and I had to make my way down a gravelly, stony path for about a kilometre to hook up with the Indian road.
Ahhhh, India. Perhaps I had been too harsh on it with some of my earlier comments. It was such a relief to cross the border, I could literally feel the tension melt away, not only from me but from everyone else around me. It really is amazing that this incredibly diverse country of 1 billion is able to maintain relative internal peace and a democracy that functions, even to the point of electing both minorities and women to the highest offices in the land. You have to tip your hat to that, there are few (if any?) countries in the world that can claim that. And I was surprised, as I rolled along the roads... a beautiful landscape, no garbage, and the people were certainly better off than on the Nepali side of the border. Uttar Pradesh state, so far, is one of my favourites in India. Also, the people were smiling, laughing, cavorting around... something I realized that the Nepalis weren't. Well, if my country were at war with itself, I probably wouldn't be very chipper, either.
The Indian joie-de-vive was intoxicating, and I was quite happy as I spun down the road, chain slipping every now and then, as it will until I get a decent derailleur on my bike (not likely this trip). There are about 5 things wrong with my bike, but I take nothing for granted now, and every kilometre I'm able to ride is a thankful one, as I loathe the thought of taking the bus or train. Its not that I hate backpacking, there's nothing wrong with it... but cycling is such an intimate way to see a country and people... if I can't cycle Pakistan, I won't feel like I really "saw" it, certainly compared to the way I saw much of India or Nepal. And it does help to connect you to the people, moving along at their speed, eating roadside food, facing their weather, their traffic, their hills, their dust, a taste of their hardships. And, simply, cycling ROCKS!
Into Khatima, not in any mood for a big day, quite exhausted from all I've dealt with since leaving Kathmandu. More mentally exhausted than anything else. Khatima is quite filled with travellers (all Indian), there's a wedding tonight, and it's at my hotel, the only one with a spare room. Damn those Indians, they're smart. While the party's going on, they can slip off to other hotels and get some sleep... but not me, on the ground floor, window to the wedding tent. Well, should be an interesting night!
The morning bus ride to the border town of Mahendranagar was uneventful. THANK GOD. I don't want any kind of excitement today. I slipped into my riding gear and slowly made my way to the immigration posts. The Nepali Immigration Officer told me that I was the first foreigner he'd seen in a week. No doubt. They're all smart enough not to come to rural Western Nepal when there's a civil war going on. The border was even more chaotic than the Eastern border, with no sense of continuity at all - the road on the Nepali side abruptly ended, and I had to make my way down a gravelly, stony path for about a kilometre to hook up with the Indian road.
Ahhhh, India. Perhaps I had been too harsh on it with some of my earlier comments. It was such a relief to cross the border, I could literally feel the tension melt away, not only from me but from everyone else around me. It really is amazing that this incredibly diverse country of 1 billion is able to maintain relative internal peace and a democracy that functions, even to the point of electing both minorities and women to the highest offices in the land. You have to tip your hat to that, there are few (if any?) countries in the world that can claim that. And I was surprised, as I rolled along the roads... a beautiful landscape, no garbage, and the people were certainly better off than on the Nepali side of the border. Uttar Pradesh state, so far, is one of my favourites in India. Also, the people were smiling, laughing, cavorting around... something I realized that the Nepalis weren't. Well, if my country were at war with itself, I probably wouldn't be very chipper, either.
The Indian joie-de-vive was intoxicating, and I was quite happy as I spun down the road, chain slipping every now and then, as it will until I get a decent derailleur on my bike (not likely this trip). There are about 5 things wrong with my bike, but I take nothing for granted now, and every kilometre I'm able to ride is a thankful one, as I loathe the thought of taking the bus or train. Its not that I hate backpacking, there's nothing wrong with it... but cycling is such an intimate way to see a country and people... if I can't cycle Pakistan, I won't feel like I really "saw" it, certainly compared to the way I saw much of India or Nepal. And it does help to connect you to the people, moving along at their speed, eating roadside food, facing their weather, their traffic, their hills, their dust, a taste of their hardships. And, simply, cycling ROCKS!
Into Khatima, not in any mood for a big day, quite exhausted from all I've dealt with since leaving Kathmandu. More mentally exhausted than anything else. Khatima is quite filled with travellers (all Indian), there's a wedding tonight, and it's at my hotel, the only one with a spare room. Damn those Indians, they're smart. While the party's going on, they can slip off to other hotels and get some sleep... but not me, on the ground floor, window to the wedding tent. Well, should be an interesting night!
posted by Graham Durrant at 4:43 AM
1 Comments:
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