Mar. 2 - night train to Bereilly, India

Thursday, March 2 :: night train to Bereilly, India :: 9km today / 5475km total

After yesterday's money fiasco I was left with very few Indian Rupees, and lots of American dollars and British Pounds... and had to wait until 10 a.m. for the moneychangers to open, to get back rupees, to get a train ticket! How silly the whole mess was. Easily enough done though, and quickly over to the train station. There was a 6:20p.m. train going where I wanted to, but the Sikh ticket agent told me I would be wait listed...

"ah, yes I'm from Canada... your brother is in Brampton? I'm from Toronto. There are many Sikhs in Toronto and area, in fact, I have a very good Sikh friend, Chandeep Singh..."

With that I was off the waiting list and guaranteed a seat. I've had many conversations along those lines in the past 3 months... substituting "Sikh" and "Chandeep Singh" for "Hindu" and "Puneet Singh", or "Muslim" and "Ashfa Qureshi" where appropriate, depending on whom I'm talking to, of course. I hope you three don't mind being "used" like this, as you know it makes my travels much smoother in the Subcontinent!

I was very happy, I would get into Bereilly at 7 a.m., perfect. Anyone who has been following my route will see why I picked Bereilly to start my ride to Varanasi... Bereilly to Varanasi is roughly equivalent to the ride I was SUPPOSED to do in Nepal from Bharatpur to Mahendranagar (but I took a bus instead to avoid the Maoist election troubles). Plus I would get to ride through Lucknow, supposedly an interesting city with a tomb that has some sort of labyrinth constructed? The thought makes me ancy with anticipation!

I said goodbye to the 5 British cyclists, they're taking a rest day today, then cycling towards Delhi... their first 300km or so will be on the same route I rode (in reverse direction) through the Punjab. Their ride ends at Everest, which they will attempt to climb, and I wished them many blue sky days on the mountain. If you're interested, www.everestmax.com.

Errands time, lots of little things to get done, including welding. The welding shop was next to a temple that was handing out naan/chapati to the poor, and it was absolutely heartbreaking. One of the hardest things for me during this trip has been witnessing the poverty, including the infants, 1-3 years old, particularly the little girls (the little boys at least have a massive cultural gender bias to help them through). So I stood there, holding my bike frame up for the welder to do his thing, watching a scene that would break down the coldest of hearts. I couldn't take it, and walked into the temple to donate a few hundred rupees for food for the poor. Its better than giving money directly to the poor, but still not a real solution, which in my mind is more along the lines of contraception and anti-corruption measures - neither of which I can influence. Its hopeless, really, and thats the worst part of it all.