My bags are packed and I am leaving on a jet plane, but this time on an internal flight Cochin to New Delhi, a short hop by Indian standards but still a four-hour flight, equivalent to flying from Heathrow to Morocco.
When the group left ,which as I write this seems to be weeks ago but was in fact, only four sleeps ago. I am not sure who introduced this method of timing days, but I like it, it’s pink and fluffy not like the harness of days or nights, sleeps is nice. I digress , when the group, left I had a wager with John K as to the number of times he would have to produce his passport before boarding the plane, I went for fifteen, and I aimed to count the number for this internal flight.
India is fascinating once you can get past the stereotypical, it’s dirty! Yes it is but not as dirty as the mess left behind after a pop festival or football match in the UK, plastic is the biggest culprit and we really must start doing something about this, In England we bury our waste and leave the problem for future generations in India its visible but they are doing something about it.
They only eat curry, yes curry is a staple dish but I can assure you-you will have your taste buds titillated much more in India than elsewhere, people who have visited India suddenly realise that what they are eating is nothing like you will find in UK “Indian” restaurants even a simple omelette is a new experience
overall the Indian diet is much more varied than we are used to here.
It’s hot yes its is Bloody hot at times but blame that on the location not India, there are places that are cool or even cold, the higher you travel up the mountains the cooler it is down to what is a really comfortable climate.
The driving its madness
This year just after we had returned two people were killed when a car went down a main road the wrong way and on a previous year, we arrived just after a runaway lorry killed 6 pedestrians.
surprisingly this was not India its not to say that things do not happen but ironically The first happened in Yorkshire and the other Glasgow
Yes I have seen more people driving down the wrong side of a carriageway in India than ever in England, but they don’t result in carnage. it’s almost an everyday occurrence.
In my opinion, the roads in India are often 100% better than here in the Uk yes the surfaces are either great or extremely poor but you don’t get the masses of potholes and traffic scars as you do here. With a population ever more increasing and with the living standard for many in India rising it is getting more congested.
John Kelly summarised it for me perfectly when he said driving here is like being in a video game and yes it’s like a real game of Tetris constantly having to move to get into a position able to move forward.
I have ridden further and longer than most riders, it was my profession for many years and I don’t think there have been many periods when there was not at least one form of two-wheeled transport in the garage.
But yesterday was I think the first time ever that I’ve had to stop the “game” just to let my head catch up.