Faster-Than-Walking

I said I would never do it, claimed that in India it wouldn't be necessary, ensured that sufficient research would render it an impossibility. But in the face of these very things we were forced to sit in abject horror and watch it slowly, painfully unfold before our bloodshot eyes...

We left textile rich Surat in high spirits, much the same way the British did in the 17th Century, in an easterly direction and full of bravado. Much like them we naively assumed the going would be easy but unlike the colonists the deadline we had set ourselves was overly optimistic.
To try and get around the Gulf of Khambhat and find a place to sleep before sunset seemed easy on paper and really once we were on the NH8 north, cruising at a smooth 60km/h and seeing the odd guest lodge by the road we started to “fine tune” our plan.
No need to ride all the way to Ahmadabad, we were making good time. The roads are good and empty lets head towards the more interesting back roads. There are plenty of lodges around, come 5pm we will find one for sure...



You make these decisions on the information at hand, the result depends greatly on how you read that information at hand. The signs were all there for us, we just failed to read them the way they were supposed to be read. Gujarat was a lot different to the other Indian states we had ridden in, the driving was calm and the landscape much more developed, we kind of let our guard down a little.
About 10kms from Ankleshwar the smooth NH8 broke up into dirt track diversions every 1km or so, slowing down the nice rhythym we had slipped into and increasing the aggression level from our fellow road users to previously unseen levels.
Just outside Bharuch the traffic came to complete standstill, it took us over an hour to wind our way through the banked up trucks and tuktuks to find not another diversion, as expected, but a single policeman stopping every vehicle and checking their documents right there in the middle of a National Highway.

The clean, empty road into Bharuch was a glaring contrast to the industrial mess and over population of the city at the end of it. I had never seen so many begging children alongside such edifices of wealth and overconsumption. Gujarats Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, would not be pleased.



We decided to stick to our “fine tuned” plan and headed onto the smaller roads in an attempt to stay as close to the water as possible. The next 3hours were spent bouncing from village to village trying to find a road across to the other side of the Gulf.
After an overpriced lunch in Jambusar the road to Kural turned very rough and I noticed a strange sensation round my right ankle. The plastic oil reserve bottle I keep in front of the seat had dislodged and leaned on the exhaust, leaving a trail of oil behind us and one boot full of warm motor honey. It was about this time that I realized we had been on the road for nearly 5hours and had done just 130kms!
On any normal day we would start to look for a place to sleep but it turned out that rural Gujarat is VERY rural and the hamlets were often little more than one street, one Jain Temple and one government building surrounded by makeshift tents and structures. Strict Jain's believe that liberation is achieved by shedding all matter generated by ones actions which actually equates to their towns being some of the simplest we have seen thus far. No guest houses or lodges around so we were forced to push on...



Going on advice from a friendly, bejeweled farmer, we stopped in Tarapur to search for its guest house but had no luck finding it. There were only 3buildings in the village and we tried them all.
The sun was getting low so some quick decisions were made at the turnoff south.
It was 40kms NW to the 4000year old Harappan port of Lothal, maybe there would be some facilities there. Or it was over 200kms SW to Bhavnagar where Gandhi partied it up during his University years, bound to be doss houses there.
We hedged our bets on Lothal but when we rolled through it was too dark to see the ruins but light enough to see there was nothing else around at all so a 20km ride further out to Bagodra had us hoping it was a big enough place to have a lodge... It was but the sole hotel was fully booked!

Unfortunately no one in Bagodra could tell us where the nearest place was so we headed down the dark south road in search of something before I fall over from exhaustion. An abandoned homestead filled with homeless kids was too much, a 24hour service station too noisy. Riding through the darkness racing the clock and chasing native Blackbuck filled the next 4hours and it wasn't until midnight that we found ourselves in Bhavnagar, finally lying down on a hard mattress and drifting off to a well deserved sleep.
Over 400kms done in just under 14hrs was the toughest day for us yet. I said I would never ride at night here, my assumption that lodging is easy to find in India was dashed and its clear that the Rs50 ($1) IMS Road Atlas cannot be trusted...

We spent a few relaxing days in Bhavnagar. I needed time to recover and reflect!!!



Our whole MO of travel has been to take things in slowly, without pushing it, keeping the stress low. The previous days ride was so out of character for us that I wanted to make sure nothing was broken.
After a lengthy walk around the ancient bazaars one afternoon we decided what was needed was a place to chill out for a few weeks and gather our thoughts. The pace and craziness of India was somehow clouding our greater vision.

What better place than the tiny island of Diu. A former Portuguese colony at the very tip of Gujarat, it has beaches, good weather and it's off the tourist trail so we had the water pretty much to ourselves.
The tourists that do come are mainly Gujarati's coming for the cheap booze and crowded Nagoa Beach Resort. It took us a few days to find a secluded beach of our own...



We were going here everyday for about a week when a friend pointed out that its the beach where the locals burn their dead... We noticed the ashes and firewood strewn about but were so happy to find such a quiet beach the thought never crossed our mind. Couldn't really relax there after that... But found a suitable replacement called Sunset Point, unfortunately jellyfish patrol these waters and Aki got stung quite badly on her back. In full recovery and actually enjoying the scars so don't worry.

And if your asking? Yes I did.

We have been in Diu for 3weeks now and are ready to move again. Tomorrow we are on the road north, deep into the remotest parts of Gujarat. Hoping to catch a glimpse of the last pride of Asiatic Lions at Sasan Gir WLS as we ride through. Apparently they are well fed so heres hoping they wont be chasing after us on our little bike. Will be checking out a place where the people have been in a constant communal chant since 1964, not sure how they get any sleep!!! Will head out into the desert to witness the great Rann of Kutch, ride around a bit and throw stones over the Pakistani border. If lucky enough we may swap the bike (for a day or two) for a camel and sleep out under the stars in the desert dunes.

Things are better now, we are back to full strength and have returned to our initial plan of having no plan. We have torn up our maps and are excited about the uncertainty of it all.
Its good to be back...



Would you buy a camel from this man?