The next week and a half went by quickly, spending one or two days in a place before getting back on the bikes/bus and moving on. I guess I should rewind and explain the set-up. As I mentioned there are 6 people in my group which was perfect! We were a small enough group that we could go into a place, walk around and not feel like a swarm of tourists attacking. Cycling we could stay together relatively easily when we needed to, and when we had the space we could go at our own pace, but not be spread apart for miles on the roads. Our bus (later to be dubbed the disco bus) had 6 rows of seats, with the seats removed from one side to stow our bikes. The support team consisted of our group leader Pramod, a bus driver (who’s name I can’t remember, but was an excellent dancer), a bike mechanic Kishor, and another guy Rahul who helped with just about everything. They were all really friendly, patient, and jokesters in their own way.

Our group was Graham (with the Jodphur haircut), Sian (super athlete), Lucy (super hysterical), Tony (super easy going), and Ian (super chocoholic going through withdrawals). We were all pretty different (careers, lifestyles, interests etc), but everyone was out to have a good time so it worked out great. With something like this the dynamics of the group could either make or break the experience – and we definitely lucked out!

I left off in my last post the night we arrived in Udaipur. The next morning we woke up and got on our bikes for some sight seeing around the city. Udaipur is supposed to be the most romantic city in India. At the risk of sounding unromantic – I’m not entirely sure why it has that reputation. To me it was a busy smaller city with some man made lakes. What was particularly unromantic was the sense of pure fear I experienced at a couple points while cycling through traffic. I nudged a few cars with my bike in the chaos, got caught up in a game of chicken with a motorcycle, got cut off by a car…. I could go on. By the end of that ride I was wide eyed, every muscle was tensed, and every nerve ending was on high alert. If I hadn’t been so absorbed in avoiding the next vehicular onslaught I would have ditched my bike, and gotten in the damn bus. When we got back to the hotel everyone was laughing, and charged up on adrenaline. I was quiet. Thankfully that was to be the last of our riding in city traffic!

We visited the City Palace, and also the Jagdish Temple. I am always curious about different religions, so I loved hearing more about the Hindu religion at the temple. I knew there were several deities, but had no idea just how many there were! I’m still not really sure how many – I think our city guide said over 6,000, but I think there’s more than that even! While we were at the temple some people were decorating a statue, and our city guide explained that statues are cared for as if they were people. I don’t want to butcher the practice with an inaccurate explanation since I don’t fully understand – but basically they do everything for the statue that you would do for a person. Offer food, dress, put on make-up, etc at the appropriate time during the day, and then undo it all for night time. There was also a basil plant there, and the guide explained that basil is a holy plant in the Hindu religion. (Throughout our trip a lot of the palaces had built up pedestal planters for a basil plant.)

The next day we left Udaipur and headed towards Kumbhalgarh with 75 kilometers of cycling “undulating hills” in between. My understanding of undulating hills has been completely redefined. I now understand it to mean “a lot of big hills”. For the record – I cycled the whole thing. I finished way behind everyone else, but at least I finished. After being on a bike for hours on end I felt many new sensations. The one that has stayed with me for the last week and a half is a permanently numb left pinky finger.

We checked into our hotel, ate lunch and then got back onto our bikes for a short ride to Kumbhalgarh Fort. I loved visiting this fort because unlike a lot of the other sites we visited it was in a comparatively remote area so there were almost no other tourists to compete with, and the views were incredible. The fort was surrounded by a 36 kilometer wall. The wall is supposed to be the second longest continuous wall in the world (second to the Great Wall of China of course).

The next couple of days we visited Pushkar, and Jaipur but by this point the forts, palaces and temples were all starting to blend together. The best part of our days for me became the cycling. I can’t begin to describe how incredible cycling through the countryside is. It was peaceful watching Rajasthan flying by – no car windows or doors to separate you, sun, breeze. It can be hot and dusty, and the roads can be bumpy, but that goes with the territory. We had the longest ride of the trip (94 kilometers) as we headed towards Jaipur, and I actually enjoyed it. We took our time, stopping along the way for chai and snacks.

A week and a half into the trip we cycled to Sariska National Park/Tiger Reserve. The hotel we were staying at was off a rural road, right on the edge of the forest, with nothing other than a few local houses nearby. It was well appointed given the surroundings – a pool, outdoor seating areas, and open air restaurant. Both nights we were there they served us dinner around a bonfire. We were the only people staying at the hotel, so we pretty much had the full attention of the staff. It was great! Along with all of those wonderful things came a few perks of being in the country like: intermittent power, bugs and periodic cold showers.

Our original itinerary included a game drive, but the park had been closed temporarily by the government due to court proceedings. With tigers being so endangered the government was trying to put regulations in place to protect them, and had closed all parks with tigers to tourism in the meantime. Never one to waste a day, Pramod kept us busy with an early morning bike ride, set up a game of cricket with the staff, took us on a nature walk, and arranged for us to make dinner with the chef. Cricket may be the most popular sport in India, but it was my first time playing – and I was out at my first bat. I need a little practice….

News came that day that the park would reopen in the morning – just when we were scheduled to leave! Pramod made a few calls and was able to arrange an early morning game drive before we left. We were the first visitors since the park reopened so we were greeted by the park officials when we got there at the crack of dawn. Sadly no tiger spottings, just deer and antelope.

That day we cycled/bused to Bharatpur and visited the bird sanctuary. We were getting closer to the tourist track again, and you could see it at the rest stops. Giant tourist buses and big groups of 20-30+ people. We all cringed at the sight, which is kind of ironic since we are a tourist group as well – no matter how cool we may consider ourselves to be.

The following day was the final cycle of our trip, and also my birthday. I walked out to my bike which Lucy and Sian had decorated with marigold garland and little elephants with bells, making for a festive and noisy ride! I really liked riding my birthday bike. I felt as though I could fit in with the goods carrier trucks. I even got a raucous cheer while riding through a big group of school kids.

The afternoon we visited Fatehpur Sikri, and then the best Indian tourist destination of all – the Taj Mahal. Everything they say about how beautiful the Taj is is true. I was so in awe that the swarms of people didn’t bother me. It’s a good thing it was at the end of the trip. If we had seen it at the beginning the bar would have been set too high, and everything else would have been a let down.

That evening we went for dinner in Agra, and Pramod and the bus crew fully decked the inside of the bus out for my birthday. We had some Indian rum and coke on the way, they arranged for a birthday cake after dinner, and by the time we headed home the bus had officially turned into the disco bus with music and dancing! Here I am traveling alone on the other side of the world from home, and yet I lucked out spending my birthday with a fun group of people who went out of their way to help me celebrate my day. This birthday was definitely a memorable one!!

The last couple of days of our trip we visited the Agra Fort, then back to Delhi for our final evening. We said our goodbyes to the bus crew, and then goodbye to each other in the morning. I will be flying on to Goa alone. After two weeks with the group, it feels strange to be staying on in India without them. Strange and a little lonely. I only have my first two nights accommodations in Goa booked, and a flight out of Kerala scheduled for two weeks down the road. The next two weeks will be decidedly lower budget than the previous two. I plan to make my way down the coast, hopefully meet people along the way, and figure it all out as I go!

PS I just got the final stats from Ian on our cycling. Total distance: 332 miles. Total time: 27 hours. Total calories burned: 16,500 (that’s “about 50 odd beers” by his count)