The start of the least enjoyable part of the trip thus far... Leaving Udaipur in high spirits after a great nights sleep (interrupted only when Shad started screaming and shot out of bed claiming there was a bird flying around 'inside' his matress at around 3am), hot shower (first one to date), a chance meeting with a family from Cape Town over dinner last night, and the most aesthetically pleasant surrounds since the Old Fort, we had reason to think someone was looking out for the Zebra clan..
Gettin out of Udaipur was interesting in itself, with a maze of tiny little alleyways we almost came unstuck (both physically - to our bumper and rear right wheel on separate occasions - and mentally as our compass wasn't picking up a good read due to lack of daylight!)
Once out of the maze we had a decision to make - a literal fork in the road - the road advised, or the road less/never heard of.. Having assembled from/via far and wide for this race, the Real Republican thrill seekers that we are decided on the latter...
Seeing that we covered 380km one might think we achieved all our goals for the day, but alas, we didn't come close.. A couple stops for some DIY patchwork to our deafening exhuast had us feeling we were handier than originally claimed, but losing the clutch brought us right back down to earth.. 200km worth of gear changes sans clutch had us limping into Vadodara through some of the most chaotic traffic and mayhem we've seen, desperately searching the LP for sleeping/eating/DRINKING suggestions.. Evidently Gujarat (the state we're in) is a dry state, so that saw to our last desire. The second hotel we got to would have us, and they had a mechanic who may be able to come before the close of play, and we found some dinner. Negativity aside the dinner was great - as has been the case throughout - we had a 'Thali' which is basically a big metal dish with a whole lot of little dishes around it full of all manner of amazing sweets, savouries, curries, and sambols. All was mixed with rice in the middle of the big dish and eaten by our threesome with the enthusiasm of a pack of wild dogs tucking into a straggler.. Washed down with a lassi we can highly recommend this experience!
Bad news when we got to the hotel is that the mechanic could only come in the morning, but ensured us he'll be there at 7am (lie no. 1). Off to bed and watched some cricket highlights, Jaques doing well, Clarke doing better. Come on South Africa! Come on India!
No comments:
Post a Comment