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Cam's report - Day 90

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:01:37 +0100

There was only 98km to do today before striking the lovely Goa coast line. I left early and managed to cross the border in a couple of hours and from there another couple of hours before i'd met up with rebecca and lauren, at their guest house on the beach, and was floating in the warm, blue indian ocean and drinking cocktails with little straw hats.

i knew from the first minute it was going to be hard leaving the place. that night we feasted on prawns and grilled fish while watching a pink sun set over the arabian sea.

Cam's report - Day 89

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:57:32 +0100

I had been making good time over the past 4 days averaging about 120km a day. The main reason for this was that i'd been dreaming about Goa for the past 2 months, especially while struggling through the hot, dry Chinese desert. Today was no different. I had become accustomed to the surrounding vegetation and terrain and as such didn't stop too much for taking photo's and other time consuming activities.

I ended up stopping at a guest house, only to be scared away by the not so hospitable host, whom threw venom at me and was about to pounce before i jumped on my bike and raced away. it was a bad experience and my first, and only so far, meeting with an unfriendly Indian woman.

The next place was awesome. I sat down to a big, spicy meal while watching the 5th Aussie/India cricket ODI with the locals.

Cam's report - Day 88

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:56:37 +0100

Today was another up and down day. if i wasn't sweating on a steep incline, i was racing down a steep decline. Scenery on the hilltops was fantastic, however. the early morning mist had swamped the valleys and the hill tops stoop above the see of clouds creating a picturesque view.

I've noticed along the way that the further south i go the spicier the food gets. lunch today was especially troublesome. gagging and spluttering my way through it. took me back to days of university and an especially spicy Alastair Glover prepared plate of 'African' curry.

Tonight's sleeping abode couldn't have been further from civilization, but it was 'cheap as chips'

Cam's report - Day 87

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:56:12 +0100

Feeling a new lease of life I arose and early and was on the road by sunrise. A quick burst of speed was, however, short lived as my bike started making some funny noises and was forced to stop for some running repairs.

About 10 km later I found out what the terrain was going to be like for the rest of journey to Goa: Hills, hills and more hills. The worst of these came just before lunch as the temperature started reaching the mid 30's, 300 percent humidity. The hill started easy enough and it looked to be a short one. However it kept going and going until i'd finished my water supply and started to panic. the hill had being going for 8km so far and it wouldn't be too long until it would be too hot to ride anymore. at last i reached the top about 2km later and surprisingly enough there lay a tiny village at the top of the ridge. i ventured into a tiny primitive 'restaurant' built into the rock and was treated to a nice meal of dal and bread cooked at my feet by 2 lovely ladies. The rest of the day continued in the same up and down motion until i eventually came to stop, as the sun vanished over the horizon, at a place just outside a small village called Khed..

Cam's report - Day 86

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:53:40 +0100

Not accustomed to early morning wake ups any more i'd set my cell phone alarm to wake me at 6am. Grogginess and the want for more sleep time held me in bed for a bit eventually i arose and surrendered to the open road once more, this time, however, the sunrise in clear view to my east (not behind me as had been in China). the weather was cool and the traffic not as bad as expected. gradually travelling further and further from mumbai the jungle vegetation grew around me until no light penetrated the thick branches above me.

Monkeys played menacingly in the trees wherever i stopped. at one time, just after lunch while lying against a tree, i peered up to see a monkey two metres away peering down at me curiously. I packed up pretty swiftly and was on my way again.

So far on the route there had been a guest house almost every 20minutes along the side of the road. as soon as the sun sunk to almost touch the horizon i pulled into the closest one and on bargaining the price down 100 rupees crashed for the night after setting down for a meal.

Cam's Report - Day 85

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:52:53 +0100

Still needed to complete some packing duties before heading off and was ready to leave before getting a knock at the door. it was the owner of the hotel whom sat me down and gave me detailed written instructions to get me out of Mumbai and all the way to Goa. At last he said "stuff this, i'll drive you to Goa".

After stating my case that i did in fact WANT to ride to Goa, we came to a compromise that he would drive me a few kilometers to a safe place to drop me off which would avoid me falling prey to getting lost and abused in a slum somewhere. And so we did this.

Getting out of Mumbai, especially in that heat, was a messy affair. It was a Sunday but still the traffic was intense to say the least. I fought my way for 50 km before residing in new, well endowed, yet expensive, hotel for the night.

Cam's report - Day 81 - 84

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:51:21 +0100

Coincidentally so, and my suspicions tend to some foul play being involved, number one suspect being Matty, my girlfriend Rebecca, who has been travelling India for 3 weeks with her friend Lauren, flew into Mumbai only 7 hours before me. So I had a welcoming party of Rebecca to greet me walking out of the airport. Laurens parents were in Mubai at this time and so Rebecca and Lauren were able to stay with them at the Grand Hyatt a short distance from the airport. As jealous as I was of this, Laurens parents treated me as one of their own and while I stayed at sweet, cheap little backpacker's 20 min away I joined them frequently for lavish meals and tourist trips around Mumbai.

Mumbai is far and above the craziest place I've ever been. Huge immaculate skyscrapers mix with messy slums only a handful of meters away. The suitably dressed businessmen stroll past amputees, beggars and the homeless on the streets and traffic is at all times, except from 12am - 7am, at a standstill. Not to mention it is very, very expensive

Cam's report - Day 72 - 80

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:47:29 +0100

Matty's departure left a gaping hole in my life. Well not really, but i did miss the kid. Our Irish friend and roommate was still around and we kept one another company for a couple of days before 'our man' (Fergal, was his name) continued his worldwide cycle trip. Being alone in the dorm meant paying exorbitant fees in an already expensive town. As such i'd decided to do a couple of days hiking in the mountains surrounding Almaty which are pristinely beautiful gazing from the city. First thing to do was rent a backpack and find a secure place to stow the bicycle for safe keeping. One place remedied both of these and i was off to the mountains. The hitchhike there proved a little expensive and was ripped off by those damn Russians again... However, on starting, surrounded by hills and autumn coloured trees i felt truly blissful.

The first hiking day saw me end up on an alpine lake at about 2500m (Almaty is at 500m). Probably the most 'lovely' place i'd ever been. the next day, ignoring the warnings from other tourists, i set off for the border of Kyrgystan which was over the peak that i could see in the distance. the mornings hike was hard as i zigzaged my way up through a valley, from there had to make my way around two glaciers, around the peak i referred to above and then over the border. I had lunch on the kyrgystan side, but then returned the way id come in the afternoon as the weather forecast predicted bad weather for the following day. I camped at the lake once again before descending the valleys back to Almaty. And indeed the weather did get foul that afternoon. I managed to get back into town with enough time to pick up my passport from the Indian embassy.

There were still 4 more days to be spent in Almaty, a town that was growing more dangerous by the minute. On one night out, Fergal, walking home alone, witnessed a gang fight and brutal mugging. A few days later i'd been joined in my dorm by another couple of irishmen whom on wandering home at night, moments after me, got mugged at knife point of all their belongings. These, of course, go hand in hand with the bar beating we saw on our second night there. This is not to say that Kazakhstan and Almaty are all bad. Whom am i as i Saffa to judge anyway... We had been treated especially well by next to all the people we'd met, including, and surprisingly so, Botak, Borat's estranged father. The exceptions being the receptionists at our hotel whom i hear are currently training as gate keepers of hell itself, scary.

time came to leave not a moment too soon. Of bit of admin packing my bike into a box and being ridiculously overweight caused a couple of butterflies, but in the end all it took was a smile to young Kazakh vixen at the Etihad check in desk to not pay any fines. i think she was impressed by my 2 months of beard growth.

Cam's report - Day 69 - 71

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:02:32 +0100

Our second night in Almaty saw us checking into the local university campus dormitory accommodation - relatively cheap for Almaty which is a pricey city compared to China and the rest of central asia. Our mate we met at the China/Kazakh border pulled into Almaty today and we managed to confuse him drastically trying to give directions to our accommodation to share the dorm. On meeting up we decided to grab some food and a beer. The night turned pear shaped upon arriving at bar/restaurant. we had had a couple of beers already before the Kazakh's at the next table started getting friendly. Suddenly one of them (evidently the bar owner) started laying into one of the customers at the bar with his walking stick. He wouldn't stop hitting this poor soul until the customer had run bloodied out of the bar and the owner had amazingly broken his walking stick with one last swipe across the guy's back. the response from the other table was that "this is Almaty, and its normal". A while longer the Kazakh's asked us to join them at which point we got stuck into the Vodka with them. Funniest part of the night came when one of the folk, making a speech at the time, described Kazakhstan as "very niiiice" in an almost uncanny Borat accent (i'm sure it wasn't on purpose as any mention of the film Borat will get you a stern look as well as a beating and perhaps even 'death...'). We managed to hide our delight and stifle our laughs. an hour later, they were getting ready to leave for they had work the next day, we departed for our dorm. They surprizingly asked us to go camping with them the next day for the weekend - hunting and fishing. Something we were keen for, as, except for the beating up of one of their patrons, they were a friendly bunch.

The next day, with slight hangovers, was a messy affair. we all departed for our respective embassies, to get visas, as well as to the police station to register. This ended up taking too long and we missed the opportunity to go hunting and fishing. Nevertheless we went out again that night and got properly inebriated. I apparently passed out on the roadside and was rather lucky not to be robbed blind. I arrived back at the dorm at 4am and got 1 hour sleep before Matty woke me up stating his bus was leaving soon and that we needed to head to the bus station. In my drunk state was up in a flash to accompany Matt being more a hindrance than anything else. At least i got to say goodbye to the kid who did exceedingly well to make it on the adventure in the first place. He is missed already.

Matty's report - Day 64 - 68 / 12 - 16

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:59:18 +0100

I'd like to say I coasted into Almaty, head high and legs strong, maybe whistling a tune, but that would be a lie...

The first day from Zharkent was alright; a slight head wind in the afternoon but mostly flat mind-numbingly boring road, the kind where you forget you're even moving at all. The second day was great riding; we started out early while there was still and managed 70km before lunch, including a bit of a canyon, while being helped out by a massive downhill run and tailwinds in the afternoon pushing our days hall to 137km...

The third day was a trial both physically and mentally; we started out a bit late because we camped last night and had to pack it all up, only to discover we had already acquired a stiff head wind at 8am (a foreboding sign). I was shattered as soon as I hopped on the saddle, feeling the effects of the two days previous, and some how managed to have two flat tires within the first hour of riding. We struggled through the morning's ride, making only about 45km, before I was thrown from my 'wheeled demon' by a stray piece of clothes hanger, making a mess of my chain and tire spokes. Towards the end of the ride, as we neared the final 30km to Almaty, I found myself involuntarily writing an open letter to my legs, willing them to keep chasing Cam's backlight with the promise of a hot shower and a soft bed upon arrival... The gods threw in another flatty for me within 2km of Almaty, just to make sure I knew how to replace'em, but we got here. Battle weary... 113km done.

Unfortunately, it looks like my journey ends here; money and time constraints are getting the better of me. But, if there's anything that I take from this trip, it's not that it's the 'Trip of a Life Time'; it's the first trip of many. Now that I know I can do it, my legs can take this kind've beating and still push me through tomorrow, I look forward to the next opportunity I get to have a 'Trip of a Life Time'