The last 7 days.... EPIC!

It's been a week since our last blog, the Internet and mobile connections are few and far between, especially when your pounding the road less travelled. Mileage breakdown Start - Cochin, Kerala - 10220 End of day 1, Kumily - 10449 Day 2, Pondacherry - 10950 Day 3, Ongole - 11458 Day 4, Hydrabad - 11834 Day 5, Bhimavaram - 12269 Day 6, Srikakulam - 12687 Day 7, Lake Chilika - 12945 Day 8, Chandipur(on-sea) - 13291 Day 9, Siuri - 13682 Day 10, Raiganj - 13940 Day 11, Darjeeling - 14190 Event Log Day 4, Ongole to Hydrabad We had a great start, a good breakfast and a easy exit on to the highway to head north, we thought. Till we found we had passed the turning and were now on route for Hydrabad, some 280+km all on white roads, which on our map means dirt tracks. It was a slow arduous task, the route littered with potholes and broken Tarmac which made progress extremely slow. The upside was this route was real back country india, just like many areas we passed I doubt they had seen tourists let alone 2 English boys driving a white rickshaw with 2 Marlin painted on the front and james 2 step dance noise blasting from the back. It must have been a site to behold because everyone and thier dog came out to see us pass. Conversing was another story, the literacy rate was noticeably lower and the general health also seemed lower than the towns we had previously stayed. As we drew closer to the Dam at Nagarjunakonda

we rose through the hills and suddenly dropped down to the bridge on the dammed side of the water, vendors of fresh green orange juice and nuts of every variety stood like trolls at each end of the bridge. It was welcome refreshment after the last 5 hours. It's always a sorry sight to see water stopped from making its natural journey And none more than on this occasion. The valleys that should be lubricated and lush were mearly stone fringed deserts, the knock on effect of damming water here literally changes where and how people live their lives. It really makes you appreciate the abundance of rain we have in the UK. The roads slowly got better as we headed closer and closer to Hydrabad, a lorry over took us at great speed and I noticed rubber start to fly back at us, or rather I felt it. My nice white tee was now blackned with rubber, suddenly the tyre gave way, unleashing meters of rubber in the air, sparks flying everywhere and a bus driver fighting to remain in control, given how bad they drive, we laughed as the passengers removed themselves from the bus to find anyone to help them continue their journey onwards. It was falling dark when we finally entered the city limits, Ezmarelda was feeling unloved and decided to mess us about by developing clutch and gearing issues. We weren't far from the centre when it said the road ahead was blocked and impassable. This was not news we wished to hear, we about turned and followed the directions clearly given in Hindu and not at all received in anything vaguely resembling English, it led us to the biggest traffic jam in town, 4 lanes of traffic filtering through 1 via the worst back street imaginable, this is when Ezme' really started to play up, The clutch was not only slipping but now not engaging, we made a bad situation much much worse by stopping to add oil and fiddle mid corridor much to the dismay of everyone. Following this the engine decided to chain smoke an entire Indian tobacco factory, the plumes following us miles through the city. We thought this would be normal for india but everyone commented on it, as long as she runs we smile and nod enthusiastically as if it may smooth things over. Do you know what? It worked, be it Devine intervention or shear bloody mindedness, she soon corrected herself and started behaving as a young lady should. The Hotel, we had a choice of two, Lloyd organising and James fending off poor Ezmarelda from the busy hands of the locals, it turned out that the first hotels out door car park was opposite a much better small lodge with a secure underground car park. Cheap and cheerful room with pretty good door in the room, the usual paneer and veg with Roti. The plan for the evening was to wash, eat and crash all in quite quick succession, the usual map reorganise and vague route plan had been achieved and off to bed. Mosquito bites - 3 Cockroachs - 4