Friday, February 18
Saputata to Nashik – 90 K
The weather here has been great for bike riding - cool mornings and warm days. If one were to complain about anything (which I’m not), it is that the afternoons tend to heat up quite a bit - like today it was 92 degrees as we were riding through Nashik. But honestly I could feel a cool breeze and it felt more like it was in the 80s.
I don’t have many pictures yet today but I did stop a few times to get photos of the overall scenery. When we left the hotel this morning there was more climbing to be done but once we crested the top, it seemed like we were entering a new and different place. . Looking back, we said goodbye to the wooded mountains and the hills and valleys ( and hills and valleys… and hills and valleys… and hills… and hills… and hills and valleys and HILLS) of yesterday. Looking back:
The treed hillsides are gone and the mountains ahead in the distance are scattered and barren – like something that I would picture seeing in Arizona. It seems appropriate that we have just entered a new state – we are now traveling in the state of Maharashtra. Lining both sides of the road, we passed fields of blooming sunflowers, tomatos & vegetables, and many grape vineyards. Here’s a picture of a vineyard with the hillside in the background. It almost feels like we are back in the desert again. The irrigated farmland is green but the uncultivated land is barren and parched – very desert like.
On the outskirts of Nashik, we were greeted by Ashuk (one of the drivers) and Senjeev (our local Indian tour guide). They had new instructions for navigating thru town to get to our hotel. We took the directions and rode slowly into town. The traffic was very heavy and being on full alert at all times is a must! We arrived at a busy intersection where our directions warned us to walk our bikes across – I missed that part and so did Candie – but Jan dismounted her bike to walk across. Candie was in front and traffic to our right was yieliding to us – a small car had stopped and as she moved forward, a motorcycle sped past the car on the opposite side. He saw Candie in time to brake but not in time to avoid hitting her front wheel. Candie wasn’t hurt at all and she didn’t go down either, but several of her front spokes were broken (and possibly other damage too). Anyway, we finished walking our bikes across the road to assess the damages. In the meantime, the tour sag van was just entering the same intersection - when I saw them I gave them the “thumbs down” sign so they stopped just ahead and loaded Candie and her bike onboard. Jan and I continued slowly thru town and arrived at the hotel without further incident.
Today was Candie’s last day of riding – even if her bike hadn’t been hit. Tomorrow she and Jan are taking a taxi into Mumbai, then Candie will pack up her bike in her box and return home early on Monday morning. I’ve opted to ride with the group in the morning – we will all ride to a designated spot where we will load into a bus after putting our bikes on a trailer. They will bus us into Mumbai because it is impossible to navigate the group through such a large and busy city.
But tonight we are in the town of Nashik – one of India’s most holy sites. Hindu legend has it that an immortal nectar, fought over by the gods and demons spilled out four drops in India. The four places where these drops landed are now four cities – one of which is Nashik. Every three years a massive pilgrimage descends on one of these four places - alternating cities every 3 hears. This pilgrimage is called Kumbh Mela – based on the stars and planetary configurations they believe that waters of the Ganges river are transformed into nectar and they can wash away their sins at this time. It is the world’s largest religious gathering. In 2001, almost 30 million devotees took a bath at the site on Jan 24th – the most sacred of the 6 main bathing days.
I do not have time to visit the town to show you pictures – sorry. Tonight we are having a farewell party for those leaving the tour in Mumbai AFTER a group photo ON TOP of the tour bus! We decided that cramming everyone ON and IN the van was in keeping with true Indian style. I hope to get a photo of it so I can send it out to you.
It’s later and I didn’t get the group picture I wanted but I did get a picture of Candie and Jan (and Kevin) on the top of the van AFTER the group photo session. There were several of us on the roof of the van for the group picture – I will have to look for it on the Tour d’Afrique website. Notice the HUGE hole at the bottom of the ladder in the back… no matter where we go here we have to really watch out for these kinds of dangers. J
