Notes from the Road

Friday, February 22, 2019
Ellora, Maharashtra, India
This is just a short blog about some of the adventures we've had on the road over the last 5 or 6 days.  In spite of the difficult riding, there have been some fun times!
Recently there was a day honoring the 40 military men who were killed in a terrorist attack in Kashmir.  Greg and I got roped into getting onto a makeshift shrine and having our pictures taken.  We just hope they don't end up on a political billboard someplace!
A couple of days ago was a state holiday honoring a 16th century king who was very beloved.  All the kids were off school and were totally hyped up, and there was orange everywhere in all the villages we passed through:  flags, banners, clothing, headdresses.  Made it a little more challenging to find the orange flagging tape that marks our turns!  One town we went through was just gearing up for the big parade, with some beautiful white horses, hundreds of people, and loud music pumping.  The pictures do not do justice to the total chaos we experienced.  Police were directing through traffic through the hordes, so we were able to walk slowly through and take some pictures.
Another day, we saw quite a few places where people were camping, with camels in an outer ring, and brightly colored fabrics is clusters.  At one point we saw a couple of camels right by the road with the camel tender there, and we were able to have a fractured conversation with him.  We understood that this was his family, and they are itinerant wheat harvesters.  When they are done in one area, they load up the camels and move on.  At night, they make a tent around their beds.  It seems like a hard life, but he was very proud of what they did.
At one of our Coke stops, we turned around, and of course the obligatory crowd had gathered.  There was a large group of school boys, with the littler ones at one end, then the middle aged ones, and the older ones at the other.  We always are the center of attention, and our bikes get quite a bit of scrutiny also.  No bikes here have gears, and disc brakes are quite a novelty.  Greg's and my bikes are silver colored, and that seems to be an attraction also.

Comments

Susan N.
2019-02-22

What a fabulous adventure. I hope the riding is not as rough. Thank you for sharing

Diane
2019-02-22

Thank you for sharing this memorable trip with us.

Kate
2019-02-23

Love the pictures ... so full of color! But the biking sounds awful! Would rather skip that part and just tour

Kate again
2019-02-23

You really are an amazing writer! Publish these writings!

Cat
2019-02-24

That horse looks so malnourished:(! Glad you are surviving the monkeys and the chaos. Stay safe;).

2025-02-12

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