Mt Abu to Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Photo,
Pictures of, Images, Picture
(February 2012) |
A hazy view from Honeymoon Point.
We found a straw storage and milking area to camp for the
night. For once, no one found us. We woke up to a multitude of noisy birds, curious chipmunks and field mice, and some strange little ferret-like animals.
I am crashed out after a busy day bicycle touring on
some crazy Indian roads. Sometimes I think I am getting too old to live
like this and all the years on the road are not making the ground any softer or
warmer - but the road goes on forever. Just 4 more days and we can get a
room in Pushkar, Rajastan, India.
This local Rajasthan, India farmer wanted to put his turban on
my head just right so we could have a picture together. These desert hats
seem to be made from several cotton scarves intertwined together to form a
light, airy shade from the Indian sun.
I put my helmet on him with the same care but I have a large
skull and I could have put two of his heads in my bike helmet.
The road less traveled need not be a road at all - Bicycle touring in the
Rajasthan desert involves cycling on a lot of trails and avoiding thorns.
Doing laundry in an aqueduct canal. These ladies asked Gretchen if she
wanted to climb off her bike and do our laundry. Tempting but the road
called.
Hard work for the poor women of India. Wood is hard to find so they
collect dry thorny sticks to burn in their cook fires.
Tim pumping up a tire in the hotel room. Thorn punctures can cause slow leaks.
The guy on the right has an amazing collection of paper money from around the
world.
A nice send off to a day that ended up miserable: headwinds, awful roads, too
many trucks and four flat tires!
I love watching Gretchen at her daily vegetable stop
negotiating prices and chit chatting with the locals.
Local Rajasthan, Indian farmer and his beloved Atlas Goldline
Bicycle with the extra sturdy double top tube. I wonder how many years he
has owned it? These are the guys I like to pedal along with and try to
communicate with through hand gestures. Motorbikes make too much noise and
I see all cyclist as my brothers.
Typical trucks used in India. The roads can be very bad
with deep ruts and tight turns. Trucks are always manual transmission and built
like an all terrain military vehical with high clearance but packed with
chickens - . The widest they are allowed is 8 feet outside North America.
The Indian country boy music blaring from the cab can be pretty catchy.
Looking for thorn tips with the tweezers.
Hanging out at the television repair shop.
Indian bicycle shop.
We had a hard time finding a free place to camp near cities
but we made due in a harvested farm field. I laid the bikes down so we would not
be seen from the trail on the other side of the fence. We watched the sun set
over the vast plain and made plans for visiting Pushkar, India with our
guidebook. At night we heard howls from something that reminded me of
an Arizona Coyote.
This is one of the biggest pipes I have ever seen - and in a
truck stop to boot. The base had ball bearings so it could swivel around
the circle of boys. When they smoked it it smelled like tobacco and fruit
but who knows. It does make me wonder about the condition of the drivers
and their road monsters. I am not much for souvenirs but this would look
nice on my coffee table someday.
Every few days we run into a few rocky hills, a nice break from the flat desert
landscape. This road would have a great ride had it not been for the crazy truck
traffic.
Saw this foam on the way into Ajmer. India Sure enough, Foam Falls is still
bubbling away. For about a km it smelled really funny.
The color of the men's turbans denotes their caste. For celebrations, they wear
cool multi-colored turbans.
Our last night of camping before Pushkar. A bit thorny. We saw a desert hare
bounding by, and found by a man herding his goats around.
This bird is huge, much bigger than it looks here. It's some sort of scavenger,
maybe a Lammergeyer.
The vultures were circling overhead and perching on the posts lining the road. A
little creepy!
Look close, you can see this clever little Kingfisher who's caught himself a
mouse!
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