The ultimate goal of the first three days of biking was to make it to Bharatpur and Keolodeo National Park. From Jhirka it was about a 100 km push to Bharatpur and Keolodeo. Originally we planned on an early start to give ourselves plenty of time to make the ride, unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. We woke up to maybe 10 m of visibility, not the safest riding conditions, especially in India where people aren't great about turning on their lights. So instead of an 8 am start, we didn't head out till close till 11 am, leaving us about 7 hours to make it to Bharatpur by dark. We hit the road with our lights flashing. I was rocking blinking Christmas lights, a red flasher on my backpack, and a blinking LED on my front bag. Based on the fact that we didn't get hit, I would say it was adequate.
The roads were good all the way from Jhirka to Bharatpur and we were able to make pretty good time. Our late start left us cutting it close to get to Bharatpur by dark and we just managed to squeeze into town at last light. Then it was just a matter of navigating the chaos of the markets and masses of people to our hotel on the other side of town. After spending some frustrating time riding through town with an entourage, we were able to clear out to a gas station to ask for directions. Again we were saved by a friendly samaritan. I can't remember his name, but we gave him the name of the hotel and he took the time to guide us to the hotel on his motorcycle, which was huge. It was a long day and we were tired and ready to crash, who knows how long it might have taken us to find the hotel without him. Now we have a few days to relax in Bharatpur, take in Keolodeo before we push on into Rajasthan
No comments:
Post a Comment