India
By Catherine Dixon (Cat) and Rachael Marsden (Raz)
We arrived in Kolkata having cycled over 2,640 miles (4180 km) around the coast of India over 34 days, staying on track to break the World Record. So far we have ridden 6,480 miles (approximately 10368km) and raised £13579 for #Oxfam and #MNDAssociation.
We arrived in Mumbai at the end of August. Leaving the airport we were immediately hit by the heat and humidity. The city teems with life – people, but also animals of every description – cows, monkeys, dogs and goats all wandering on the streets. Blowing horns is a national sport and the traffic sounds mingles with the Hindi music which often blasts out of speakers erected in towns and villages. Visually India can be overwhelming too. Colourful saris contrast with the piles of disused plastic and crumbling buildings. The temples with their multi coloured Hindu Gods line the road side, as do Churches, Pagodas and Mosques in this wonderfully secular society.
We set off early the next morning trying to avoid the worst of the Mumbai traffic as we headed into the heart of the city. The riding was tricky. Four miles into the ride Alice’s gear cable snapped. We stopped and a large crowd quickly formed. Someone’s brother in law was a bike mechanic and we were escorted to Imperial Cycles and the mechanic was raised out of bed. Chai was ordered and we chatted with the mother of the mechanic who spoke English. After much trial and error the bike was fixed and we set off again - this time into the rush hour traffic. We finally, after several sweaty hours, reached the famous Taj Hotel and the Gateway to India only to be told that the ferry we we had planned to take to avoid the 7-8 hour ride out of Mumbai was not running. It was lunch time and we decided to have lunch and consider options. We found a ferry service a few miles down the coast and backtracked getting on one of the small boats crossing the Arabian Sea to Mora and out of the city and into the towns and villages south of Mumbai as we started our journey south to Kanniyakumari the southern most tip of India.
It wasn’t long before we had our first experience of the monsoon. The downpours are torrential and over the next few weeks we experienced regular rain which can only be described as similar to having a bucket of water poured over us. We were to learn that climate change is impacting on the monsoon and it has gone on much longer this year resulting in severe flooding in areas including Kerala which we passed through.
We also experienced our first selfie request and were being filmed and photographed as we rode along. This took many forms. Sometimes they spoke and asked us the most popular two questions - where are we from? And, where are we going? We sometimes got asked how old we were! Also how much Alice cost. Sometimes we were followed for miles without a word. Regularly, we were flagged down with the expectation we would stop to enable a selfie to be taken. When we said sorry we couldn’t stop, usually this was accepted with good cheer but occasionally it was clear the driver or rider was angry. We worked out that on average we got 20 selfie requests each day. If we stopped for everyone it would have added about 2 days of riding time.
South of Mumbai is quite mountainous and we found ourselves in rain forest passing through villages spotting Horn Bills and monkeys. It was a privileged insight as to how people live in these remote communities sheltering under plastic sheeting and corrugated iron roofs in some cases. However, it was heartening to see so many children heading to school in their uniforms all immaculately dressed. We later learned that many schools provide uniforms and dinners to encourage children to attend.
We were looking forward to getting to Goa and riding along the coast. Our first tyre exploded as we crossed the border into Goa and I got a ride on the back of a scooter to the local bike mechanic to see of it could be saved but it was a write off.
We experienced our first festival, Ganesh Chaturthi celebrating the birthday of Lord Ganesh as we headed through Goa. All the villages erected shrines as a tribute to Ganesh and we watched the villagers parade carrying Ganesh aloft along routes lined with colourful lights. It did mean however, that most of the shops and restaurants were shut over these few days making it challenging to eat.
In Fort Cochi we enjoyed finding filter coffee and the views of the Arabian Sea. This area was heavily influenced by the Portuguese and there were numerous churches. It was Sunday and people were dressed in their Sunday best heading to church. We rode along a spit of land with the sea on one side and river on the other. It was magical. Kerala is a beautiful part of India with its wetlands, waterways and views of the Arabian Sea. It also has more of a European feel with its old colonial building crumbling with age and its Portuguese churches.
We were getting nearer the most southern tip of India where the Arabian Sea meets the Bay of Bengal. It is famous for its sunrise which we watched before changing direction and heading north east towards Kolkata. The countryside in the deep south has many wind turbines. The villages are small and feel remote. There was no guarantee we would be able to find accommodation, so we had to plan the route carefully to make sure we finished the day in a sizeable town.
It was impossible to stop in some towns as the crowd became too big and we couldn’t get off the bike to get water or food. People were also fascinated by Alice and had to touch her rather than just look. On one occasion we ended up eating at someone’s house. We would be given food. It was difficult to refuse. After finally pedaling into Chennai (formerly Madras) we had a day off the bike meeting up with two Canadians we had met at a bike shop in Georgia. It was lovely to swap stories and experiences and see friends.
We were keen to get to Kolkata where we had arranged to meet the #OxfamIndia team. They had arranged for us to be interviewed by Radio Mirchi and speak at the Decathlon store. We finally reached and crossed the Kolkata Bridge. We felt elated. We had cycled the coast of India and completed the Indian stage of our journey. The Oxfam team were inspiring and we spent our day off hearing about the amazing humanitarian work they are doing as a result of climate change and their work on women’s rights.
We came away motivated for the next stage of our journey from Myanmar.