India Day 2: we ain’t fitting in that!

Date: 2017-10-27
Start city: Murud
End city: Diveagar
Distance (km): 29
Climbing (m): 250
Route description: coastal roads to Dighi ferry, then roads to Diveagar
Road conditions and traffic: road conditions same same as yesterday, but much less traffic overall
Weather: much more humid but not as hot, partly cloudy
Stops: waiting for ferry
Notes:
Another day feeling like a celebrity cycling through India! We swapped contact info with the family we met last night and then took some selfies with our hotel staff and got on the bikes.

We didn’t get going early enough though (after 10), and it was super humid already. Within 30 minutes, we were both drenched, which didn’t happen right away yesterday. The family we’d met the previous night suggested stopping just 25km away at Diveagar, so we started to consider that option.

We showed up at the ferry dock that’s listed on Google Maps and OpenStreetMaps, and someone pointed us down an alley where a bunch of people were walking. Lots of vendors selling juice and coconut milk were there, and one of them at the end of the alley told us, “you have to go to Agardanda”. Not believing him, I walked down the steps at the end of the alley and saw the reason why we couldn’t go this way. A tiny boat that should hold 8 people was packed to the brim with probably 20, some hanging off the edge by the rail. Nope, we ain’t gonna fit on that!

He showed me on Google Maps where the ferry was and we headed off for 7km more. We had to ask a few times because the roads to the ferry don’t show up on my map and our Internet wasn’t working. But finally we arrived at the car ferry just as it was finished unloading. We boarded with our bikes and were soon joined by 8 motorbikes, 4 cars, and a truck overflowing with cargo. Oh, and one goat, who curled up behind Steve’s bike and watched the world go by.

And then it started. I don’t mean the boat, though that also started on its short journey after a 45 minute wait. I mean, the photos. I think that every single person on the boat took our photo, some surreptitiously, others just right in our face without asking, and a few who asked us to pose for selfies. Several guys on the way off wanted us to pose with the bikes and took more photos and more selfies. We all shook hands after, like you do in a receiving line. We had a great time chatting (as much as possible with our limited language skills) and posing with everyone. I asked Steve afterwards, “do you think we’ll ever get tired of that?” I don’t think so… After 8 months in Europe where people think you’re crazy if you smile at them, it’s so nice to be in a country where people smile and wave at strangers. The only weird thing are the ones who pretend to take selfies, with the lens conveniently pointed at us. I usually smile, and then they’ll start brushing their hair, like, “no, really, it’s a selfie”. LOL! But folks here have been incredibly polite overall. We never feel like we are being stared at or talked about, even though we probably are, given their photographic interest!

That put us in great spirits for the ride from the ferry, including our biggest climb yet. It’s nothing compared to the climbs we did in Europe, but with the heat, humidity, bad roads, and cows to dodge, it took a lot out of us. (Oh, and we did too much shopping in Greece and Mumbai. Time to pare down our clothes a bit!)

We started thinking about stopping early in Diveagar, a beach town where we know there are lots of hotels and restaurants. We would get lunch and then start knocking on some hotel doors to see if they had vacancy and what the rates are. Without internet, it was impossible to book a hotel ahead or even find where there might be some. Luckily, I had looked the night before and kind of knew the area.

But one problem, we didn’t have enough cash, and we didn’t know where we might find an ATM! I stopped every few kilometres and finally found a spot with just barely a signal and googled for ATMs. Only two on our route. The first wasn’t there (or we missed it in the intense city bustle), but the second thankfully was, though it took three tries before it gave me anything! I was envisioning sleeping on the beach for the night… Close call, we will plan ahead more from now on whenever we have internet.

Of course, this whole day, we’ve been getting waves and smiles and amused grins from almost everyone we’ve passed. We’ve been happily waving back, honking our horn, and calling out “hello!” (which is pretty much the same word in Hindi I believe). Whenever we stop, someone will walk up to us and ask if they can help or if they can take a selfie. One guy was curious about my GPS unit and pointed at it and said, “map?”. When I said yes, he looked impressed and poked his friend and said something and they smiled.

Not knowing where the hotels might be, we just randomly started cycling through the streets of the beach town, mostly through residential areas, then by the beach access, but finally found some hotels. The first was all booked up, but the second could give us a non-AC room within our budget, including breakfast. We actually didn’t even use the AC last night, so we’d prefer not to pay for it. It has been relatively cool in the evening (just humid) and we are getting used to it. It’s better than going between outside and AC, which just alternates from too cold to too hot.

Lunch was a delicious all-you-can-eat veg thali at a busy place 5 minutes away for 110₹ ($2). They just kept filling our plates until we said stop. The thali was pretty standard compared to what we’ve been getting but very tasty: a bit of dal (lentil) soup, another spicy tomato and potato soup, an okra vegetable mix, some spicy beans, a bit of chili paste, and a bite of hot pickled mango. On the side is one papadum (flavorful crispy wafer) and two chapatis (like a soft flour taco but better!). And a little sweet ball of dough soaked in syrup for dessert. You’re supposed to eat it all with your right hand, but we haven’t mastered that yet, so we usually use a spoon, though we are getting better at picking up food with a piece of chapati. We also ordered some white rice on the side to mix with the dal. My understanding is that chapati and bread is more common to the north, and rice is more common to the South. Here, apparently you can do both.

The hotel had a paper map!! So we are going analog since the Internet has been flaky. Of course, the map is in Hindi (or maybe Marathi, I can’t tell), so, yeah… But at least I might be able to learn enough to match up the squiggles on the map with the road signs for city names.

So by doing 25km today, we are already a day behind the schedule I’d made, but honestly we’ve been having so much fun so far that I couldn’t give a damn about any schedule. I made it only as a guide that we could refer to without internet, as some sections don’t have many hotels so we have to plan a little ahead. Otherwise, we are going to go as far and fast as is fun and stay as long as we want. We have 6 months on our Indian visa and monsoons don’t start until May. This is going to be an incredible trip!