- Joined
- Jun 26, 2002
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.... and thats not very fast
Well ever since I saw a picture in one of the magazines of the roads in the Himalayas I was determined to go and ride those roads for myself so booked myself a place on the Enduro Himalaya tour in Himachal Pradesh Northern India. I booked it last November and it seemed so long to come around but before I knew it was time to get my flight from Aberdeen to London and then onwards to Delhi. I had got all my travel documents ready which included Indian Visa, International Driving Permit, Insurance, Injections for this and Injections for that plus the all essential Imodium etc….
I was due to fly down Sunday afternoon but was still packing on Sunday morning as all my gear wouldn’t fit in my holdall. I was convinced I had read I could only take 1 bag however I had I rucksack, 1 tail bag, 1 Tank bag, My Helmet and my Large 90 litre Gelert holdall…….(Great recomendation made by Ronno). I wore my Jacket and jumper on the plane and it was roasting. Its amazing how much clobber you need to go on a simple ride...
No problems with BA in Aberdeen and I got on the plane with everything. I transferred to terminal 3 at Heathrow and met some of the others who were going on the trip. They came from varied backgrounds and were all ages. I hooked up with Bob Jefferies of this Parish as I knew he was going along to spend his birthday in the hills instead of the valleys. My 90 litre holdall looked well out of place against some of the 150 liter holdalls and I soon noticed that most people had 2 of those as well… what had I forgotten.
The flight to Delhi left on time at 2200 hrs and was uneventful until the Indian lady I was sat next to announced all her money had been stolen and I was the prime suspect She then accused the girl in front and the chap behind both of whom were on our tour…… I did a quick assessment and decided she was either a complete nutter or she was on the make. I didn't bite and got the cabin crew involved. I could see my first day in Delhi inside the local nick eating cock roaches and getting rodgered by the local Maharaja. The police were waiting at the aircraft door and met her off the plane – I never saw her after that so was quite relieved.
We had a long wait at Delhi Airport for another internal flight to Chandigarh. It was roasting hot in Delhi and I was so pleased I was wearing my bike jacket and winter jumper They didn’t even weigh the bags for this flight and everything was piled on the plane. Here's Bob and a lad called Dagan Hyde. Apparently Dagan is a version of Derek. He was born in Ireland and Dechlan is a common name in thie part he was born. Thank goodness he wasn't named Dechlan Hyde
When we arrived at Chandigarh we were met by our taxis and little did we know it but we were about to get the ride of our lives. The taxi drivers just jumped up on the roof and all the baggage went onto the rack. For the next 3 hours we were centrifuged into the foot wells, bounced up to the ceiling and knocked around as the 6 taxi drivers raced the 80 KM to the Shimla Radisson which was our first nights accommodation. We had noticed that when we got to the real winding roads with shear drops on one side that the drivers had actually all taken their seat belts off so they could jump out easily. A few people were actually sick out of the windows and went to bed immediately on arrival; the rest of us went down for a fantastic meal and to mingle. We were paired up for the trip so Bob Jefferies and myself were “buddied up”. If you don’t know Bob he is a gent of the highest order.
Well ever since I saw a picture in one of the magazines of the roads in the Himalayas I was determined to go and ride those roads for myself so booked myself a place on the Enduro Himalaya tour in Himachal Pradesh Northern India. I booked it last November and it seemed so long to come around but before I knew it was time to get my flight from Aberdeen to London and then onwards to Delhi. I had got all my travel documents ready which included Indian Visa, International Driving Permit, Insurance, Injections for this and Injections for that plus the all essential Imodium etc….
I was due to fly down Sunday afternoon but was still packing on Sunday morning as all my gear wouldn’t fit in my holdall. I was convinced I had read I could only take 1 bag however I had I rucksack, 1 tail bag, 1 Tank bag, My Helmet and my Large 90 litre Gelert holdall…….(Great recomendation made by Ronno). I wore my Jacket and jumper on the plane and it was roasting. Its amazing how much clobber you need to go on a simple ride...
No problems with BA in Aberdeen and I got on the plane with everything. I transferred to terminal 3 at Heathrow and met some of the others who were going on the trip. They came from varied backgrounds and were all ages. I hooked up with Bob Jefferies of this Parish as I knew he was going along to spend his birthday in the hills instead of the valleys. My 90 litre holdall looked well out of place against some of the 150 liter holdalls and I soon noticed that most people had 2 of those as well… what had I forgotten.
The flight to Delhi left on time at 2200 hrs and was uneventful until the Indian lady I was sat next to announced all her money had been stolen and I was the prime suspect She then accused the girl in front and the chap behind both of whom were on our tour…… I did a quick assessment and decided she was either a complete nutter or she was on the make. I didn't bite and got the cabin crew involved. I could see my first day in Delhi inside the local nick eating cock roaches and getting rodgered by the local Maharaja. The police were waiting at the aircraft door and met her off the plane – I never saw her after that so was quite relieved.
We had a long wait at Delhi Airport for another internal flight to Chandigarh. It was roasting hot in Delhi and I was so pleased I was wearing my bike jacket and winter jumper They didn’t even weigh the bags for this flight and everything was piled on the plane. Here's Bob and a lad called Dagan Hyde. Apparently Dagan is a version of Derek. He was born in Ireland and Dechlan is a common name in thie part he was born. Thank goodness he wasn't named Dechlan Hyde
When we arrived at Chandigarh we were met by our taxis and little did we know it but we were about to get the ride of our lives. The taxi drivers just jumped up on the roof and all the baggage went onto the rack. For the next 3 hours we were centrifuged into the foot wells, bounced up to the ceiling and knocked around as the 6 taxi drivers raced the 80 KM to the Shimla Radisson which was our first nights accommodation. We had noticed that when we got to the real winding roads with shear drops on one side that the drivers had actually all taken their seat belts off so they could jump out easily. A few people were actually sick out of the windows and went to bed immediately on arrival; the rest of us went down for a fantastic meal and to mingle. We were paired up for the trip so Bob Jefferies and myself were “buddied up”. If you don’t know Bob he is a gent of the highest order.