9120 km Aurangabad
Door: Erik en Tjeerd
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Erik en Tjeerd
08 November 2007 | India, New Delhi
Happy Diwali !!!
It's been quite a while already since we posted something here, but we have found internet yet again and can give you all a little update. We lingered on the beach a little, but we can't be inactive for too long so we had to go again. We headed of to Panji the capital of Goa. We even got our own personal tourguide to bring us there. In Arambol we met Jan, who has been cycling in India for around 20 years already. He showed us some small roads and we had good fun cycling with him. In Panji we managed to find a working ATM (after about 10 tries) so we can eat, drink and sleep a little longer in India now. Panji and old Goa were really nice places to see. There is a lot of Colonial influences there and the Cathedral in Old Goa is said to be the biggest church in all asia. After old Goa we headed east in the direction of the hills. Those would bring us out of Goa and into Karnataka. after climbing up the hills we noticed a change in landscape and were now cycling in a more "savannah" like setting. Always nice to have a change every now and again
After reaching Karnataka we started heading up north again towards our next goal: Elora and Ajanta. These two sites are known for there temples carved out of rock and we definately wanted to have a look at that. We were making some nice progress (about 100-110 km a day) until Kolhapur. That's where the inevitable happened and we got got sick. Not just diarrea but we both had very high fever and there was no way we were gonna be cycling. Luckily just taking some rest was enough to get over the illness and after a two day break we could head up back north again.
It seems that the further north, or remote, we get the more surprised people are to see us. It's not uncummon at all to have 30-50 people gathering around us in no time when we just want to have a quick and shorth break somewhere. The day after we left Kolhapur we were even interviewed for the local newspaper. We were asked all the obvious questions and in the end we did not even have to pay for the lunch we ordered. It's the first time we encounter something like this in India. It seems people here are much more focussed on earning some money from tourist then in Iran. Luckily not all people are like that and we do meet a lot of very nice Indians as well
Yesterday we arrived in Aurangabad, just a short distance from the Elora caves. We decided to take a hotel here for two days and just do a little daytrip on our bikes to the caves from here. We did that trip today and we can say it was definately worth it! The caves are stunning and we have been shooting pictures like we're Japanese. We also enjoyed a good night out in town here yesterday. There a quite a few nice bars here, and it's Diwali festival so there is a really nice and positive vibe on the streets. Lots of people are lighting fireworks etc. We also coincidently met up with Dan and Ben again, so you can see it's a small world. It was good to have some friends here to share the beers with.
Tomorrow we are of again and we head further north. Ajanta is just 105 km from here so that makes for a perfect daytrip
Take care all and till the next update
p.s. Thanks everyone for mailing/sms-ing me for my birthday. It's good to know you haven't completely forgotten about me yet ;) I'll try and make some phonecalls to you all soon but unfortunatelly we did not havea possib
http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa310/erikopdefiets/14%20%20Aurangabad%20-%20Elora%20Caves/
It's been quite a while already since we posted something here, but we have found internet yet again and can give you all a little update. We lingered on the beach a little, but we can't be inactive for too long so we had to go again. We headed of to Panji the capital of Goa. We even got our own personal tourguide to bring us there. In Arambol we met Jan, who has been cycling in India for around 20 years already. He showed us some small roads and we had good fun cycling with him. In Panji we managed to find a working ATM (after about 10 tries) so we can eat, drink and sleep a little longer in India now. Panji and old Goa were really nice places to see. There is a lot of Colonial influences there and the Cathedral in Old Goa is said to be the biggest church in all asia. After old Goa we headed east in the direction of the hills. Those would bring us out of Goa and into Karnataka. after climbing up the hills we noticed a change in landscape and were now cycling in a more "savannah" like setting. Always nice to have a change every now and again
After reaching Karnataka we started heading up north again towards our next goal: Elora and Ajanta. These two sites are known for there temples carved out of rock and we definately wanted to have a look at that. We were making some nice progress (about 100-110 km a day) until Kolhapur. That's where the inevitable happened and we got got sick. Not just diarrea but we both had very high fever and there was no way we were gonna be cycling. Luckily just taking some rest was enough to get over the illness and after a two day break we could head up back north again.
It seems that the further north, or remote, we get the more surprised people are to see us. It's not uncummon at all to have 30-50 people gathering around us in no time when we just want to have a quick and shorth break somewhere. The day after we left Kolhapur we were even interviewed for the local newspaper. We were asked all the obvious questions and in the end we did not even have to pay for the lunch we ordered. It's the first time we encounter something like this in India. It seems people here are much more focussed on earning some money from tourist then in Iran. Luckily not all people are like that and we do meet a lot of very nice Indians as well
Yesterday we arrived in Aurangabad, just a short distance from the Elora caves. We decided to take a hotel here for two days and just do a little daytrip on our bikes to the caves from here. We did that trip today and we can say it was definately worth it! The caves are stunning and we have been shooting pictures like we're Japanese. We also enjoyed a good night out in town here yesterday. There a quite a few nice bars here, and it's Diwali festival so there is a really nice and positive vibe on the streets. Lots of people are lighting fireworks etc. We also coincidently met up with Dan and Ben again, so you can see it's a small world. It was good to have some friends here to share the beers with.
Tomorrow we are of again and we head further north. Ajanta is just 105 km from here so that makes for a perfect daytrip
Take care all and till the next update
p.s. Thanks everyone for mailing/sms-ing me for my birthday. It's good to know you haven't completely forgotten about me yet ;) I'll try and make some phonecalls to you all soon but unfortunatelly we did not havea possib
http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa310/erikopdefiets/14%20%20Aurangabad%20-%20Elora%20Caves/
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08 November 2007 - 17:38
Ivo Blommaart:
Hi Erik, been following your adventures on the internet. Seems like a great experience, but are you suffering from zadelpijn yet :).
Looking forward to hearing from you again!
regards Ivo -
08 November 2007 - 18:32
Paul:
Subh Divali! -
08 November 2007 - 20:32
Peter S.:
Erik, beetje laat, maar van harte kerel! Mooi verhaal weer -
09 November 2007 - 07:12
Gloria And Gerard:
Time for Tjeerd to find a real girlfriend ;)
-
09 November 2007 - 08:29
Marjel:
Hee Erik, Nog gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag. Als jullie de kans hebben, is Mysore Palace ook heel mooi om naartoe te gaan. Wel heel toeristisch. Maar jullie komen genoeg paleizen en tempels tegen onderweg. Indiërs zijn vriendelijk, gastvrij en nieuwsgierig. Maar sommige zijn errug commercieel ingesteld, dus pas goed op de buidel!
Nog veel plezier enne Namaste,
Marjel -
09 November 2007 - 12:35
Hans B.:
Erik, Kerel, nog van harte gefeliciteerd. Ik zat afgelopen dagen op cursus, dus zodoende. Vorig jaar deden we nog een borreltje met ook de jarige Jeroen, weet je nog? Nog een hele fijne dag toegewenst, ik zal een borrel op jou verjaardag nemen! Veel plezier
Groet,
Hans -
10 November 2007 - 10:23
Tante Mar:
wat een reis! always to be remembered. oom peter en ik wilden ook nog eens India doen niet op de fiets natuurlijk! Pas goed op je zelf lieve Tjeerd, always on my mind. -
13 November 2007 - 13:09
Michiel:
Hi guys,
Ook ik heb de weg naar internet weer gevonden, al heeft het geheel Iran geduurd (om een of andere reden krijg ik de mailtjes niet meer, maar had nog een paar oude om jullie weer op te sporen). Oh ja Erik, nog gefeliciteerd; zoals ieder jaar weer vergeten natuurlijk. Bij ons is het behoorlijk druk en ik heb nog wat leeswerk van jullie in te halen, maar dat doe ik zeker nog. Ik hoop dat jullie nog een beetje genieten en probeer een beetje gezond te blijven.
Groetjes,
Michiel -
13 November 2007 - 14:11
Karen:
Eer, je huis staat er nog hoor! Er zit nu een italiaans stel in, heb afgelopen vrijdag even kennisgemaakt. Goed weer van jullie te horen!
Toedeledoki! -
14 November 2007 - 11:52
Gerard En Gloria:
If we had known, we had enjoyed a piece of tart and a drink on your health, Erik. Pity you did not inform us in time; now we'll have that anyway and we wish you many happy returns! Hopefully you have recovered compleetly. Take care, and good luck.
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