Time to Tack

Lying on my bed I’m aware the clock is ticking as the fan above my head whirrs at full speed. I’m trying to keep cool. It’s 35C outside and the air conditioning has stopped working. 

The heat of the last week has taken its toll on my body and to add to things I’ve been laid low by a bout of diarrhoea and this is the second day off the bicycle. I feel frustrated and my inner voice is introducing doubts into my mind.  I know I need to be in Sri Lanka at the start of November and I still have a long way to go. 

Further down the road a day or two later I decide the best corse of action is to jump on a train to Mumbai to make up some time and to allow me to have a more relaxed cycle down the west coast of India. After all adventure is supported to be fun and unpredictable. The last few days have felt like a grind that’s increasingly become a daily test of mental strength to keep going and reach the next destination.  Much as I wish to go faster and further I have to listen to my 62 year old body and slow down. 

Arriving in Rajargh I head for the station at Sadulpur Junction. Apparently it a good shot to get direct train down to Mumbai. My only problem is I have no idea of the Indian system for bicycles. I’m headed off by a policeman as I’m just about to go towards a sign in the main concourse that reads “help desk”. He kindly explains that my bicycle needs to go down to the parcel office at the end of platform 1.  As I start heading there another man comes out and says he will help me. We walk down to the office, both gesticulating to over come the communication barrier that exists between us. 

Once in the parcel office I explain that I want to travel to Mumbai with my bicycle. Confusion reigns amongst us. With the help of Google translate I try and improve the situation.  After a while the booking manager arrives to help, and with their patience and kindness I eventually understand that the best course of action is for me to travel ahead on one train and for my bike to follow on a second one. The  luggage compartment on the train I will travel on being full. 

The booking manager, who I later learn is called Deepak, takes me back to the ticket office. This time though I get to go behind the glass and say hello to all the other staff who offer me food. With in a few minutes I have a ticket for myself to Mumbai. It’s a 26 hour journey leaving at 3:30 in the morning. 

I will have to book my bicycle the following day in the parcel office. 

Duly the following day I cycle back to the station and go to the parcel office. The same people from the day before are there and they know that I want to book my bike to Mumbai. Another member of staff turns up to help and we start the process, all the while me wondering how much it will cost. They take my passport and some other personal details. They explain the bike has to be stripped, so I remove some clamps, my tool bag, a frame bag and various other bits.  They offer me a box to put them in and suggest that I send that by parcel as well.  I go for it still unsure of the cost. 

Back at the desk the consignment details are printed out and I’m given a copy one for my bike and one for the box. As they ask me to pay I’m totally taken aback by the amount for both. 278 rps the equivalent of £2.17. Incredible. My 4.5kg box costing only 38p.

They carefully wrap my bike up in hessian and cardboard for which I pay a small additional charge. 

I will arrive at 6:15 am on Tuesday and my bike and box at 3:00 pm the same day and I will go to the parcel office at Bandra station to pick them both up and cycle into the Mumbai traffic. Hopefully 4 weeks on the road has sufficiently prepared me for the experience. 

I will take a couple of days in Mumbai to continue recuperating. I also need to work out how as a diabetic person living on the side of the road I stabilise my weight. Over the last four weeks I’ve lost a lot of weight and it’s not sustainable. I won’t make it to Sri Lanka if I don’t keep what I now have left!

the adventure continues!