Hello people :) Good morning!

That internet cafe yesterday looked very modern, one of the better ones we have been to, but outside of having a dodgy computer (and letting people use it without warning) they also did some funky maneuvering when it came time to pay. When we arrived I asked how much? and the guy clearly said 10 rupees an hour (and I remember repeating it back to him, which is a common thing I do - my ears are a bit dodgy sometimes and these guys are not native English speakers :). That is cheap, but this is a smaller town so I just thought it was a great deal. When we were ready to hand over the cash he said it was 100 rupees each! We had not been in there more than 2 hours, so I said no, you said 10 rupees an hour... and then his English went, he asked a friend and then he said I had misheard him and that he had said 30 originally....which still does not add up to 100 per computer for 2 hours! You can bet I am not there today :) A is back at the guesthouse today being a bed princess :) We are staying an additional night because she had a bit of a dodgy tummy last night and didn't get a lot of sleep (I am taking good care of her, I promise! :) I'm fine and we had the same thing for dinner, but we had different things for brunch yesterday, so who knows.

On to the recovered post! My brain was good - I wrote it all down when I got back last night, so most of it you will still get (and I will save this as I write! I do learn from painful lessons :) I will start with some of the random thoughts I have while riding and then I will tell you about our day yesterday.

* I forgot to mention that Goa is not like the rest of India - call it a step child. It was a different world when we arrived and the real India met us at the border when we left :) The pace is so much slower and a lot less buzzy.

* We have definitely noticed a difference between north and south India. For one thing the houses are much bigger and nicer in the south. The other thing is the roads. We have been on similar sized roads in both places. In the north is seems that everyone is out and about - standing, talking, working, whatever - all lining the edges of the road. In the south we don't see nearly as many people on the sides of the road as we pass through towns...maybe thery are all cooling in their big houses :). Also the cars are much nicer in the south - we have been passed by Skodas and Mercs, BMWs and Toyotas...in the north is was all econo-boxes. One other thing A noticed is that they were always fixing things in the north - not enough money to by new, so they patch it up and keep it running. We don't see nearly as much of that in the south, but this is very much a patch it up sort of place (which I very much respect).

* From what I have read it seems that about 70% of the personal motorized transport market in India is motorbikes, the rest is cars (they are starting to get scary SUVs here, too!!!!). There are also a ton of bicycles used for transport. More often than not (just my view :) you see more than one rider on bicycles or motorcycles - someone is always getting a backie, if not 2 of your mates or even the whole family :) There is another north south difference - in the north it was dad, mom, kid 1, 2 and sometimes 3 all squished on the seat (one kid riding on the tank occasionally). Lots of babes in momma's arms. Also lots of guys three-up on one motorbike. In the south you see 2 guys on a bike or a couple, with the woman riding side saddle on the back (all motos are fitted with a sari guard which also incorporates a wide foot rest) it's not "let's see how many we can fit on this bike" like it is in the north :)

* I love bananas. This is heaven :) We were told that there are 16 varieties of bananas in India, including black bananas (I hope those are not just overripe ones :). I have tried little bananas, big bananas and a red banana. The little bananas are the best, more like what we have at home but in a snack size (have 2, they're small :) The big bananas are still really nice, much drier, some of them have a peach color on the inside, not the typical yellow. The red banana was like the big banana in texture, but like the small banana in taste (regular banana color on the inside :).

* I have had 2 things fall off my bike and I am hoping I am not the third (things come in threes, right? :) The first was the rear hugger/mud flap. Totally unecessary, flapped in the wind and occasionally rubbed the tire. I was taken out by a rock that I saw too late (I was following A) when I fell foul of the "look where you want to go" rule of motorcycling :) When I hit it the rock somehow got caught in the rear guard and tore it off. No great loss :) When I bought the bike I knew it had a dodgy sidestand (all the sidestands here are pretty dodgy and most bikes lean at the weirdest angles) this one had been broken and welded too many times, and not welded well - they just welded the break. One day the spring on it sprung (I did not provoke it, I didn't even use the sidestand :) and it was hanging down, so I tied it up permanently with a spare shoelace :) It survived the hell road like that but the other day as I was riding to Mangalore the weld gave up the ghost and it made an awful racket and I had to pull over and sort it out. Bit number 2 into the bin :). I am glad these are not vital pieces of motorbike! Mine is the newer of the 2 bikes - A's bike has retained all it's original parts (it never had the rear mud flap thing and the sidestand leaves the bike at a very dodgy angle, too). Both bikes have centerstands and we always use them :)

Well that is all the random thoughts and I have to get back and check on A (she's probably up and showered and raring to go by this time :) I will have to write about our day when I next hit the iCafe :)

Catch you all later :)