Stuff you might like to know...

or not :)

-> We are taking the malaria tablets (Chloriquine and Proguanil) and we have used our mosquito nets at night more often than not - and we have still been bitten! There are mosquitos everywhere, day and night.

-> We did get our first puncture - my rear tire. We were about 20-30 kms outside of Jaipur and it happened just as we pulled into a town! Some nice boys directed us to the puncture-walla not 100 meters up the road. I had a nail in my tire. The guy did a great job - he even stitched the tube with needle and thread! and then put the patch on it. Thirty minutes later (and 50 rupees lighter :) we were on our way. Glad we got it out of the way on day 2 of the road trip :)

-> The drivers here are not that bad! It's a different mentality, but all of India is a different mentality (it must have frustrated the British to no end that they like to do things...whatever way they please :). They don't drive fast here, so you have a lot more time to react. That said we have seen some horrific crashes, or what's left of them anyway, just trucks, though...and maybe a car or a rickshaw. We are being very careful (I promise! :)

-> Speed. Day one on the road we both hit the ton (you have to, don't you??? :) That is just about max speed on these bikes, maybe 110-115 down hill? The ton is only 60mph, so it was a bit hilarious to see our celebrations when we attained it :) We ride about 40kph on the damaged roads, 60kph on regular roads and when we can really cruise, its at 80-85kph on the really nice roads.

-> Ah, the roads! The Delhi-Jaipur road was really good once you got out of the Delhi metropolitan area. The roads in Madaya Pradesh are terrible!!!! We were on a secondary road (not even the smallest road type on the map) and it was a lot of dirt and big potholes. We rode the small roads, too and it was rough going! The main roads were really rough patched pavement (sometimes with large chunks missing...or even whole sections of road). The best roads we have encountered are in Maharashtra (the state where Bombay is). The roads here are brilliant! Like the best B roads in the UK and state highways in the US. It makes it go so much faster! The secondary roads we have been on the last couple of days (to Jalagon and to Aurangabad) are really good, We haven't been on a Primary road in this state yet, I am sure they are fast (we will let you know - we head to Pune in a couple of days :)

-> We are doing pretty well with the navigation, even if most of the signs are in Hindi...if the road is even marked :) We have a bit of trouble when we pull into town, but we ask directions and it works.

-> I have been doing laundry every couple of days. Once we started on the road, and especially in Madaya Pradesh, the t shirts are filthy! The dirt must be getting into the vents in our jackets and the shirts are grey. I got a new shirt last night and it did well today, not dingy at all, but we haven't ridden in the dirt, so I will have to wait and see. We were using shower gel to wash and then we got some Indian laundry soap - it comes in a bar and I use my knife to shave some off and dissolve in the water. It works and it smells good :)

-> The moto kit is working out perfectly. It is nice to have the jackets - we have to zip up all the vents when we leave in the early morning (it's chilly) and we open them all up by noon. It's only warm when you stop, it's fine when you are going. It was hot in the jeans today as we walked through the Ajanta caves, though - I was wanting my shorts :)

-> On the stomach front we have done really well - we have had the occasional density issue :) but we think that was some fruit juice that was cut with water (from the tap). We haven't had any problems with the food - it's absolutely delicious and we stuff ourselves in the morning and at night :) We have had several different beers, I think we only had regular Kingfisher once, and we have had several "strong" beers. The best one was the Kingfisher Strong which was a lot like a Belgian blonde (e.g. Leffe)....well, it was a lot more like Leffe than it was like regular Kingfisher (a lager):)

-> We have seen lots of things as we ride by. In the fields we have seen bananas, cotton, sugar cane, corn, rapeseed (smelled it, too!) and some sunflowers. On the road we have seen bovines (all sorts! they wander the streets and the highways, they pull carts, their keeper walks the herd down the one lane of the highway....they are everywhere, it's amazing!), goats (same with the goatherd walking his flock down the highway), sheep, pigs (and boars, I think - with longish black hair), chickens, donkeys, dogs, cats, camels and horses. No elephants yet, but I hope to soon :) Rajasthan has tons of camel carts and on the way to Mandu we saw someone tending 7 camels and allowing them to eat from the trees at the side of the road.

-> Most children (and a lot of adults!) say "Hello"....and then they ask for a pen or chocolate or a biscuit or 1 rupee or even a photo (one taken of them with us, or one we take of them with our camera - that always makes them smile :)...or even the pushy ones in Bundi that were demanding my kite...when I said "no", one kid said "yes" and it went back and forth for a few exchanges until we escaped with the kite :)

That's about all for the moment....I will get to Mandu and the Ajanta Caves in the next post. We are staying in Aurangabad for 2 nights and they have internet in the hotel...and they have USB, so I will get some work done on the photos, too :) OK, must go finish my laundry! Goodnight!