DAY TWENTY TWO… 47.30 miles (76.1 km)
Sitting in a spacious tent, bathroom attached, in Amarkantak, absolutely knackered and starving. It’s another one and a half hours before we can get any food here.
The ride today absolutely gruelling. Tim had warned me, 5 climbs. Climb number one we got under our belts quickly, ditto climb number two.
Climb number three was a climb from hell. We were already tired before it began, but when it did, it was not far off vertical. Plus big, big troupes of the nasty macaque monkeys lining our way or positively scampering around on the road, foraging for the food scraps thrown by passing motorcyclists. Riding past these would be pretty trying, especially as I had bananas on my bike, walking past them (the reality) would be sheer madness. I ate all the bananas and we proceeded, but it was crazy. The heat was up and the climb went on for 8km.
We tried to hail vehicles for a lift, unsuccessfully, so eventually, without consultation with Tim, in desperation, I flung out my arm as a bus approached us. Miraculously it stopped. Bikes hauled on the roof, no time to secure them though, giving Tim cause for severe anxiety. Panniers were thrown onto the back seat, and, we were off. Both Tim and I spent the journey gazing out of the back window expecting to see our bikes flying through the air. Unbelievably bikes were unscathed by their ordeal and we set off again, more uphill.
The plan was to ride a further 15 miles. We made 13 but were flagging badly. I spotted a rickshaw and by paying the driver handsomely, we got him to take us the rest of the way, Thank God.
