DAY TEN… 38.94 miles (62.67 km)
We cycled out of Junagadh as more bus loads of pilgrims were arriving to join the crowds of over a million. It was dawn and the sleepy pilgrims were well underway, crowding the streets and making our city exit somewhat problematic. We wove our way through the chaos of traffic and eventually passed the point where the flowing river of pilgrims went off in a different direction, and we were just left with the busy city traffic of rush hour.
The cycling today was along a busy state highway for about 20 miles, then we turned off onto a quieter road, thankfully, towards Gondal. This was about the time that I felt like I would like to stop cycling for the day, as my diarrhoea episodes had depleted me somewhat.
Ironically, it seems, just as we could do with a lift, there is no traffic on the road ! The heat of the day was really beginning in earnest, so having accosted a tractor driver, unsuccessfully regarding a lift, we were directed into a small village where men were gathered, sheltering from the heat. There was much amusement to be had about our request and then a big tea drinking session, in saucers, before we finally got to board a Bolero pick-up truck. This was ‘driven’ in an alarming way, making me regret my wish not to cycle the road myself. The driver was too old to have gathered driving skills from Grand Theft Auto but you get the idea. The standard of driving was low. But we got there (the outskirts of Gondal). Alive !!!
We headed for the Orchard Palace and where we secured a suite of rooms at an exorbitant price , but we are enjoying it.
