(Written Oct. 8th, 1998 in Singapore.)
According to the schedule the other riders were supposed to arrive that night and we were to go to Agra the next day. The others did arrive but due to a mix up the Ferris Wheels representative in Delhi was not expecting them until a day later. So instead of going to Agra the next day John and I set off to see New Delhi with another traveller we had met. We saw the Prime Ministers residence, India gate, and Humayun's Tomb.
It is hard to describe Delhi, it needs to be experienced. There is always something happening. I found my self constantly taking things in. Someone hassling you or begging, the sounds, the smells. They say that Delhi is second most polluted city in the world and a day in Delhi is equivalent to smoking 20 cigarettes! It is constantly alive and it sometimes seems that all 9 million people are in the street. It is full of contrasts and often chaotic. This is especially true of the roads which are often narrow and contain trucks, cars, auto-rickshaws, motorcycles, scooters, carts, bicycles, pedestrians, and cows all fighting over the same space.
Back at the hotel I got to meet my fellow adventurers. The next morning we got up early to get the Shatabdi Express (train) to Agra. We took a bus to the Taj Mahal which as expected was a magnificent site. Next was Agra Fort and finally we went 30km in a bus to see Fatehpur Sikri. This city was the capital of the Mughal Empire between 1571 and 1585. After that it was deserted, some say due to a water supply problem. The red sandstone city is well preserved and its eery ghostly atmosphere transfers you back in time.
The next morning I said goodbye to John and we headed off on a train to Chandigarh to pick up the bikes and start our adventure.
There were six other riders doing the tour, all of them Australian. There were two Davids (from now on I will refer to one of them as DC to avoid confusion), Morris, David, Eric, Andy, and John. Our group came from all walks of life and ranged in age from 30 to 58. Our common thread was a love of motorcycles, adventure and travel. Mike Ferris runs the motorcycle tours and rides a bike with us. Just 5 years ago he was working in the computer software business and had never ridden a motorcycle. Our support crew consisted of a van with a driver and an assistant and a jeep driven by Rajen who took care of many of the day to day arrangements/problems and was invaluable. We also had a head mechanic (Alam) and an assistant mechanic with us. Finally there was a film crew coming along with us to make a travel documentary. The 'film crew' consisted of 2 people. Greg (from Grainger Television: www.users.bigpond.com/graingertv) who was the interviewer, commentator, director etc. and Richard the camera man. Greg was to ride a bike with us and had not ridden in 30 years! Since the film crew would be filming in some politically sensitive areas we also had a government liaison officer, Mr. Lal, with us. So there was a van, a jeep, nine bikes, and 16 people.
Next we got to familiarize ourselves with the motorbikes in the train station car park. We would be riding 500cc Royal Enfield Bullets. These were designed in 1956 and production stopped in 1962 in England. At this point India bought the machine tools and have continued to make them ever since. The Enfields have the rear brake and gear change lever on opposite sides to a modern bike and the gear pattern is also opposite (one up, 3 down). I was a little nervous as I had not ridden in two years but after a few minutes in the saddle I felt at ease. The bike made a great sound and it was immediately obvious that they had a lot of character.
At this point Mike informed us that out of the 15 people in last months tour 12 fell off! We decided that the first to fall off would buy a round of beer.
Rupert
Himalayas motorcycle tour - Week 1