DAY SEVEN - BHOPAL TO SAGAR - 207km

This morning I woke up feeling like I had had a good sleep, but for the eighth consecutive night, I’ve still only managed to clock up to five hours sleep!

A healthy breakfast later and we set off to see the Union Carbide memorial. We drove past it at first, I’m not sure what I was expecting as a reminder of such a catastrophic chemical disaster but t certainly wasn’t this.

The stone sculpture itself was beautiful, don’t get me wrong, I just expected it to be in a park, where people could sit in peace and reflect or pay their respects. Instead, it was tightly surrounded by a small fence on a narrow and busy residential road on the outskirts of Bhopal. But it became more poignant when I was told that the factory that had caused 28,000 in the city to perish was hidden behind the wall across the road from the statue.

No one was ever charged for what’s described on the walls as ‘genocide’, and you’d be forgiven for thinking that this happened centuries ago. The sad truth is that all those people died an unnecessary death in my lifetime, in 1984 and so for many, or should that be the ‘lucky ones’, the irredeemable loss must still haunt them to this day.

After taking it all in, we had to head back on the road. A shorter journey of 160km today, so we should have an easy ride. Should. Alas, that was not to be! We drove through a narrow road and Gordon stopped after hearing a loud sound. Something was wrong. I looked at Katie, whose eyes dilated as she stared behind me, part of the roof rack was protruding through the leather roof canvas and was about nine inches from my head. When we got out to look, we were amazed to see the front left joining had been severed, causing the rack to collapse at the back. The crew car behind us said a low-lying cable was to blame, … typically random.

Oh no. Not the best of starts; luckily you can get any kind of mechanical problem fixed pretty pronto in India and just down the road we found a welder who could secure it back in place.

Repairs cost a mere 120 rupees later (just under two pounds!) and we were on our merry, but cautious way, to see the Sanchi Stupa’s.

This Buddhist site is incredibly important in the religion’s history and it was, as I’m sure you can imagine, peaceful, elegant, and simply stunning. I stopped to think about my Mum, I know she’s like to see this place, in fact, if she had it her way she’d be on the rickshaw’s roof rack (though seeing today’s events unfold, it wouldn’t have been a good idea!) but in my own sentimental way, she is on this trip with us, as on the first day I attached a picture of us in the rickshaw, facing the road! Aaaaaahhh,… but I’m sure we’ll come and see India together one day soon!

After our lunch break we headed back towards Sagar. We expected a smooth ride as we had chosen to go on the highway but we were instead greeted with the rockiest, bumpiest stretch of road so far. Katie was behind the handlebars and was driving at a reasonable pace (that girl doesn’t like slowing down for anything or anyone!) but we soon encountered our second puncture of the trip, in the middle of nowhere.

No need to worry though as our tyre-changing skills are top notch and with the help of some broken tarmac on the side of the road and Gordon’s bulging biceps, we managed to get the ‘lil lady’ hoisted up to fit a new tyre and we were off again! We’re starting to worry if she’ll cope with the trek to Nepal but are obviously hoping for the best!

As a group I feel we’ve definitely figured each other out. It’s amazing how well we’ve clicked and we laugh a lot each day. Everyone’s just so relaxed and just being themselves, leaving plenty of time for good conversation and banter.

After Katie’s triumphant stint behind the Perspex glass, I took over for the final leg, my first drive toady (quite a privilege being driven I tell thee!) and we arrived at the hotel, ordered our essential beers to get us through the interviews and somehow ended up going to bed at 3.30am… where does the time go?