DAY SIX - KHANDWA TO BHOPAL

Today was our earliest start yet and despite the lack of shut-eye, we were on good spirits. I drove ‘the little lady’ today (our rickshaw) out of the dirty streets of Khandwa, passed two RTA dogs and eventually on to a calmer and more peaceful road towards Asayar, where farmers were walking their cattle along the road. I’m still in absolute awe of water buffaloes – their faces make me smile every time and if I could, I’d pack one of them in my luggage, but I think it might push my 25 kilo allowance over the edge.

It’s a big old drive today, 270 kilometres and as we’re all a bit tired, we’re splitting the front-seat action into two hours each to start with. After a truly palate-pleasing lunch at the Raj Restaurant in Harda, Katie had her first encounter with a cow, one I thought as going to result in extra stock for McDonalds, but luckily she realised that no matter how fast you go, or how many times you beep your horn, the holy cow moves for no one.

Our initial plan was to go to Hoshanabad but we were told that due to a Muslim festival, most of the bridges were closed and the city centre would be too busy. So, instead we chose to take a more adventurous route via Kardanpur, all we had to do was cross the river to get there and someone said there was a ferry that could take us and our little lady across. What they didn’t tell us was that getting to the jetty required driving over sand, wet sand, so the crew finally came out of their deluxe vehicles to give us a hand. But another surprise was waiting,… the ferry was no P&O, let me tell you that. It was, in fact, no more than a float with some loosely fitted planks separating us from the bottom of the raft and this was supposed to get us across the river, but this IS India, where the impossible somehow becomes possible and where Health and Safety is a concept that has never been formally introduced here, quite lucky really as otherwise the country would come to a standstill!

One rickshaw, six motorbikes and roughly 20 people later, we were all safely on the other side admiring the perfectly timed sunset. We had to wait over an hour for the two crew cars to get across (it could only fit one at a time) and whilst Gordon sat and watched the rickshaw, Katie and I were shown to the local toilet by a lovely Indian lady. Despite the communication barrier, she still talked to us as if we could understand and we responded with smiles and a ‘Hinglish’ accent. She pointed at an open air sandpit on the beach, just about far enough to be from peoples’ view and watched on as we skilfully put one foot in front of the other, avoiding human faeces. I felt like Catherine Zeta-Jones in the film Entrapment, minus the glamour perhaps.

We then walked back with her and we stayed under her protective wing; she made us chai, introduced us to her family, offered us food, and even a place to stay in her home (she was worried about us travelling in the dark!).

Can I imagine that same scenario happening in England? No. And that’s quite a sad thing to have to admit. She made us feel very special indeed, it was so heart-warming and a testament to the sisterhood in this country.

Once the crew had crossed the river and we were reunited with Gordon and the little lady, we stumbled across a dilemma. Apparently the next part of the journey, from Rehti to Obaidullahgan was notorious for theft and even murder. The locals who had just stood around us were worried for our safety and it was eventually decided that us whiteys would travel in the crew cars, whilst three of our Indian crew guys drove the rickshaw. Not ideal as we want to take her every step of the way to Nepal but safety comes first and when the locals worry, you’d be stupid to ignore their concerns.

So we stepped in to the comfortable, air-conditioned cars and listened to music whilst watching out for those darn ‘bandits’ but luckily nothing happened at all and Gordon took over the handlebars in Obairdullahgan and we were once again reunited with our ‘shaw.

We got back at midnight. It’s been the longest and most bizarre day so far, stressful and peaceful, safe and at a bit of risk but we’re all happy and healthy and still excited about the rest of journey!!