Epilogue

My journey is complete. My journey is over. I am now back in the UK. My bike remains in India, yet to be shipped back. I am slowly adjusting to a different existence..... So, for those of you keen on numbers.....


No punctures. No mechanical failures. No serious accidents. 
12 countries, 34 days, 7736 miles, 566 litres of petrol, overall average of 62mpg, 1359kg of CO2 emisions  :-(  sorry planet earth, that discovery went hand in hand with pollution.

I have been very fortunate, very, very fortunate. I am fortunate to have completed my adventure without uninvited drama. I am fortunate to have had the time and money to undertake the trip.... At times I have been painfully aware that to many onlookers, in the countries I have passed through, I must have appeared to have been an overgrown and spoilt western brat. Really.... riding through countries like Pakistan, where for many, a days wage is less than $1, the sight of a European on a fancy motorcycle, wasting petrol, and behaving in a variety of alien ways must have seemed and possibly was, repugnant. I am fortunate that I have a family that allowed me the freedom to indulge my selfish passion for adventure. I am fortunate to have met many good people along the way.

Revelations.... Iran. A lovely country with probably the kindest most hospitable people I have ever encountered. Bravo, the people of Iran. The road to India.... its almost entirely paved, sometimes poorly, but regardless it is, a more or less unbroken strip of tarmac.

Lessons learnt...... A personal lesson...Get a "Camelback". Take more photos. Don't rush along so much. Travelling alone is liberating. Be very selective about the information you gather and possibly rely upon, from forums and blogs.... many authors project more than reality in their writings.    

Recommendations..... Give it a go, its not as hard as you might imagine. The dangers exist but can be managed. Fear the Taliban, the terrorist, the separatist, but fear the erratic driving of the common man more so.  The BMW F800GS. It's a lovely bike. I can think of no bike, better suited to this type of journey. Mitas E07 tyres. Cheap (I like cheap) incredibly long lasting, and in the dry, grippy! After 8000 miles they have barely worn.

If you are thinking about or planning a similar adventure, I am happy to chat.

I am glad that I've written it all down, fairly much as and when it happened..... One day, I hope my son reads all about my adventure. I hope he is proud possibly inspired. I hope he grows to understand why I was away for "a very, very long time". I hope that one day we share such an adventure together. 

Peace, David...... For my 2013 bike ride check david2somewhere

19th October Sangameshwar, India to Morjim, Goa, India

An early start, chai and biscuits. I have lost count of the number of packets of biscuits I have eaten over the last month. Parle G biscuits hit the spot (no pun or mischief intended). During my journey I have consistently cared more for my bike than for myself. My diet has been heavily biased towards the instant, the processed and the packaged. My bike has in contrast been treated with somewhat more care. I have ridden it with mechanical sympathy (like your grandmother might ride a motorcycle). I have checked its oil on an almost daily basis and lavished an uncharacteristic amount of love on this machine.

The weather is cool (20C counts as cool in India) and misty. I ride the first few miles with my visor up....otherwise I am mist blinded.

The miles roll by and still the NH17 provides beautiful scenery. This road is however a little dilapidated. On the tightest switchback comers the surface has been totally carved up, vigilance is required!

You know when you have passed over the state boder into Goa because there are suddenly way too many bars and liquor shops. Goa applies very modest taxes to alcohol in comparison to its neighbour states. As a consequence Maharashtrians indulge in alco-tourism, nipping across the border to indulge in budget booze. As an additional consequence Goa has a drink problem. I have known a number of Goan men who have drunk themselves to death.

I fill up with fuel on the highway just outside Pernem. I know that when I arrive at the beach I don't want to use bottled petrol, sometimes cut with other fuels. I am amazed to discover that Goa suddenly has the cheapest petrol in India. A recent change of state government has meant a few price drops and relatively more price rises... Politics and manipulative Politicians.

Brimming with pukha petrol, I double back along the highway into Pernem, the capital town of the Taluka. My final miles are along a minor road that I know very, very well. The last moments of my journey are surreal. In the past I have travelled this road on a small scooter, Morjim to Pernem, to shop or to joy-ride, it always seemed like quite an outing. On my bike the journey takes few effortless minutes, I have of course slowly become accustomed to doing little but riding.

I arrive at my ultimate destination, the home of Dominic D'Souza. An old friend, who at one time was my housekeeper. I have told no one in India about my journey nor my arrival in India. Come to think of it I told relatively few people full stop about my journey. I pull off the road and through a grove of coconut palms into Dominic's garden. Dominic's mother races out of the house when she hears the alien noise of a large motorcycle. She has no idea who I am. She looks frightened. I swiftly pull my helmet off!

My first actions on arriving in Morjim.... to strip the panniers from my bike. I no longer need them, I can ride my bike naked of burden. And that is that. Time for rest and recuperation (do I now how to remain at rest? possibly not.........)

Misty Maharashtra Morning

Goa !!! Mandrem beach

Barramundi for dinner

Arambol beach

Morjim Mileometer 25493

 

18th October Valsad, India to Sangameshwar, India

I set out knowing that spicy food is no longer my friend! I head southward, with trepidation toward Bombay (Mumbai). Bombay is a peninsula made up of a number of marshy islands.... or it was. Now it is India's commercial hub and probably the most frenetic city on earth. My route didn't take me through the heart of the city but it felt as if it had. I encountered very high volumes of traffic on roads that were woefully inadequate. The connect road between the north of the peninsula and the south is a single carriageway and constructed in parts from block paving, quite astonishing. My satnav rescued me several times from wrong turns. I finally left the city behind and almost end up on the Pune Expressway. I doubled back to join the southbound NH 17. I stopped just short of entering the highway, in Panvel, looking for a place to grab a drink. I assummed that "Nightriders" was a bar..... maybe I was, with hindsight naive. Soft drinks weren't available.

A few kilometres after Panvel the NH17 becomes a rather lovely road. The October, post monsoon landscape was verdant and luxuriant. The road wound its way between the the Konkan Ghats (a coastal mountain range running southward from Mumbai) This road, although not in the very best condition (Ho ho ho) is exciting and spectacular.

As I rode onward I knew I was less than a days ride from journey's end and started to allow myself the indulgence of anticipating my arrival in Goa. For most of my adventure I have focused on the day in hand. In particular dealing with the simplest of things.... Keeping the bike fueled, ensuring I have a route planned out for the following day, finding a place to stay for the night, rounding up a meal. And in the moment staying safe! remembering that this is an adventure not a race.

I slowly rode my way southward aiming to reach Ratnigiri but settling upon Sangameshwar. I stayed alongside the highway in a simple guesthouse. Not the finest accommodation I had sampled over 30 odd days but sufficient. I grabbed some beer and a 1/4 bottle of whisky from a local bar.

Tomorrow Goa. Golden beaches, cosmopolitan fusion culture, Portuguese colonial architecture... maybe I have read too many guide books......

Sangameshwar mileometer 25341