I was pretty annoyed to find the grinning twit with the cover off the bike. The Hotel staff did what they allways do apologise and then nothing !
You will see how attractive and interesting the rural roads are.
The road was just a ride North. I did ask about the "other route" but was assured it was a bad road. They were wrong of course, I got the bad road.
It is easy to forget Indians do not travel. They have no concept of where they are on a map, and the next town may as well be in Pakistan for all the interest they have in it.
So I passed a cricket match, that was good, and then found the town. Finding the way out was more difficult because they have no signs and no idea of where the next town is or even its name ! So it was ride and hope.
It didn't take long for the road to deteriorate finally into no road really at all, just dust and stones loosly connected by random pieces of tar seal and potholes but that was after it got dark.
The evening light in the countryside was of course great. This place is really pretty in the evening off the main roads with people going about their lives.
I had other works to do to get the last 35k in the dark with vehicles with no lights, trucks tractors, bikes, carts, the usual, including trips off the road to avoid the oncoming monster as it loomed out of the dark.
I did find Tala. It is a "reserve" town including the Maharaja's now Hotel. He was the one that found and bred the white Tigers which he sold to Zoo's around the world. ( None in India I was told !) He didn't get to be Maharaja by mistake !
So my lodge was found and a price negotiated. And a great nights sleep. You actually have to pay a lot more to get a decent clean bed and a quiet sleep, but even then there are no guarantees.
nzl04
