Got sick of gorgeous hilltop forts, opulent palaces, coloured cites, snake charmers and Rajasthani women in colourful dress trying to sell us silver ankle chains and brightly painted puppets. We were really feeling the winter too (down to 20 degrees in the day is just not acceptable) so we finally left Rajasthan after nearly 3 weeks there - it really is enough for a holiday in itself.

Click for view of Udaipur

Continuing south, we left the desert and it got warmer. Udaipur is another relaxing town where tourists while away a few days relaxing on the lakeshore, shopping and eating western food. We joined them in this, also visiting the many temples and palaces. It is a charming place despite the cow poo covering the roads and putrid liquids trying to run through its open drains.

click here for beautiful bull

Motorbikes are pretty low down in the pecking order on Indian roads but we’ve tried to change that. Trucks being king of the road choose the bit they want to drive on with everything else having to scatter or they overtake when there is obviously oncoming traffic which is smaller than them. Usually we are forced into the ditch as they drive straight at us but a couple of times we’ve come to a deadstop in our lane and refused to move and some have conceded by moving back to their side of the road which they find rather amusing after they realise we won’t play their game although it does confuse them somewhat.

Click here to see how trucks are commonly parked

If its not trucks impeding our progress then its water buffalo crossing the road, dead dogs or pigs spread across it, cows sitting on it, small children pooing on it, mangy dogs standing in the middle suckling puppies, rickshaw drivers and bicycles approaching us in our lane in the wrong direction and of course Indians who never ever look before they cross. I’ve been thankful on many occasions in India that I’m on the back (I had briefly flirted with the idea of riding my own bike home) but I’ve become so used to watching the video game unfolding in front of us that I’m sure its almost as stressful for me. Its little wonder we don’t regularly manage the same distances we covered in the west. That said we have managed some ridiculous distances for India and have so far managed 6 of what we call big days (over 250 miles) in the 7 weeks we have been in India. These are, without exception long, tiring rides of about 8 hours that we have undertaken to arrive at a pleasant destination instead of shortening the day and arriving somewhere that’s only a pitstop for the night with crappy hotels.

click here to see view across Wesern Ghats

Further south into the state of Madhya Pradesh where we were told after enquiry that the state minister had recently been replaced for not putting any money into the roads for sometime. They could not in most cases be called potholed, rather a series of craters with no remaining evidence of tarseal which had me wondering if our KKH suspension mount repair would hold. Fortunately it’s a small state which we were able to pass through in a few days but it didn’t surprise us not to see any tourist buses and only a handful of travellers. It’s a shame as they would miss the old ruined hilltop fort at Mandu. The city was founded in the 10th century on a lush, verdant plateau surrounded by valleys dropping away to all sides around. We spent a quiet day walking around the various temples, mosques, palaces and buildings that had served various religious periods and rulers.

click for another image

click here for another image

Not so quiet but beautifully stunning were the World Heritage listed Ellora and Ajanta cave temples developed by Buddhists, Hindus and Jains dating back to 200BC. It’s impossible to describe the beauty and serenity of the setting, the huge carvings and paintings.

click here for another image

We rode westwards, south of Mumbai, over the cool, green Western Ghats, the hills running parallel to the coast. It was a beautiful ride with only a few small villages along the way relying on the lucrative Indian tourist trade, strawberries and blueberries. Down towards the coast and south through Maharashtra, a state with almost no roadmarkings in English so that we were constantly forced to stop and ask for directions.

Click here to see Sadhus

Riding south it got hotter, lusher, fields thicker with coconut palms, and then finally we reached the Goan state border. Another half-hour ride and we reached a little paradise, finally after 4 months we were at a beach again and were able to watch the sun set into the sea, which we haven’t done since Turkey.

click here to see 40 year old Parkie

Rich had hoped to celebrate his 40th birthday at the beach and while it was a low key affair that’s just what we did. We had a great day sunning ourselves on the white sandy stretch of beach lined with coconut palms, eating pineapples and seafood, playing frisbee on the beach and swimming in the warm water. God bless Indian winters.

Click here to see Lisa and friends

We feel like we are on holiday again and have parked the bike up for a much needed rest.