Day 9

Up early. Cracking night sleep may I add! That truck stop was better than the premier inn and half the price, worth being on show for dinner last night!

Only this morning our measuring jug for or oil was pinched and it took them 20 minutes to make us toast. They can’t grasp this toast thing in India. We ended up having a ‘toastie’ with butter inside it... that’s the grilled cheese sandwich I’ve been searching for for the last 10 days!! But no, when I ask for that I just get tomato cucumber and spicy presto in soggy bread! What?! Oh and to top this morning off, we got water for the table and four metal cups with a cockroach crawling up the side and inside of one. Yummmy! Chuck him in a dip and he will be TASTY!

On the road just about, after a few selfies with some over enthusiastic Indian tourists with a sweaty armpit on our shoulders and we were on our way. It was a little bit of a boring drive through the rest of the hills and dead trees. We didn’t see much wildlife only cows of course.

My google map skills got us through the yellow highway (sign posted just like the others) only they don’t tell you it’s going to be one lane of tarmac thrown down and stamped on by elephants do they?! Well, tough s*** guys that’s the way we were going! Anyways, after they all doubted me they actually really enjoyed the journey as it took us through all the little villages, people bathing in the river, washing their clothes and picking up water for cooking whilst buffalo bathe in the same bit of water as them. We scraped a cow trying to get through the highway without being pushed into the ditch by them strolling up the road with their farmer - lucky escape with him not seeing us scrap the skin of his sacred animal on our beautiful looking rickshaw! The most docile cows you will ever meet are Indian cows. Brilliant. You walk down the street side by side with a buffalo with horns the length of you arm and they don’t pay any attention to you. But saying that neither do goats, those little cute bas**rds look like they’ve just tried their first pair of heels on when they walk but they s*** themselves when you beep your horn at them because they wait until you get next to them to cross the main highway. Cute idiots.

The men started to panic because we hadn’t seen a petrol garage in about 100km and we needed to fill up, again no faith. I know where I’m going, I’m a human GPS. They should understand this 9 days in by now.

Anyways, cut a long story short about 15 km away (like I said it was) we found a petrol pump and with our measuring jug we found in a kitchen hut shop in the middle of some random town we managed to measure the oil with a lot of confusion between how much our measuring jug held at 500ml line and how much their measuring jug measured at 500ml we cane to an understanding that they were both the same and we managed to put our 2t oil in the Jerry cans and fill up 10litres petrol.
Can I just add every time I take the Jerry can to the forecourt and ask for ten litres of petrol and play charades with them, they don’t understand me and just look blank. Yet when a man goes over they understand. So do I have 12 fingers or stranger looking ones or is it jus me?

We stopped about 80km outside of Vadodara. Starving Marvin, it was dominos pizza on the one side of the street or a “hotel” on the other side. We opted for the hotel, knowing that if we had locals dishes they would be able to cook it better.
We ordered way too much again - as usual. And for the second time we became the main attraction at the feeding post. The waiters seemed to just appear from nowhere and kept multiplying. The chef even cane out to watch us eat, my resting b**** face and impression of them made them feel a little umconfirtable so that frightened about 4 off for a while. It’s unreal mun! Go to the city and find some people to watch.

We got back on the road after lunch, but could t move we were so full it was a horrible feeling. I almost got plowed off the main highway a few times by cars for them wanting selfies so cutting us up and pulling into the hard shoulder and asking us to slow down or stop for a selfie. Or the driver would be looking at us on his left and take the car with him a the smile of mine and dad’s a.m. would soon turn to a soar scowl of ‘what the f**k you doing mate!’ Alongside a long loud horn blast. You could not live without that beauty here. A horn gets you places and out of s*** with sideways coming trafficthat don’t stop or look when they get to a junction.

Anyways we had some fun with the daffodil head making people look whilst them seeing a blonde girl driving a tuc tuc. Yes. I liberated the women of Vadodara again today. I’m spreading the love! They love a good first pump of the air to show the “girl power”.

Another quietish city, we got to the oasis hotel shot 5pm. We would have got their at 4.550’ but dad forgot his left to right again so a loop around the block it was.

We arrived at the oasis hotel, only to find another 2 rickshaws! With the grand total being 6 rickshaws at the hotel.

I think I have forgotten to mention that this is still a dry state. One night dry can equal very s***ty people on holiday, but Ross seen tuborg beers being delivered to the hotel - bloody RESULT!
I’ll drink cats piss darling and fosters at this point. And no kids we aren’t alcoholics we are very tired and worn out rickshaw runners in 40 degree sunny heat. We could kill for a beer. (Maybe a little alcoholism in there though, but shhh.)

We got showered, the rooms we clean and tidy. Very s***ty WiFi though! We had a dip in the paddling pool and got changed to go out and have a look around the city. It was nuts! I had a little gypsy girl hanging off my arm for me to buy her bracelets off her for ages. A barbers shop with a stool as a step to get up into the small hole in the wall and the food market we went through was insane. It was huge! But the colours and smells of fresh food and spices was brilliant. They’re all selling around about the same things so don’t ask me how they manage to make much money. Their aubergines were bright bright purple! We had a walk around the men I don’t think have climatised to the craziness as much as me yet. I hadn’t forgot to watch for everything when walking around and not get knocked down. Although I have to admit I made a big fat rookie... I stepped in a cow pat because I was looking at the man above me balancing on a 5 inch ledge of concrete with no harness on sorting out the bamboo scaffholding of the building... whilst on the phone. Sorry what!? I think I pass on the ‘beth stood in a cow patch joke’ even if the guy across the road found it funny sat in his shop.

We got back to the hotel not really knowing what do with ourselves without a drink in or hands. We asked the hotel if they had any and they said the tuborg we seen being delivered today was to the liquor store behind the hotel. Ah yes just like dubai, we found out that you needed a bloody alcohol visa aswell as it is illegal to sell and purchase booze in this state without one or you get the death penalty. Bit extreme for a beer if you ask me.. I had to suck it up and not have a drink whilst the men got crisps and drank the last of their whiskey.

We went up in the roof and joined the kiwis, we chatted for a while before we called 10pm our bedtime because they had drank the whiskey dry. Mean while when me and Ross got back to the hotel we ordered food from room service and watched a film. Bloody hank now that big fat lunch had gone down!

Mum and Aunty Lynne decided to not connect to WiFi when they got to Goa to let us know they were okay so me panicking tried to phone them on mine and ross’s phone tried phoning out from the bedroom, I emailed all the reservation people at their hotel and then resulted in going to reception for them to phone Goa and me to get hold of them. Low and behold they were worried that I was ringing them... to check that they were okay!!

I can rest easy they’re safe. Big day tomorrow! Let’s get to Udiapur!

230km covered today, approx.