Express through India
Content:
- 3 days, 760 kilometres, two border crossings
- Flat's over Flat's
- No spare tire
- 30 km further
- Night Shift
- 17 hours on the road
- Amritsar - Golden Temple
3 days, 760 kilometres, two border crossings
After a more or less comfortable night in the Nepalese customs yard, ten meters from the border crossing, early bird "Giger" and "Edwards" walk to the Nepalese customs hut. Apparently not awake yet so we move to drink tea in the street shop where I destroyed the lever of the water pump in a sudden power attack yesterday. Whoops. Sorry.
Twenty minutes later we are sitting in the customs house and fill the heavy book with our vehicle data. The passport inspectors, we must first shake off the bed so that the exit is sealed with the stamp.
You realize now that we are very time focused. Because of idiotic Indian visa regulations, we need to rewind the 760 kilometres from Nepal to the Pakistan border in just three days. Two Indian border crossings (entry and exit) are big time wasters and those who know the Indian traffic knows that this timing is a big challenge.
So no time to loose .... Bruuuuuuuummmmm
Flat's over Flat's
I can still hear my words:
"How big is the chance that I have another flat tire in the next 700 kilometres??"
Exactly, if you look at my flat-tire statistics of the past two years then the chance is about as big as when a snow avalanche hit me here on the hot plains of India!!
But no, of course, my tire exploded just 100 kilometres after crossing the border to India! AAAAAARGHHHHHHHH why just now??
We make a express pit stop, jack set, wheel nuts loosed: KAWUMM! I'm petrified, I lay shivering under the big 220l diesel tank. The 3.5 tonne Toyota has just fallen off the jack. Only a few scratches on my hand and a huge shock is the result of this most negligent action. Fortunately the wheel was not removed yet!
No spare tire
Since the chance is so small, I unfortunately have no more spare tires on hand. But what to do now? First, we need to get the tire off the rim. With joining forces, Mark and I try to urge the shit-thing (sorry) of the rim. Without success. The crowd around us is constantly growing. At some point, a boy can not stand this theatre any more and take the tools out of our hands. "Plop Plop ... and whoosh the tires has jumped off the rim. "
My eyes also almost jumped out of my head ... Technique is everything!
The nice young man is also helping us to put Mark's way too small tire onto my rim. And so the journey continues with Marks low-low-profile tires. Well at least no rain is predicted. :)
30 kilometres further ...
… Mark comes to an abrupt stop. You will not believe it ... another flat tire, now in its IVECO. Luckily he has two spare tires. So this one is changed rapidly and the hole is repaired in the next village. We have a sweet sugar cane juice to increase our energy and eat some samosas to lower our rising hunger!
And on we go ... Bruuuuuuum!
Night shift
We spend the night in a sugarcane field where we enjoy our two lat beers. The Speedmington game is canceled after a short time because of the bone-fracture risk caused of the uneven sugarcane field.
As an after dinner drink we are served with fresh milk from the farmers who have just brought the whole family to welcome us. Later in the tent I hear a car approach accompanied by direct military votes. Phuu, I can already guess what comes next and it is confirmed with a knock on Mark's door: POLICE, your friend and helper!
Fortunately, they have no clue what is hidden in the roof tent and bother only Mark which has to deal with the annoying Police men.
The alarm clock will ring at 3 AM. We want to avoid the mega-traffic and catch up the lost time yesterday. Unfortunately, the navigation in the blackness of the night is difficult and we get lost dozens of times and lose much valuable time.
17 hours on the road
Seventeen hours later, 9 PM, we finally arrive in Amritsar on the western tip of India. A driving day of superlatives. Pothole tracks, highways, idiotic drivers, Power-Nap's and a adrenalin ride through the nightly Amritsar. Incredibly, the day still takes no end, because we are looking for a place to sleep in the Sikh city.
Fridolin I just parked in the courtyard of the Tourist Inn but Mark and his giant baby can not fit through the entrance. So we drive through the town until we finally find a guarded parking lot where he can spend a quiet night between buses and a petrol station.
Amritsar - Golden Temple
And we have still not enough and pull ourselves together shortly before 11 clock at night, to see the main attraction of Amritsar. The Golden Temple is the holiest shrine of the Sikhs and is open around the clock and offers, especially at night a, lets say, "golden" atmosphere.
I'm blinded again by the fragile beauty of this holy pilgrimage. Like a jewel the golden temple rises from the water.
Link to the pictures: click here