Daily Snippet #3 Being pulled over by the police

After a cold shower (not out of choice) to wake me up, I set out on getting closer to Nepal

Half an hour into the days riding I was summoned over to the side of the road by a police car. Sadly it wasn’t the fashion police (although I probably would be deserving of a visit) and they were in full gear.

Hopping off the bike and following them to a building just off the side of the road they offered me some food and tea! This certainly was a surprise and was needed as I hadn’t had breakfast at this point.

I haven’t eaten any street food yet sticking exclusively to restaurants to hopefully prevent any upset stomachs but their chef looked trustworthy so I gave it a shot.

They didn’t speak a word of English and I didn’t speak any Hindi so the conversation was limited although they seemed very nice and wanted to help me out.

This had drawn a bit of a crowd so had to oblige for a few photos

The roads were good the rest of the day (besides one part where it turned to sand...)

The pollution seems to be getting slightly better the further north I go.

I soon reached the town of Bareilly and went to the first hotel I had shortlisted. The man took one look at me and said ‘no rooms’.

I’m not sure if I quite believed him but there’s no real way of arguing that. The second hotel I shortlisted didn’t actually exist in real life. The third and final hotel was far more expensive that what I had planned to spend. I asked them if there was anywhere cheaper and reluctantly they eventually said that there was a place next door.

This was much more like it. I don’t really care about the standard of hotel (this doesn’t have a shower, just a tap and a bucket) but the deal breaker is if they let the bike into my room which they did so I was happy.

A quick trip to Pizza Hut to pile on the calories then back to the hotel.

I’ve just realised that I need some passport sized photos for the visa to Nepal which I don’t have... It will be an interesting morning trying to find somewhere which can do it for me.

I’m enjoying India but there are some aspects that I’ll be looking forward to leaving behind. Bring on Nepal.