November 19, 2010
Shillong
rest day
Dawn light is showing me my grim location and it feels strange to be here on a street, but the trucks have stopped coming and going and just a couple of workers waiting for a lift watch me fold away the tent and once that's all done and dusted my bike gets unlocked and I carry on the way I was riding last night - this morning, actually - not knowing if it's the right way or not as I don't have a guidebook or anything to tell me about this city or even this whole region of India.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
I see a road sign that means little to me and ask some teenage boys for the centre of the city and mention 'guesthouse' and they just giggle, which I could well do without and then I simply decide to U-turn and see what is the other way- just instinct.
After 10 minutes of going up another Shillong slope some loitering men direct me to where there are hotels and as I walk my bike along I hear a French accent say that I must be English because I have Karrimors. It's bewildering to see two other cyclists - Caroline and Gael - in the process of loading their panniers onto touring bikes; the first foreigners I've seen.
They're going to Bangladesh right now. I'd like to join them, but feel tired out and need a sleep and a wash and try their hotel, but it's full already at 7.30 AM, so after we have done talking and getting email addresses written down we say farewell.
I walk up the street some more and eventually settle on the Rainbow Hotel where the receptionist says he's a born again Christian and he kindly allows me to rest in a bedroom while mine is being prepared, which takes about an hour.
It feels good to shower and wear clean clothes and then have breakfast at a nearby joint.
I ask about computer repairs in the café and get told there's a place just cross the way and the man there says I should bring in my Eee PC for his engineer to look at after 10:00 and I go back to my room and fall asleep till one and then return to hear him say it is a hardware problem and could take 10 days to sort out. I expected to hear that so I'm not disappointed.
The highlight of the day is getting a small pack of Tide washing powder and a dinky cube-shaped polythene container with a screw cap to hold it in and also a small scrubbing brush as I'm tired of trying to get my clothes clean with bath soap and shampoo, and the wool detergent that I brought with me. Tide does the job. No messing. Wow, is that stuff good.
After a bout of emailing in a cyber café that's artistically decorated with ice-blue and white squares, including all the furniture, and with red polka dots on the ceiling I get an early night and feel grateful for a comfy bed.
Shillong is chilly as it's pretty high up but tomorrow is a new day and I reckon I'll be on the road if it's a sunny one. Back to Bangladesh.
Today's ride: 2 km (1 miles)
Total: 791 km (491 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 1 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |