To Tordi: Haystacks in a dry countryside

March 18, 2016

The advantage of leaving a bigger town early is there's usually less traffic. This was the case for us until cycling past the railway station where briefly there was a huge tuk tuk traffic jam. The disadvantage of leaving early is no one has cleaned up the cow poo yet and there's a lot to avoid.

Early morning we got the two climbs done and stop for first break in Shreenagar. We cross the main busy road and pick up the back road again. We are happy to not be on the main road with all the truck traffic. The back road though continues to be a one lane track with uneven edges, sometimes a 2-3" drop off and a rocky sandy shoulder. The asphalt is good in long stretches until we reach a village, then the asphalt essentially goes away and becomes rocky and sandy until on the other side of the village. With narrowness of the road, there seemed to be less sharing the road and more aggression. Cars, trucks and buses are less likely to move over giving us space in passing, making us get off onto the shoulder. Buses in particular, we pull off and stop when one is passing. Patrick had a bit of a spat with one truck driver who came up behind him and honked the horn full blast. When we hear loud music, we know a tractor is coming up from behind, they seem to try giving us space. And then there are the cows to avoid, they plop down just about anywhere because they own the road.

After Shreenagar, the villages are smaller and poorer, dirtier and with more garbage along the streets. There's not much food to offer, though we did stop for cold water and a sprite in one of the villages. The landscape doesn't change much, except the haystacks have become more prominent and varied in shapes. This is agricultural, cattle and goat country.

Next stop was in Arain, a larger town with streets lined with motorcycles, and vegetable carts and a corner food stall that had nice seating in the shade. It's hot today, over 40C, but the breeze helped keep us cooler and provided not too much resistance.

When we reach Mulpura we are 10kms to Tordi. We stop for one last break and have a cold lemonade drink and fresh pineapple drink. As we cycle toward Tordi village, we see the ruins of a castle on the hill, built by the founder of the Khangarot Clan in the 16th century. With the help of Jarmin's blog, we find the Tordi Palace (Tordi Garh Hotel). We are greeted by Sadat, the manager and a descendant of the clan, and welcomed with a cold drink. Bags are carried up to the room for us, finger chips and beer delivered to the room. Tonight dinner on the rooftop.

Jaipur tomorrow for sightseeing and three rest days. The third day is a holiday where everyone throws paint on everyone and the Jarmin's recommended to be off the road that day. Sounds like a good plan.

Truck junkyards at the outskirts of Ajwer.

Kids at a bakery / truckstop / deep fry place. We have a nice cup of coffee and some food.

A new roadsign somewhat out of proportion to the road we are following today.

Another break and a crowd forming. There seems to be as much interest in the bikes as for us. Funny, but these 23 year old bikes are still cutting-edge here in India.

Interesting haystacks today. The fields have all been plowed, we think they are waiting for rain before planting.

Passing an icecream vendor. He tries to sell Patrick some, but Rachel has all the money.

Overloaded trailer. The big diaper is filled with cut straw. It takes up the whole road and is very reluctant to move over.

Cows busy "recycling" paper. This stuff seems to be plastic coated so we wonder how well that is going to set.

Inside the Tordi Palace. A pretty cool place to stay. A little expensive for us, it caters mostly to tour groups. But stopping here makes the route to Jaipur a lot more pleasant.

Today's ride: 103 km (64 miles)
Total: 14,676 km (9,114 miles)

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