After several busy days we are starting to ge a little rest. My cold is a little better today but our TV Producer, Mark Simpfendorfer, now has the dreaded lurgy. It’s been doing the rounds of the Aussie team.
So where do I start?
After an amazing ceremony in Delhi we cycled immediately back to Bible Society and loaded up ready for our trip. Unfortunately we didn’t get permission to cycle from the centre of Delhi so we were bussed out about 20km before getting on our bikes. We then cycled towards our first night’s stop, Sonepat. Along the way we stopped for lunch at one of the many roadside areas. We enjoyed a wonderful Indian meal before getting back on our bikes. We finally arrived in Sonepat and were hosed in a school. We had ‘fairly solid’ mattresses on the ground with a blanket so my sleeping bag liner came in handy. There were a lot of Mosquitos buzzing around and they managed to zero in on me a couple of times. Each bite would keep me awake until it stopped itching so intensely.
In the morning we had a big breakfast with curried potatos and other Indian delights. We then went to a school assembly in the hot sun. We were sitting there for a couple of hours. I felt sorry for the kids in their uniforms, complete with ties and jumpers. A numer of local schools presented items based around Caring for the Girl Child which has been our cause while here. Some local pastors and leaders spoke out very strongly against gender discrimination. Unfortunately the time in the sun was too much for one of the Australian team who succumbed to heat stroke later in the day. Thankfully, she recovered well.
After the assembly we headed towards Karnal. Again there were amazing things to see everywhere we looked. Another lunch at a roadside stop and more cycling. The Indian organisers are still getting used to working out the timing of getting from one place to another so I had to impressupon them that we were likely to get into town after dark. From that point on the team started working together much better. We got into town just before nightfall which was just as well because it was a very busy town. The local church put on a wonderfuldinner though even the Indians found it a bit too hot. After that, the Aussie team was taken to a hotel which boasted a 4 star rating. It was comfortable but 4 start was a big stretch. It was great to be able to withdraw from the Indian experience for a short time. We are absolutley loving it here but it can be overwhelming at times.
The rest refreshed us enough to face the next morning. It was Sunday so we had a church service to attend before starting the 85km ride to Ambala.
I’ll fill you in on the rest of the trip in my next post. I’ll try to post again later today.
Thanks again for the emails. I am going to reply to each one on my return but until then, thank you. If you’d like to shoot me an email just click on the email symbol in the sidebar.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Rest at last? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.
What a fascinating story.
Hi Rodney. I work with Errol Werner. Prior to you guys leaving Errol was unsure if any progressive ride pics would be posted. Is possable for yourself or big E to either put some pics on the web or email us pics directly.
We have an Indian gent in our team. He is just as keen as the rest of us to see some pics(must be home sick).
All the very best to you all for the rest of the trip.
Kind Regards
Graeme Barton
i can almost smell the different foods you guys are sampling … i gather you are all digesting it well?