Sunday, November 23, 2008

Whew!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for the posts being out of chronilogical order but we haven't had Internet for a few days and Steve is ahead of me on writing.

We made it! After five weeks, one day and four hours, we parked the four remaining bikes in front of the White House Hotel in Delhi where it had all began. A huge sigh of relief could be heard around the globe and particularly in the bar that evening.

Jim Shaw had been right. India is not a place for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. It is also not a place to ride 3,744 kilometers on a motorcycle. But we did have a most excellent adventure with enough stories and pictures to bore you folks to tears for years.

Here’s some of the oddities/highlights:

Road Signs:
If married, divorce speed
Caution and care make accidents rare
No race, no rally. Enjoy our beautiful valley.
Kill time, save life.
This in the most dangerous country in the world for driving!

Sanjay and Mukesh Dictionary:
They spoke better English then we spoke Hindi but we were often amused by the literal translations.
Jumping road - bumpy
Good looking - nice view
Bad speaking - rude
Mad talking - angry
All peoples - everybody
Feeded - having eaten
King house - palace
Money house - bank
Shirted people - Ruth Ann, the retired English teacher, used this term one day when taking a picture of us all in our new custom-made Buttbuster
t-shirts.

Update:

Brian & Harlene flew back to Canada where Brian is receiving further treatment in an Ottawa hospital.
Bill & Helmut flew to southern India to see a paper machine from Domtar and will be flying home via Calcutta near the end of November.
Steve, Ruth Ann, Ross and I flew down to Cochin in the south for some r & r in two beautiful villas in the Backwaters then took an overnight train to Goa for some sightseeing and tanning before flying back to Delhi then home on December 1st.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

What an incredible trip....
Look forward to seeing you back in North America!

Deb

Paula said...

Dear Ruth Ann,
I have read the whole blog and am very impressed by your photos. I am looking forward to seeing you. If the opportunity of the first weekend in December would be agreable to you, as Karl and Judy are planning to invite all of us over for lunch, it would be a great opportunity to see you again and hear about your "fantastique experience". I will be leaving on the 14th of December.
Love, Lydia (Jolibois)

Anonymous said...

Hi Jean could you email me yours and Helmut's phone numbers.

Harlene.Hart@gmail.com

sr said...

Paula and Lydia,

The 6th will work for us, but we must be in Seymour between 1700 and 1800 for a motorcycle club party. We also have a party at noon on the 7th. See you soon. sr

Wayne said...

Hi Jean Ross and all that's left

I've been remiss in keeping up but finally read the latest. I guess the party's almost over and you'll soon be back in the snow. Enjoy the rest of the sunshine and I'll see you in the spring

wayne

mo said...

RuthAnn, Please comment if you can about the fires in the city. Are you safe? Lois called today before we knew about the danger. Hope you and Steve and rest can get out safely. We want you back to bore us to tears!!. And I'm sure Franceis misses you heaps. Come over any time. Mo

Anonymous said...

hi,
we are worried about all of you. we are thinking of you and hope you are ok. please let us know if you are safe.
mo