On the road . September 2007 . Pakistan and India
Green
Hotel [website] McLeod Ganj 23-09-07
It's all or nothing
Islamabad to Amritsar
(5 cycle days; 4 rest days; 373km; 808m)
Islamabad to Dina (105km; 446m)
Dina to Gujranwala (130km; 228m)
Gujranwala to Lahore (75km; 51m)
Lahore to Wagah (30km; 30m)
Wagah - Pakistan to Amritsar - India (33km; 53m)
All about the money
Whoever designed Islamabad must have
had Europe in mind as it would have made a beautifully
green city environment. What they forgot to take into
account is that in this part of the world not everyone has enough money to firstly own a house and then if they do, the concept of maintenance is valued little. Consequently,
lining the roadsides in between the main sectors are
scores of really filthy tent villages. The apartment blocks
and housing making up a large percentage of the "working
class" area are also considerably decayed and in such
a state of ruin that you can hardly believe
this city is only 40 something years old...
Tip of the month: Smelly Tevas?
We got this great tip for smelly Tevas
from the
Wereldfietser
Forum.
Tevas are renowned for stinking, just ask
anyone who has ever owned a pair.
Soaking your sandals
overnight in a bucket of reasonably concentrated
Dettol solution as well as giving them
a bit of a scrub in the stuff will get
your Teva's staying pretty fresh for at
least a month. It does really work. Dettol however, is not completely
eco-friendly. While the pine oil, castor
oil are natural, the chloroxylenol it contains is a medium toxic substance. So if you
are looking for a more natural alternative
to this cleaning tip, then you can make a paste
of bicarbonate soda, lemon juice and
plenty of drops of tea tree oil. Scrub the Tevas
thoroughly in the paste and leave them
covered in it overnight. Scrap off the residue
the next morning and rinse. This also works well, though the freshness doesn't last quite
as long as the dettol method.
Islamabad (Pakistan) - Chandigarh (India)
Kilometres: 934 kilometers and 630 meters
Riding days: 14
Alti meters: 6492 meters
Weather: sunny, but temperatures (finally)
going down
Best accommodation: Green
Hotel in McLeod Ganj for their fantastic
food and wireless internet
Special thanks to:
The owner of Induskorea.eu for spontaneously offering to drive us around Lahore and dropping
us off on the other side of town • The Hashmi family in Wapda Town Gujranwala for
feeding us, giving us a place to sleep and the
nice conversations • All the people (and pets) that remembered Ali's
birthday on September 7 • Julie & Ian for the fun, though short 30 kilometre cycle together; for sharing meals, conversations and of course their delicious Douwe Egberts coffee •
Breakdowns:
11: flat tyre
11: spoke
12: flat tyre
12: spoke
26: spoke
28: flat tyre
29: spoke (all of the above by Son...)
