Back in Ahmedabad

Dan is safely back in the UK, and Rob and I are back in Ahmedabad, which seems a bit strange. I have just got back from the Police Station and have got our permission to leave India, hopefully the last bit of bureacracy we will need to deal with for a while.  We leave with a new respect for rickshaw drivers, one of whom has just received a healthy tip from me, much to his confusion! 

 As promised we will uplaod a few more photos now we have a decent internet connection!

Thanks again for all your support.

Batteries.....

The cricket last night was as expected - total mayhem & over excitement!  Much to the delight of the locals Kolkata beat Delhi.  Got back to the hotel at half past midnight to see The Cow safely returned from the mechanic (she had even been given a much needed bath) so all was well.

Up at 5.45am to beat the rush hour city traffic - seemed to work, was busy, but not as bad as expected.  Headed north expecting more nasty multi lane national highway, but instead got an interesting days drive on reasonable roads through lush Ganges delta area. 

Then the fated stop for petrol to notice the battery broken free from its bracket and lying melted on the exhaust.  Carefully removed the debris, and have decided to continue batteryless - seems far less hassle.

Stopped in Malda for the night, have seen 4 other teams today, think there might be a bit of a convoy over the next 2 days.

 

Kolkata

We made it into Kolkata last night, and are treating ourselves to a day off today.  We have managed to track down our IPL tickets, so off to Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils tonight (the British involvement is in the Delhi team, so we may not be very popular with the local fans!).  Will be good fun, but I think the 6am start to get out of Kolkata tomorrow might be a struggle!

The Cow has been taken off for various bits of work to be done, including a replacement battery - so should have stereo blasting for another National Highway day tomorrow!  Plan is to take a couple of days to get to Siliguri, and then on Saturday we will embark the 1500m climb to Gangtok.

We have tried to upload a few photos to the [gallery](index.php?mode=teamwebsites&name=holy-cow&page=gallery), but the internet cafe doesn't really have the right software to process them so it's a limited selection for now.

Booked

We are getting there!  Have booked hotels in Fort Cochin and in Gangtok, and are aiming to reach the finish on the 10th April .  We kind of need to as Dan's flight back to UK means an early departure from Gangtok on the 11th - bad (or perhaps late) planning means he will miss both the start and the finish parties!  Haven't managed to book the helicopter which gets us from Gangtok to the nearest airport, but should be able to sort that when we get there.  Roll on Kerala, and legal drinking!