Well, eastern India here I am. I completed most of my repairs (Greta is
still overheating in heavy traffic) and put on my new rear tire. I have to make it to Moreh on the eastern
most border between India and Myanmar to meet up with a group of other
overlanders, a Myanmar ministry official, and a tour guide to cross Myanmar, and
a short time to get there. The roads between Guwhati and Moreh are not good, to
be more accurate, the roads between Impahle and Dimapur are horrendous. The short stretch s just 201 km, but the well-traveled
route is missing large sections of road. in its stead are potholes, dust pools,
and thousands of trucks. The run took about 9 hours to complete, and during the
ride, I inhaled about a pound of dust or more.
Fortunately, the roads from Impale to Moreh, the last section of the trip and the last section I would run in India, are quite beautiful and were a joy to ride. This area is called Nagaland, and the parts of the region that are away from the cities and villages are just beautiful. In the villages the faces have started to change to a more Indochinese appearance, but the same dirt and lack of cleanliness were ever present.
I will be out of India soon, and to be honest, I cannot wait. The lack of basic hygienic food preparation, the discarding of refuse into every corner of every city, the over population, the lack of infrastructure planning, people shitting and pissing in the streets, and the awful smells, have all become too much. Now to be fair, I have met some wonderful people in this country, some of the best on my trip, but India has, by a large margin, been my least favorite country visited, either on or off this trip. I do not see myself returning to India, which is something I have never said about any country I have ever visited. This is all quite sad for me to admit, as India was one of the countries I was most looking forward to tour.
Fortunately, the roads from Impale to Moreh, the last section of the trip and the last section I would run in India, are quite beautiful and were a joy to ride. This area is called Nagaland, and the parts of the region that are away from the cities and villages are just beautiful. In the villages the faces have started to change to a more Indochinese appearance, but the same dirt and lack of cleanliness were ever present.
I will be out of India soon, and to be honest, I cannot wait. The lack of basic hygienic food preparation, the discarding of refuse into every corner of every city, the over population, the lack of infrastructure planning, people shitting and pissing in the streets, and the awful smells, have all become too much. Now to be fair, I have met some wonderful people in this country, some of the best on my trip, but India has, by a large margin, been my least favorite country visited, either on or off this trip. I do not see myself returning to India, which is something I have never said about any country I have ever visited. This is all quite sad for me to admit, as India was one of the countries I was most looking forward to tour.
Leg Distance: 371 mi (598 km)
Total Distance Traveled by Motorcycle: 30,861 mi (49,776 km)
Countries/Territories Visited: USA, Mexico, Belize,
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru,
Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar,
France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia,
Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Transnistria, Moldova, Romania,
Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo,
Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China (for 20 seconds), India, Nepal
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