Our last day
The last day of our tour was amazing in every possible way. We visited the Taj Mahal and although I am rarely impressed by over-photographed tourist sites, this one was all worth it. The imposing and yet, somehow humble, mausoleum is perfect in every possible sense. Being in the presence of this white marble testament to love was so enthralling in the mystical morning fog, that it left me teary-eyed.
After such a start, the day was set for perfection. We left for Delhi and chose the expressway to make this last segment faster. It was the first toll road that was not free for motorcycles and it must have been an expensive one, as it was almost free of trucks – although this could have had something to do with it also being Independence day, a national holiday in India. With a designated lane for ‘two-wheelers,’ it was a fast and smooth ride, despite the fact that the same lane was also for slow vehicles and stopping. We cruised at 90-100 kmh, only to have a local small bike come up next to me at some point, with a man (carrying a large blanket in his lap) trying to give me a piece of paper, while explaining something vigorously. At high speed. Confused, I stopped, and he gave me what turned out to be the ticket I was supposed to receive when passing the toll booth, which was needed to exit the next two gates without paying. His bike had a slight smell of burned bits, presumably from forcing it to catch up with me, and I was very thankful for his efforts.
And things still got better, as if this last day also made an extra effort to make up for the crappy things we occasionally experienced over the past weeks. At some point, I got overtaken by three riders, all wearing proper riding gear, the first of which had long, plated hair, giving me the thumbs up. I was yelling to David in the cardo “it’s a female rider, it’s a female rider!” with such excitement, he thought I went mad. I’ve seen women ride in India, but mostly pillioning on a side, with their colourful garments protected by a sari guard from getting caught in the rear wheel. While most man ride manuals (often shifting gear barefoot), the only women I’ve seen ride on their own so far were on small scooters. To see a woman ride a manual in full gear was, therefore, an unexpected joy. Nobody – other than foreigners – wears protective gear here, even helmets are uncommon among locals, so I thought this group was of tourists, just like us (despite the lack of luggage). Imagine my joy when we caught up with them at the next toll plaza and found out that they were locals, just out for a morning ride. I don’t know which of the two of us was more excited, the girl in that group was, apparently, yelling the same happy discovery in their comm system. There seem to be far less women riders in India than in Australia, so we exchanged contacts on Instagram and went on our way, energised by the experience.
You know how it feels when things just go smooth and everything falls in line? As impossible as that may seem based on past experience, our arrival to Delhi was as easy as one could desire from an Indian city. Traffic was manageable, the navigators did not try to take us on wild-geese-chase, and we made it to the hotel with only one U-turn and less than three cars trying to run us over. We finished the day with a stroll in the area, bought some kurtas, had some fantastic Afghan chicken, and wondered around a local market, immersed in the loud cacophony, colours, and fragrances, unchanged for hundreds of years.
On our last day in India, we caught up with a lovely old friend of David’s, returned the bikes that served us so well to the rental company, and just wasted time lazing around before our evening flight back to Australia. We spent 24 days here, of which 11 days riding a total of 2,200 kms. We visited eight cities (on purpose) and stayed in three out of necessity. I fell off the bike three times, stalled it a thousand times, and broke down once. I got one big bruise but no broken bones, and a truckload of experiences. The most important thing I learned from this tour was expressed perfectly by David last night: people might be surprised by what they can do when they try. Based on my past struggle riding, I never quite believed I would ever be capable of this. Half of my brain still can’t believe it, yet here we are.
Where next? Who knows.