Day 1: Delhi to Meerut ≈ 80km; Av. Moving Speed 12km/hr. I got a lift to Millennium Park as my starting point, and headed over the Yamuna River bridge...
It was a challenging ride... Komoot, the map I was using, directed me into some bizarre village with no roads, dilapidated building, etc. A local chap on a motorcycle kindly directed me onto the highway - the ride from here on was direct but unpleasant - massive traffic jams, construction, potholes, dirt roads, dust, cows, some escaped horses(!). I arrived, largely unscathed but exhausted! I stayed at the Hotel Royal 9 - not bad, not cheap, and no windows in the room.
Day 2: Meerut to Muzaffarnagar ≈ 61km, Av. Moving Speed 14km/hr. This section of highway was much better than yesterday's. Unfortunately, I was caught in a heavy downpour just outside of Ghasipura and spent time sitting undercover at a roadside drink stop (Shree Krishna Cold Drinks). I was drenched and covered in mud by the time I got to my hotel. Fortunately everything dried overnight after a good washing - wearing nylon/polyester clothing helps (cotton absorbs sweat and can really start to smell over time). I used to think that Indian drivers were really bad but I've come to realise that it's every man/woman for themselves and they just don't care. They'll stop suddenly in front of you or hurtle out of a side street. Might prevails - a bit like the caste system. Dogs are everywhere but they rarely bark or chase after you - it seems that they just couldn't be bothered. Lots of monkeys in evidence also.
Day 3: Muzaffarnagar to Roorkee - 53km. It was a much better ride today - no rain, and highway NH334 was pretty good. There was an especially nice section along a canal. I stayed at the Hotel KK Residency; it was ok, at 1126Rp (=$20 AUD). I was initially given a neat but claustrophobic, windowless room on the third floor but managed to change this to a ground floor room with a window - that unfortunately looked out on to the reception area - and after some negotiation was allowed to keep my bicycle in the room (they initially wanted me to leave it outside next to a pile of rubble)
Day 4: Roorkee to Haridwar - 33km. Cycled Upper Ganga Canal Road, bypassing NH334 for a while. Overall, quite a scenic route, until I rejoined NH334. Caught again in the rain; waited again under the tarpaulin of a roadside drink spot. Soaked but I dried off after resuming cycling. I stayed at the Raj Guest House in Haridwar.
The Ganges Canal - from Wikipedia: The canal is primarily an irrigation canal, although parts of it were also used for navigation. It was originally constructed from 1842 to 1854, sponsored by the British East India Company following the disastrous Agra famine of 1837–38, in which nearly 800,000 people died. The system consists of a main canal of 272 miles and about 4000 miles long distribution channels. It comprises the Lower Ganges canal and the Upper Ganges Canal - the Upper Ganges canal is the important and the original Ganges Canal and runs from Haridwar to Aligarh, with some branches, with a combined length of 9.575km!.
After irrigation was commenced in May 1855, over 767,000 acres (3,100 km2) in 5,000 villages were irrigated.
Day 5: Hardiwar to Rishikesh - 25km; Av. Moving Speed 12km/hr (quite slow, but I'm taking it easy, if not cautiously at times on these hectic roads). The road was good in parts, terrible in others, as was the traffic. I'm staying in quite a nice hotel but the first room I was given didn't have a window and was rather gloomy. After discussion with the front desk I was given a "complimentary upgrade" to 'a room with a view'. Overall a short and okay ride today, but the rubbish around Haridwar and on the side of the road was quite distressing. There is some attempt to curb the problem with big signs in places - in English - saying that single-use plastics have been banned in Uttarakhand.
I assumed I'd be ok cycling through the Rajaji Tiger Reserve!
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| leaving Haridwar... |
In Rishikesh, I walked to the Beatles Ashram (and Maharishi Mahesh's ashram) via the impressive Janki Bridge, which is divided into 3 sections- one for pedestrians and the other two for two-wheelers. You could see shrouded bodies down below, ready to be cremated, and people bathing or swimming a bit upstream. The Ashram was extraordinary- only 60 years old, but completely deserted for many years now. It's a large complex, almost like a university, with numerous meditation cells and caves, and accommodation for those training to become TM meditation teachers. Lots of graffiti giving tips on life e.g. let it be; be here now, etc. Tremendous views of Rishikesh and you can sit and listen to the waters of the Ganges.
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| Janki suspension bridge |
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| trainee TM teachers' quarters |
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| view of Rishikesh from the ashram |
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| stone meditation cells |
Day 6: Rishikesh to Dehradun - 41km; Av. Moving Speed = 12km/hr; Max. Speed = 29km/hr. The road condition was quite good, HOWEVER gradients were up to around 8% at one point, and I encountered heavy rain during the last part of the ride. The rain itself is not so much a problem as the puddles, mud and other debris...and being subsequently splashed by passing vehicles... The road was quite scenic in parts - I mainly kept to highway NH7 - and there were scores of monkeys by the sides of the ride. This was charming yet slightly unnerving at the same time.
In Dehradun, I cycled to the Robber's Cave (13km round trip) and then the Mindrolling Monastery, a large Tibetan Buddhist Monastery (26km round trip). The latter was a tricky route - both Google and Garmin misdirected me. Robber's Cave is a natural cave formation, about 600 metres long, where rivers flow inside the cave. Apparently it was used in the late 1800s by robbers who wanted to hide from the British. It was modestly interesting and involved wading through calf-height flowing water through a narrow canyon, giving my feet a really good cleansing. Mindrolling Monastery is a large Tibetan Buddhist Monastery established in 1965 (it's pronounced "Min-drolling") and apparently the largest Buddhist Monastery in India. The great stupa in the monastery is over 60m tall and is said to be the world's largest stupa (or the largest in Asia). An imposing 35m-high gold Sakyamuni Buddha statue, dedicated to the Dalai Lama, presides over the monastery. Nagyur Nyingma College is also a part of the monastery and is currently training over 300 monks. It was a fairly hair-raising ride back to the hotel as the traffic and pedestrians increased dramatically due to a festival being held this evening in Dehradun. I had planned to have a non-veg dish tonight but was told I had to order vegetarian food due to the festival...
I especially enjoyed a meal at Garle Korean restaurant (chicken teriyaki kimbap, miso and smoothie!) .
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Day 7: Dehradun back to Rishikesh - 41km. Av. Moving Speed 16.6km/hr; Max. Speed 44.5km/hr. Av. Temp 36°C. The road surface was quite good, especially when cycling on highway NH7. Quite hot and thankfully no rain. I again cycled past hundreds if not thousands of monkeys; at one point I cycled too close to some youngsters and a larger one, presumably a parent, bared its teeth and lunged at me, giving me a bit of a start. I couldn't help noticing a few OHS issues: a chap painting the building opposite my room and two blokes attending to some electrical issues up adjoining light poles. My plan was to finish cycling, stay in Rishikesh for two more nights and then return to Delhi via some form of road transport… which I did.
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| dubious OHS practices |
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| more dubious OHS practices |
... back in Delhi, I cycled to and from the Lotus Temple (Baháʼí House of Worship) - a short but harrowing ride, as my Garmin sent me down some very narrow alleyways.
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| Lotus Temple |
Overall, this was a short but challenging jaunt through a small section of northern India. Riding here is hair-raising at times and you need to be extremely attentive in the traffic as one small lapse could be disastrous. In a way, it's an exercise in mindfulness, although you can never entirely suspend your judgement. On the road, you can encounter tractors, pushcarts, cows, buffalo, goats, horses, excavators, cranes, bicycles, cars, trucks, buses, motorbikes, pedestrians, vikrams/auto-rickshaws, camels, even elephants. WhatsApp is ubiquitous and very useful nowadays and I found a data-only e-sim (via airalo) was worth getting.
