Hills and Sea

we biked from the sea beach about 3km to the port. we caught breakfast at the sea rock and there, we met Daniel, a charming Alsacian journalist. it was nice to converse in english for a hwhile and a good break for us. daniel took some pictures of us, and us with him, and we bid farewell. we took some masala for the road.

because they wouldn't let us take our bikes to the fort, we skipped it and opted instead to spend rs24 on a ferry across the bay to Dige. the ferry ride was great. i relaxed in the sun atop the boat while eliot sat nearby playing his yukele for the locals. as i lounged, i watched the impregnable pirate fortress janjira slip by us.

from dige south, the road is beautiful. marsh land, big trees, monkeys, lots of cattle.  the folks here are simple, rural types.  they usually glare at you until you wave, then smile big toothy grins and wave back. they usually shout something like "hello john!" "how are you?" "happy journey!" sometimes we get all three rapid fire. stopping to ask for directions frequently leads us down from small town to small town. we dipped to and away from the coast, lazily cycling the back roads where gringos are rare.

we climbed some seious hills with poor road conditions late in the day. we stopped in a small town and a young girl ran back and forth from her snack stall filling up water bottles for us. these last hills were brutal. the highlight was meeting a knife sharpener, whose services we accepted. the hills soon crested and we coasted down a lond hill that spilled out onto the beach road just before a tiny town. we pulled over and pitched a tent after eating chala masala from our tins.

later, we made a small fire on the sand and talked for a few hours about sailing, old friends, summer camp and learning to drive. lots of things. it was good to just talk for a while without biking. read for a while by our smallbike lamps and then fell asleep to the sound of the approaching tide.