Today we continued our trek across Bihar and put in about 260km.  We have put just over 2,000km (1,250 miles), and we figure there are about 875km to go… we are well over 2/3 of the way!  Being this far along, I think its time to once again express appreciation for all of those that have donated to our Cool Earth campaign, and to remind everyone that we aren’t enduring this solely for our own pleasure!  To date we’ve raised £1,250 (about $1,766) of our stretch goal of £1,500.

As was expected, the quality of roads has deteriorated a bit and the roads require driving right through — rather than around — major towns.  Driving through town is always slow and a video-game-style challenge, but eventually we come out the other side.  We have had some bad luck with trains lately.  Apparently, they lower the barriers for the train according to the train schedule, but then they remain down until the train actually comes.  In our experience this can be anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes.  Everyone essentially parks in the street (aka crams every available square inch as far as the eye can see) until the train arrives, gets out (or off) of their vehicle, and surround us.  It can be a little unnerving, but as long as we smile and wave, they seem to do the same back.  Once the train passes it is a free-for-all to see who can get across the tracks first.

Arrival in Bhagalpur was Hillary’s worst experience to date (due only in part to Jason’s driving skills).  We had no less than five collisions in the space of 20 minutes.  Apparently her hips are a bit wider than her sensible pants suits let on.  My favorite was when a bicycle rickshaw got its fender wedged on our frame and it took what seemed like an eternity trying — smack in the middle of the roundabout, no less — to get the vehicles separated.  No one was hurt, and no one even stopped or yelled, but Jason and I were both totally frazzled by the time we arrived at the hotel.  Speaking of hotels: for any future India travelers, be leery of the words “palace” or “grand” in a hotel name — more often than not they are neither.

Assuming Hillary is still in the “hotel’s” “car park”, we will depart tomorrow at sunrise for Siliguri.  Bihar will be behind us, and we hope the worst of the heat will be over with as well.  AND there is the promise of a cold gin & tonic at the end of tomorrow’s road.  We’re hoping that four more days of driving will get us to Shillong.

Still without a connection that supports images… so check back later for those.

Cheers,
Jason and Brian