Dag 4. 18.5

Afstand 450 km fra Jabalpur til Varanasi.

I dag var en lang dag, vi tog afsted fra Jabalpur kl 7 med madpakke fra hotellet. Turen tog 8½ time, på meget af turen var vejen ikke særlig god. Nogle steder var der kæmpe huller i vejen. Hver gang der var en strækning med god vej, blev Michael rigtig glad.  I dag var der også rigtig mange køer på vejen, og folk som kørte i den forkerte side af vejen.

Vi har fundet ud af, at vi ikke skal forvente at finde restauranter på hovedvejen i denne del af Indien, så i dag klarede vi os med madpakken fra hotellet.

Vi stoppede 2 gange undervejs, under et stort vejtræ, så vi kunne holde i skygge, men med op til 45 grader havde vi ikke lyst til at stige ud af bilen.

Da vi nåede Varanasi havde vores GPS ledt os ind i byen, så vi skulle igennem de smalleste gader, godt vi ikke mødte nogle modkørende biler.

Godt trætte ankom vi til vores hotel i Varanasi og lige da jeg står ud af bilen er der en som siger hej Susanne, det var en golf ven fra Bangalore som tilfældigvis var på forretningsrejse til Varanasi.  

Day 4. Jabalpur to Varanasi

Distance 450 km, driving time 8½ hours.

Left Jabalpur at 7 am in the morning, since we knew it was going to be a long drive to Varanasi. Little did we know what lay ahead!

The road from Jabalpur to the border of Uttar Pradesh was ok, but with heavy traffic and a nonexistent NH7. Things got really bad when we crossed the border to Uttar Pradesh and found out that there was no road, just potholes. Driving in 45 degrees C, on a nonexistent road, dusty and with trucks driving all over the place mainly on the wrong side, kept us really on our toes. To top it all, the road was filled with what I call Indian speed breakers ( cows, cows and cows). When are they ever going to lift the ban on beef?

We had asked for packed breakfast before leaving the hotel and we soon found out that this was the only food we would have for the next 8½ hours. Restaurants were nonexistent on this highway. We stopped twice, to have our snack and to rest, but did not venture out of the car, as it was too hot. About 100 km before Varanasi we crossed the Ganges, it was a pitiful sight.

On reaching the town of Varanasi at 4 pm our Gps took us through some of the narrowest lanes that I have ever driven a car through. We finally reached our hotel and as soon as we stepped out of the car we bumped into Suresh – a golfing buddy from Bangalore.

We will be spending the next 3 days in Varanasi, exploring the city and living in an oasis in the middle of a chaotic city.

                                          Huller i vejen  / Pot holes on the way

Ganges

Morgenmad i skyggen af et træ, det er for varmt at stå ud af bilen. Breakfast in the shade, too hot to get out of the car