Most Inspirational Moment
So much of it. Seeing so many locals running out of their houses to greet us every mile of the way. We didn't see another westerner for 12 days. The food was varied, mostly good and fun. WE SAW A TIGER!!! Our guides didn't come on the safari and were dead jealous when we got back as they had never seen one. You really get to see India and its cultures...cycling around little back lanes with music piping out from churches & mosques. Held a snake. Stopped at lots of little 'coffee shops' (not exactly Costa Coffee so don't expect it) where we sat around with locals. Without exception every person we encountered was friendly and happy to see us.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Safi, Joe and Shebu were the key to the success of this tour. After day one they were like family...friendly, helpful, encouraging, sympathetic, empathetic, funny, the list could go on for ever. The quality of these guys can not be understated in their quest to make this a wonderful experience for us all.
Advice for Potential Travellers
We all got saddle sore (still take a gell saddle though) but after the first 2 km each day you just forgot about it. We also had varying degrees of stomach problems but again everyone just accepted it was part of India and it didn't really spoil the fun at all. Ours was the first trip in August and the weather was ideal for biking. Mostly around 30 degrees and occasional rain to cool you and have fun cycling through.The 14 of us in our group was made up of some late 20s, 30s, 40s and us 2 in our mid 50s. Although we are not cyclists and struggled on days 1 and 4, everyone was great and each had their day of triumph. It was not a race and it was not an ordeal...we walked (with 2 others) up Ooty Hill as we couldn't cycle it. The bikes went on the van. It took us 4 hours but it was okay and we were cheered when we got to the top.