I've been sitting here in my room with a huge smile for the past half an hour after one of the best experiences so far since arriving in India almost a month ago. Earlier this evening, myself and two other friends ventured out into the city to buy a used bicycle. While rickshaws are extremely cheap and fairly quick, much of the action on the street is missed because it is hard to see out of them, and half the time exhaust from other vehicles is blowing right in your face which is extremely unpleasant.
After finally finding a shop that sells used bikes, we bargained with the owner's son and purchased three bikes. After some much needed tune-up to the breaks, we decided to make out way back towards SB Road. It started to rain and get dark almost immediately after we started biking back towards our flat. The shop was quite far from our end of the city, we had to bike for roughly one hour to get back home. I will be one bike ride I will never forget!
Within seconds on the road a bunch of cattle took to the streets and I had to weave in and out of the herd while dodging other traffic as well. The craziness of India's streets is extremely intimidating, however it almost felt better being on the bike rather than in a vehicle, to experience the pace of life on the bike was amazing.
After about ten minutes there was a huge elephant on the road that we had to pass. This was incredible, however as I was passing the elephant on the extremely busy street it can within inches of my tire. My arm was basically touching the moving elephant it was pretty wild!
Crossing the road at intersections was rather unpleasant however, and I can already foresee problems crossing the road right in front of the University daily, as this road is relentless in terms of crazy traffic. Overall though, getting a bike has been best purchase yet, and the ride home from the shop this evening was an experience of a lifetime. It almost felt surreal at times, that I was riding a bike in India, especially since only 3 weeks ago I thought I was going to die when trying to cross the street! I'm really looking forward to exploring Pune more by bike, there is so much to see on the bike that can't be scene by other modes of transport.
After finally finding a shop that sells used bikes, we bargained with the owner's son and purchased three bikes. After some much needed tune-up to the breaks, we decided to make out way back towards SB Road. It started to rain and get dark almost immediately after we started biking back towards our flat. The shop was quite far from our end of the city, we had to bike for roughly one hour to get back home. I will be one bike ride I will never forget!
Within seconds on the road a bunch of cattle took to the streets and I had to weave in and out of the herd while dodging other traffic as well. The craziness of India's streets is extremely intimidating, however it almost felt better being on the bike rather than in a vehicle, to experience the pace of life on the bike was amazing.
After about ten minutes there was a huge elephant on the road that we had to pass. This was incredible, however as I was passing the elephant on the extremely busy street it can within inches of my tire. My arm was basically touching the moving elephant it was pretty wild!
Crossing the road at intersections was rather unpleasant however, and I can already foresee problems crossing the road right in front of the University daily, as this road is relentless in terms of crazy traffic. Overall though, getting a bike has been best purchase yet, and the ride home from the shop this evening was an experience of a lifetime. It almost felt surreal at times, that I was riding a bike in India, especially since only 3 weeks ago I thought I was going to die when trying to cross the street! I'm really looking forward to exploring Pune more by bike, there is so much to see on the bike that can't be scene by other modes of transport.
No comments:
Post a Comment