Lest you think it all a bed of roses......

So, we had a wonderful visit to a cave and the next day we were to head onwards. As mentioned previously Mike broke a spoke coming in to Nahin so he had to spend an afternoon repairing it as well as other small gripes and problems on the bike. One of his wheels had also developed a puncture overnight so I repaired that. The following morning we rose at the crack of dawn to continue east. Unfortunately, my repair job hadn't done the trick and the wheel was flat again. Not good. A Pleasants row ensued. Eventually the inner tube was replaced (I hasten to add that neither of us could find the leak so I still maintain I did the perfect patch up and the pumping (by Mike) was somehow defective) and we set off, now in the heat of the morning. The road rose sharply so our mutual bad moods were further worsened by a 7km climb in the baking sun, up a never-ending steep hill, with big trucks belching past on their way to the tunnel bore site. You can imagine the scene.

Eventually we got out of the hills and were beginning to get out of our ill temper when my bike suddenly gave out a loud hiss and the rear wheel flattened instantly. Off we went to the side of the road, unloaded, repaired the puncture and headed to a noodle shack nearby for lunch. Noodle soup consumed, we clambered back on our bikes only to find that my rear wheel was once again flat. I'm far too mature to cast aspersions.........

Finally that puncture (third repair job of the day) was dealt with and we set off. Our spirits improved as the road flattened out but 5km from our destination a vicious head wind started up and the last bit took us perhaps 6 times longer than it should have.

Headed out to dinner that evening to 'Only One' restaurant, which was a farce. Had the worst meal of the trip - so bad I refused to eat anything and went off somewhere else leaving Mike to shovel in congealed fried rice and gristly chicken.

As you can imagine, not our finest day!