15 February - Navsari, India

A new continent. After 4 months in the Middle East, I left Muscat in Oman on 12 February.

I failed in my (considerable) efforts to obtain a sea passage to India. :-( So much for my ethos of slow boats, instead of frenzied flying. It was a real disappointment. Ah well, what can one do, but try one's best?

On the way to Muscat, I encountered various surprising folks, not least was the Palestinian who, in response to my saying I was English, immediately countered with 'I hate the English - more than the Israelis, more than the Americans' - and then ended up giving me accommodation for the night!

Other accommodation included staying in a home in a village, in a hotel in Muscat, then 2 nights with a Malaysian/Aussie family, as a result of an encounter in a breadshop when I had asked if I could pitch my tent in the garden. Su, Kieran, Frankie and Caitlan were very welcoming; Caitlan, in particular, seemed struck by my trip. Thanks, guys, for such a comfortable stay.

I met a cyclist! Always cause for celebration. Peder has cycled from Sweden via bits of Africa to Yemen, to Oman, now going on to the Emirates, Iran, the Stans and China (then see how his money goes). As usual with cyclists, a joyful encounter. He was interviewed in Oman resulting in having a couple of articles published in Omani papers that week (I have a copy of one of them).

Now, having gone through the trauma of flying with my bike (being joined, on my way to the airport, by a Brit, Barry, out for a cycle. He flies helicopters), I am in India. I arrived at and left Bombay airport cycling north along Highway 8. For the first 40 kms or so, all I could think of was: a) I'm going to die b) I can't handle the squalid poverty c) I want to get out of here. Truly the worst first impression of a country I have so far encountered.

Since then, though, things have looked up: I am still alive; I have been staying with the most lovely Indian family from Luton; I've spent the last 2, of 5, days at an Indian wedding. I met Nick coming out of a restaurant of a hotel where I was going to inquire about room rates. He invited me to stop over when I passed Naswari. His parents, Ishwar and Indu (known also as Ken and Linda!) have been totally non-plussed by my turning up out of the blue, even inviting me to the celebrations of the double wedding of some cousins. I was welcomed by the wedding host as the woman 'who has cycled from London to be here' and invited onto the stage to say a few words!

I was taken on a visit to a Deaf school. It is residential, started in the 1950s; sign language is the communication and teaching language; and the children are delightful, even being able to understand my signing and me theirs (to some extent), which begs itself to encourage possibly setting up some connections with the Deaf school in Bristol?

Weather is hot. England, I hear, is still snowy and cold. Poor you.