The long, very annoying, trip to Sri Lanka

November 4^th, 2026

Galle, Sri Lanka

We woke the morning of November 3^rd and did our usual morning routine of getting ready for the day.

We then packed up a few things and went up for breakfast I would likely not have a large lunch due to the travel schedule today.

After eating (and basically being ignored the entire time for some odd reason and only eating the buffet) I returned to my room and packed everything up except my Kindle.

I then relaxed and read for about an hour before getting up and finishing the last few things to pack.

My flight was at 5:30PM, I need to be there 2 hours early, and will take an hour to get there in the local traffic.  Checkout time was at 11AM, but I was told I could stay till 1PM without any additional charges.

It was not about noon, and I decided it was close enough I was just going to head to the airport and get stuff done and then could relax and read while waiting.

I checked over the room and then departed and headed to the lobby.

I checked out of the room, paid my bill for all the food and few laundry services and then went over to sit down for a bit while I set up and Uber ride.

I submitted my request in the app and was told a car would be there in 2 minutes.

So, I got up and watched out the window while watching the map in the app show how close the car was.

When it turned down the street the hotel was on, I took my bags outside to the parking lot.

A car pulled up and parked on the other side of the road, and I was not sure, so had to walk a bit to see the plate and then signal the guy to pull into the parking lot, not sure why he did not do that, perhaps the address did not indicate the hotel or he was just following his GPS which may not have shown the hotel?  Odd.

We loaded bags and got into the car and he proceeded to start driving.

It was slow going getting out of the downtown area, traffic was really heavy today.

We eventually reached the slightly less congested regions about half way to the airport.

He had been talking on the phone a bit, but was driving okay, even being a bit aggressive and keeping us moving instead of waiting for other cars as much, which I liked.

About half way he started asking me how I was paying, or at least I think, he grasp of English was pretty much nothing.

I kept trying to tell him I had paid via the Uber app. (They do give you the option in India of paying the driver directly and you have to do it that way if you request a tuk-tuk, so perhaps it is not always clear to the driver?)

He then dug into his wallet and was showing me a 500rupee note, and trying to ask me something, but I could not figure it out.  Not sure if he was saying that was what I owed (the ride was just under that 470rupee) or if he was trying to pay me to not take the ride, perhaps he had a better offer with the phone call he was just on?

I told him I had not clue what he wanted, and he put the money away and kept driving, though a few minutes later was back on the phone in a bit of a tense conversation, so no idea, but I was thinking I might not tip as much for this ride.

We soon arrived near the airport, as I knew that area already having stayed near there for 2 days.

We finally turned off, though a bit farther south that I expected, but I was not sure where the main entry was.

We pull up in front of what looked like an airport, but was clearly not in use, barricaded and weed grown.

This was the old airport terminal.

He then parks the car and gets out without saying a word.

I had to roll window down to open door from outside and he gets out and again, we cannot communicate.

He flags down a guy on a scooter who did speak English and with his help I found the driver was trying to aske me to pay another 350rupee for the airport toll.

We went back and forth a bit, and then I was being told I could get another car to take me to the actual airport.

Now, I only had 400ruppe left on me, but there was no way I was paying extra for anything as that cost is supposed to be factored into the Uber costs (at least it works that way in the west).

I finally told him he could just drop me on the road near the terminal, and area I had seen, and I would walk up to the terminal and I know it was possible since John had walked up to it when we were staying at the nearby hotel 2 weeks back.

The driver then was asking how I was going to pay if I did not have rupee, and again had to explain I had paid via the app.  By now I was getting pissed, this driver was clearly trying to extort more money from me.

Had the bike rider explain it to him, and that I was going to report this to Uber.

Driver finally agreed to drop me on the roadside, and we drove over there, took all of 1 minute.

I got out, he got out and went up to the security person and started talking, I just opened the trunk, removed my bags, asked the guard if that was the road to the terminal in front, he pointed and nodded and I left.

The 100rupee note in my pocket I had intended to tip the driver with stayed in my pocket (and much later he got a 2 star rating with 7 different complaint categories, including asking for toll money, pretty sure he was not supposed to do that).

As I was walking up the road, I saw the toll gates and while I could not see all the data as it was not in English, the rate at the low end, which I would guess would be just for drop offs, was 50rupee, so not only had he been trying to get me to pay the toll, he was trying to charge me 7 times the actual rate, so fuck him

Done with him, I walked up the driveway, which was also uphill, in the heat, for about ¼ of a mile to reach the terminal building.

The Guwahati Airport is a new terminal that was just completed about a year ago.  It is quite an impressive building from the outside.

I then got in line to enter (you have to show ID and ticket to even get inside the terminal).

I was then redirected by a staff to another line that was shorter and walked over to it and got inside.

I first went to find a toilet as I had to pee really bad.

I then found the Air India desk and there was only 1 guy sitting there.

I approached and asked if this was where we check in, he asked if I was on the 5:30 flight and said the desk was closed and would open in about 45 minutes.

I found a place to sit and played on my phone to wait.  I could not see any kiosk to get a pass for the internet, so just gave up that idea.

When the time came, I returned to the desk and they had staff now, went up to the business class line and checked in.

It took almost 30 minutes to get my tickets.

The girl working either had no clue what she was doing, or kept messing things up.

She asked for the passport, and also inquired about a visa, though I explained I only needed an ETA, so showed her.  Though she later had to see it again to type it in the computer, I guess.

She also kept asking me about Ebola vaccine, and finally had me fill out a form that was for entering the US (guess we need to attest we have not been to the Democratic Republic of Congo in the previous 2 weeks), though why she was asking that for a flight to Sri Lanka I had no clue, but was just easier to check the box no and sign it.

I finally got my bag checked and the tickets printed (though later found the print was a duplicate, so she must have messed up the first print and did them again, I could not see what she was going behind the desk).

I then found the international departure gates, which were empty, odd.

When I approached, I was told they were closed, would open in 30 minutes, so again back to a chair to wait.

Once it was time, I went up and then I was told that this gate was only for an Air India Express flight, that my Air India flight was a domestic flight (okay, technically true, but my ticket was to Sri Lanka, Delhi only being a transit airport).  If I fly domestic, they will not be processing my immigration status to exit India.

But they insisted, so I went through the domestic gate and then saw that the terminals were all the same place, the international did not go to anyplace different, so not sure why they would not process me there, but guess I will do it in Delhi when I transfer to the international flight?

I walked up to the lounge, but as I was not sure I could use this one, since it was not Air India owned, and it was also mobbed by other people trying to get in.

I decided for 1.5 hours, I would just find a seat somewhere and wait.

Sat in a nice quiet area near a AC vent (very hot and humid) and played games again, still could not find kiosk for internet code, and when I asked information, I was told machine was broken?

I kept checking the boards nearby to make sure gate did not change, then went down to the gate when it was close.

Then they changed the gate (I thought that was going to happen, previous flight took too long to leave).

We boarded the plane soon after and took off on time.

Nice business class seats will make this 2.5 hour flight enjoyable at least.

We had a meal on the plane, and then I just played games or zoned out and did nothing.

Finally arrived in Delhi and landed, then drove around on the tarmac for a bit till we reached our gate.  They still unloaded us onto the ground and into a bus.  We then drove over to the domestic arrival terminal.

I had asked the flight staff if they knew what I would need to do to get stamped out of India, and then recommended I just use the international transfer area when I arrived.  I had done that when I flew through India on way to Nepal, so not sure if they can handle a domestic to international, but will give it a try.

Arrived at that entry and when they looked at my pass told me it was too early.  I have a 10 hour layover here, so I knew I would be waiting, what I was not aware of is that they do not let anyone inside the gate area before 6 hours prior to a flight.

I asked the guy what I was supposed to do for 4 hours and was basically told I would wait around the corner in the hallway leading to baggage claim.  Are you fucking kidding me?

What was Air India thinking, selling me a set of tickets that I cannot even stay in the airport for, oh, and the business lounge I had hoped to use, yeah, that’s inside, I cannot access it.

I told them that was not acceptable, but he had not other info, so told me to go around a corner near baggage claim and talk to Air India.

So went over there, and right away knew this was going to be a major fucking issue.  I had to leave the secure zone of the airport, so now I was going to need to go through security again, but I have time, so whatever.

Approached the Air India staff, explained what was going on, and she decided it would be me to go upstairs and through the main immigration checkpoint, where they could handle this (though in hindsight I think she was just trying to get rid of me).

She took me over to an area and talked with the security and eventually the agreed to let me through and use the elevator to the 2^nd floor.

I arrived and sure enough, I was in the main departure hall with all the airline check in counters.

I walked over, found the international departure hallway and went through the immigration line.

They told me I could not get in until 4 hours before my flight and that the computer itself would reject my pass, they could not over ride that.

They did tell me to go speak with the immigration office at the end of the hallway and they might be able to find a solution.

I went down there, but you cannot actually walk up to the counter, you are stopped about 10 feet away, and someone will come over to help….at least that was the idea, but I stood there for 10 minutes before a lady approached, while several saw me and just ignored me

She told me it was 8 hours before, and nothing she could do, but then I could get in as they could update the computer.  I would have to wait 2 hours, sitting in the busy, loud, crowded departure hallway.

I found some seats near the edge, but still had several large groups filing by, but manage to play games or read my kindle for the two hours without too much annoyance.

When time was ready, I went back to the immigration counter, was again told 4 hours, and when I explained what I had been told earlier, they just repeated and said I should talk to the office again.

I returned to office, and again was ignored for a minute, so I finally asked, quite loudly, if someone could assist me.

The same lady was not there, but a guy came over, and he basically had no idea what other lady had told me, and said he could not do anything, but I could talk to the airline who could update something in computer to allow me through.

So, I had to walk to the far side of the terminal (literally, I was the farthest away you could get) to reach the Air India counters.

Explained the issue, and they were baffled as they said they could not do anything, except move me to an earlier flight if one existed.  While this might not be an issue at times, in this case I would be arriving in the middle of the night in Sri Lanka with no arranged pick up and was already too late to change those plans, so I said I could not change my flight times.

They then said I had no choice to wait another 3.5 hours to get in.

I then asked why I was sold a ticket in business class if I was supposed to wait in a hallway and they basically just blamed the government policy, but did not explain why I was sold this ticket if I was not going to be let into the airport. 

Not sure if things would have been different had I had an international transfer instead of coming in via domestic, but really starting to get pissed at the Guwahati airport, Air India, and the country of India.  Might be my last trip here if this insane bureaucracy continues.

I finally said to give me my pass back, and left, not sure I will ever fly Air India again.

I went over and sat down for a few minutes to calm down, then decided to go back to the immigration office to ask what the hell they had been talking about as the airline cannot change anything.

When I arrived at the office, the same lady I had talked to later saw me, came up and asked for my boarding pass, spent 2 minutes on the computer, and then told me to wait 5 minutes, then go back to the business class immigration line (a godsend as the regular lines were a bit busier, though still not horrible).

I waited the five minutes, and then went over to the line, which had been empty the whole time until I was ready to walk over, then 5 people go in before me….sigh.

But lines went quick as they had few people working.

I reached the counter and the young girl working took my pass and I mentioned I hope it works this time.

She had a quizzical look, so I explained a bit of what had been going on while she reviewed my pass and passport.

She scanned it, and ding, it worked.

She was shocked that Guwahati did not process me there, but said I should be good.  While she was doing here stuff, I had mentioned my travels and riding bikes and filming videos and she asked about the YouTube Channel, so gave here a card and she said she would check it out. (not sure anyone ever does, but have handed out a few dozen cards in the last few months).

I grabbed my stuff and entered the terminal.

By this time, it was about 12:30AM on the 4^th of November. Took 3 hours to sort this damned mess up.

I walked through the duty-free shops and then reached the gates area, found the escalator up to the lounges (been here before) and got inside the lounge and an internet access code.

I then found a seat, used the restroom to wash my face and dry some of the sweat off from running around the airport in the humid air, and then grabbed some food and a coke.

Over the next 7 hours I ate a bit, read lots of pages on the Kindle, played online some, and played a few games to keep me awake, I was tired enough, but did not really want to sleep so I could make sure I did not miss flight.

I also got up every hour after 3am to check the boards as I did not know what gate we would be going through.  It finally updated 2 hours before the flight.  The flight was at 7:30, boarding was to start at 6:30.  I left the lounge at 6:10, after checking the board again to make sure gate was still the same.

It was a bit of a walk to reach, but got there right about 6:30 (thankfully many moving sidewalks to speed things up).

Then I sat there for quite a bit.  They finally started the boarding about 6:50.

As business class, I got to board first, and took my seat. (This A320 was an older model, so still the old-style business/first class with just he bigger seats, little storage and no TV even.

This time I had someone sitting next too me (last flight that seat had been empty).

We got loaded up (flight was not even half full) and left the airport for a 3.5 hour flight.

Once airborne, I was told I could move into Row 1 which had no one in it, but I had already stored my stuff and got comfy in my assigned seat, so stayed.

I played games some, but then sort of stared into space and dozed a bit on the flight.  They actually woke me for the breakfast meal shortly after take off, I had dropped off that fast.

However, while I tried to actually sleep, I could never last more than about 15 minutes before I woke for some reason.

We arrived in Sri Lank and landed (quite roughly), then arrived at the terminal in short time.

After getting off the plane, there was a short walk before we reached a small area with some shops and information counters before you reached the immigration gates.  I have never seen anything before immigration at any other airport, kind of odd.

While I walked past, a girl at the counter asked if I needed SIM card, which I did, so went ahead and stopped to by a local SIM (cost me $20 for a 30 day unlimited plan of voice, SMS, and data).

They even took US currency, so could pay with that instead of using card since I did not have local money yet (and did not see any option to do that here).

I then went to the immigration counters, which were nearly empty, approached the first window, she took my passport, asked me to remove my hat, never even looked at the ETA document on my phone (guessing it was linked on the computer since I filled it out online) and stamped me in.

Probably the fastest immigration I have ever seen, though a few have been quick, never this fast.

I then walked over to an empty space to put away some of the stuff I had in my hands and then walked down the hall toward the bag claim

I arrived just as the bags started to come out.  I did wait for about 5 minutes though for my bag to arrive.

It was quite dirty but in one piece, and did not appear it has been opened or tampered with.

I grabbed bag, and walked toward customs.

As I had nothing to declare I used the green lane, and at the end they were still x-raying bags.

I large family was unloading dozens of bags into that machine, and a guy behind me asked if he had to wait and guard just said to go through, so I and a few others did just that.

Once out in the arrival hallway I saw the line of people with signs waiting to pick up people.

I glanced at most but did not see my name, so using my phone I was able to message the group chat on WhatsApp if I should be looking for something specific or meeting somewhere else.

Ben replied right away that I should have someone waiting and he would check.

A minute later I saw a guy walk up to the barrier and hold out a sign, this one with my name on it.

I linked up with him, let Ben know I found him, then we went outside.

Guy had not been ready as our flight had arrived 15 minutes early, and with the small passenger list, we got out of the airport really fast, even with my stop to buy SIM card.

He asked me to wait on a curb while he went to get the car.

Once he arrived, I got in back and we left for the 2.5 hour drive to Galle where the ride will start from.

The driver had lots of questions and we ended up talking about all kinds of topics on the way.

He was quite knowledgeable about many subjects and spoke very good English, which helped the conversation along.

The ride was uneventful otherwise, and we eventually arrived in Galle and made our way through the busier traffic to reach the hotel where I would be staying next 2 nights.

We pulled up at the front entrance, unloaded the bags, and then I was taken inside by the staff who were expecting me.

I was sat in a lobby area while they gathered a few things, then signed some papers.  I was presented with a welcome drink, and then they took me to the room.  Passed a small pool with fish and turtles in it, and two of the turtles were enjoying themselves.

Host showed me where stuff was in the room and then left me.

I sat for a bit to relax in the AC, then sorted the bag a bit, then I left a message on WhatsApp that I was there.

I then got a message on WhatsApp from one of the couples on this ride (Brian and Alison).  They had been in Sri Lanka for several weeks doing other things, and had arrived at the hotel the night before.

They were going to walk into town about an hour and asked if I wanted to join, which I agreed to as I needed to stay active so I could stay awake till evening, otherwise I would mess my sleep schedule up.  While I was still in same time zone, the overnight flight and layover had me awake for over 30 hours at this point, so I needed to make it a good 40 hours at least before I slept to get back on a normal day schedule.

I met them in the lobby and we walked down the hill (the hotel sits on top of a steep hill with some good views of the area).

We then walked along the coast for a bit to reach the old Dutch fortress (also used by the British) and went inside.

This area is built up as a tourist area, so lots of shops and dining options, and many western style foods as well.  Bit pricey here though.  I found many of the prices, when converted to US Dollars, were not much less than I would pay for the same item back home.

We wandered over to the edge of the walled area where the lighthouse is and where you can get up and walk on the walls where some of the old gun placements had been.

We walked to several sections of the wall to look out over the waters and take a few photos.

We then went over to have a drink in a small restaurant.

When done there we walked around a bit more, then decided to stop for another drink in a different place.

After that, we wandered around to find an ATM so I could get some local currency.

But same issue I had in India, the ATM would not process, though I later saw the transaction had been recorded by my bank (something that never happened in India), so communication had occurred, some other error had canceled the transaction, perhaps machine was out of funds?

I was a bit worried as the email notices I get on my cards indicated the funds had been taken out.  Alison said that had happened to them at the same banks ATM once and it was returned really fast later.

I will check my statements later and see what happened. (I checked the next day and was fine, it was refunded moments later after the ATM cancelled the transaction).

I then saw a sign about a money exchange, and since I had some US currency on me, figured that would be faster, and the fees so far have not been much worse than the ATM in most countries I have been in this trip (in Nepal the ATM was actually worse).

We walked down the road till we found the sign, but was a bit confusing as the business was actually just gem and jewelry store, but the guy inside must have seen us pointing at the sign as he came out and indicated we has the right place.  Just another business within the main one.

Guy at a table showed me the rates and I was confused by them.  They had it listed as 331rupee for $100, which was about 100 times too small.  Eventually we figured out that what they had written as $100 was actually $1.00.

So, in the end I got 33000rupee for my $100.

This should get me by for my time on the tour, though might need some more for my time after the tour since prices here in town are a bit high, though should be less inland while riding.

I then got to talking with the guy, and after a few minutes Brian and Alison came inside and let me know they were going to go to a coffee shop down the road, but I said I could go with them, we had just been chatting about travelling.

We left the shop and walked around to find a restaurant for dinner.

We came upon a middle eastern place which had good ratings on google, and even a sign out front about their Conde Nast award.

So, we decided to eat there after taking a peek at the menu.

Ordered our drinks and then decided on a mezze platter for appetizer and then each had an entrée.

I had the Harissa Tagine, which was a really good Moroccan dish.

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel in the dark and with a light rain going on.  We did take a different gate out of the fortress which had a much large view of the old walls.

Once back at the hotel, we agreed to meet at the rooftop bar after a few minutes.

I returned to my room to use the toilet and then to change into cooler clothes.  I had worn one of my long sleeve shirts and most airplanes are too cold, but did not want to carry the jacket around with me as it would be too warm everywhere else, even the long sleeves were a bit much outside.

I also changed into shorts as my pants were a bit damp from the light rain we had walked back in.

I met them on the 4^th floor (roof) and we had some drinks while we continued to talk.

Then it was time to turn in.

I went down and spent about an hour reading before I went to bed about 10PM.

Tomorrow is the first day of the tour, but is just the arrival day, though oddly we are all here early.  However, we will have the first group dinner tomorrow and get the details of the ride then.

Then on Friday the 6^th we will leave on the bikes!

So will catch you down the road.

 

 

 

Taking a break in India

November 2^nd, 2026

Guwahati, India

The last two weeks have been spent here in the city of Guwahati in Assam India.

We moved from the last hotel to this one down town as noted in my last entry.

The next morning, I started a two week time off to mainly relax and hopefully get some work done.

Over the two weeks I manage to get all the blogs uploaded with photos so they we are now caught up with the activities leading to Guwahati.

My other main goal was to get as many videos edited from the summer Arctic trip as possible so I can get that trip moving along and eventually can start editing the Asia content (though that will still be later this winter before it is ready).

I managed to complete 11 videos, all which are online and scheduled to release over the next few weeks, so I will be ready to start again when I get back home.

We did walk around town a bit as well.  I discovered a pizza place about ½ mile from the hotel, so made two trips over there for lunch during the two weeks to get something other than Indian food in me. 

I also ate at the restaurant in the hotel across the road as they have some western dishes on the menu. (But the place had a strong odor throughout the building, thinking some cleaners or something used to cover the odor from the canal next door which did not smell pleasant.)

I ate most of my meals in the onsite restaurant called Omara, which was all Indian style foods, but had dishes from all over India and a few that were created by the resident chef as well.

I had a few breakfast as well, which was mostly local dishes, but they did offer eggs and bacon at least.

I had dinner most nights in the club, Noya.  The menu was more small appetizer things, but many were unique to the club, not on the restaurant menu (though same kitchen prepared both).

I enjoyed eating there as the options were more pan Asian and not just India, and the smaller, darker room with the music playing as nice.

I also found I got much better service in there than the restaurant, though I did have at least one lady in the restaurant that typically took my table and was able to predict some of my needs.

But the staff in the bar were even better at that, and soon just brought my drinks over without my needing to ask.

I went there every night to enjoy a few drinks, some good music, and worked on converting 360 video or even editing a few times.  Allowed me to get work done outside the room where I would be more likely to fall asleep while working.

I had spent a bit of time talking with a few of the people in the bar, and the manager had spent a fair amount of time talking to me and asking questions about my travel both in the bar and the restaurant where he also took shifts.

At one point I had joked about dabbling in doing DJ work (I had noticed the nice controller they had on the DJ station) and he asked if I wanted to play.  I said I would have to see if I could get some of my music onto a USB drive (I have a about 200 songs on my phone for playing on airplanes, but not the full 15000 song library I have at home).

He said to just let him know.

So, I did actually copy the songs over, but since they had a resident DJ come in most nights around 10:00pm, I was just content to wait for him to play, and they usually had good music going when he was not there (I think they mostly used playlists off YouTube as the occasional advert would also play).

However, the one night things were a bit quiet, and the music playing was not too good, and the place was mostly empty (actually pretty empty most nights before 10pm.) so I saw him and said I had my music and he asked if I wanted to play, so said we should see if my stick will work.

As I was afraid, the controller only had USB-A, but my stick was USB-C.

However, he said to give him a few minutes and he returned with a USB-A stick that the resident DJ used occasionally, think it might also have contained the software license for the device as he usually inserted it along with his other key when he played.

We used my laptop to copy my music to that stick and then I was able to load up the songs in the controller (it can play right off the stick as it has all the software built in, no laptop or computer required like I have at home).

I spent a few minutes figuring out the controller, thankfully it was a PioneerDJ system, which I use at home, so many of the controls were labeled the same and in same places (though some controls are standard across all brands).

I then had them switch the sound over to the controller and the guy did help me adjust one setting that I did not know about to get something to work (my setup does not have any option to disable that function, so was not sure why it was not working).

I then proceeded to play about a 2 hour set and the place actually did get a bit busy for the last part and I was told later by some of the staff that the other patrons seemed to be enjoying themselves, dancing along at their tables while they ate and drank.

I also had the audience of the extra bar staff as this was the night before Halloween and they were doing preparations and practice for the big event and bar take-over that night.

So, they had multiple bartenders working along with the guest bartender who was up from Kolkata (not sure what she does there, but she must be with some bigger place there, as Barcardi (the event sponsor) brought her up to host the event and lead the bar.)

She later said she enjoyed my set as I played a lot of older western music she does not get to hear as often around the places.

I had spent some of the previous night talking with her as well as she was there getting stuff setup for the practice night, but had more time to talk then, she even brought me several non-alcoholic drinks to get my opinion (and I was not charged for them).

When the resident DJ arrived, I think he was a bit surprised to see me playing, but he rolled with it, and we got to talking and he then started to show me some of the functions I had not figured out how to use on the controller (either things my equipment lacks, or they work in totally different ways).  He actually offered to let me keep playing with his song set, but since I did not know his music, and it was setup for more advanced transitions which I am still learning, I figured it would be better to just turn the table back over to him.

I did take the stick so I could erase my music from it and then gave it back in case he needed it.

I did attend the next nights event, which was very busy, most people I had seen ever, but sadly it was not the turn out they had hoped.  Guess there was a concert from a well known regional music star in the stadium nearby, so they lost to that event.

They did bring in a 2^nd DJ that night who might have been a bigger name locally, the resident started the nights set, and then turned it over to him, and then took over while he took breaks as well.

Overall, a great night though.

I then chatted with the resident DJ each night afterwards as he always came over to the table to say hello when he saw me, before he would go up and play.

I did mention to the main staff member who had assisted me the most that I would miss hanging out there as that was my last night on Sunday, since they were closed on Mondays, but he told me they would actually be open on Monday, so was cool I would get one more night.

So, I arrived on Monday and by then I had had several conversations with staff that all knew it was my last day at the hotel, and guessing that while someone would have known due to my reservation, that fact that it had been communicated around was kind of interesting.

As I was waiting for my food to arrive, the manager came over and we talked for a bit, and then he said they had a gift for me and he motioned and all the staff came over and they presented me with a local scarf (these are given out in many regions around India to guests, though each has a unique regional design) and a coffee much with the club’s name on it.

We then took a group photo before everyone went back to work.

Overall, I had a great two weeks at the Palacio: Paltan Bazaar.

I got lots of work done for my Blog and YouTube channel, read several books on my Kindle, and enjoyed many good nights at the club in the hotel.

I will be leaving tomorrow to journey to my next adventure in Sri Lanka.

So, look for more regular entries as I start to adventure on a motorcycle again in a few days.

Catch ya down the road.

 

Rest days

October 19^th and 20^th, 2026

Guwahati, India

Woke around 7:00AM and took a shower.

Dressed and went down for breakfast.

Ben and Jude had already left for the airport, but found the rest of the group at Breakfast and was able to talk for a bit with them.

Brad was leaving first, heading out about 10:00AM.

Dennis and Mike would leave next, sometime after 2:00PM.

John and I are both staying another night at this hotel.

After breakfast I returned to the room to work on some stuff.

My main goal was to get my finances recorded and validated.

Logged in and verified all the credit card charges, and then paid off the current balances.

I then spent some time online just playing around.

Sometime during this I became quite tired and decided to take a nap, which turned into a 4 hour sleep.

Woke up a bit before dinner time.

Looked around on maps and nothing was really close enough to walk too, at least after dark, so decided to just eat the buffet again, even though it was not that cheap of price.

Went downstairs and had my dinner.  I did not see John, but he had already said he would not be eating there, so was not expecting him. 

I spent much of the time reading in the Kindle to pass the time.

Once done eating I went over to the bar to buy a Coke to take up to the room.

I checked on a few things online once back in the room and then decided to try reading more, but did not get much done before I was too tired to continue.

I ended up going to bed a bit early, but think I really needed the extra rest after the busy 2 weeks on the bike.

I woke up the next morning at 7:00AM, and after a nice hot shower, I went down to have breakfast and ran into John there. (Breakfast is included in the room price, so not an extra cost).

We talked while eating and then decided it was time to go do something else.

John thought he would hit the pool again, and while I had not intention of swimming, figured it would be nice to just relax outside a bit.

We agreed on meeting over there in about 30 minutes.

That gave me time to go back to the room and finish packing everything up, I will move to a new hotel later today.

When the time came, I walked over to the pool, but did not see anyone.   I decided to walk the entire grounds, and while over near the building with the Gym and Spa, I saw John talking to a hotel staff member.

I joined them and after a few minutes, we walked over to the Gym to check it out.

We both played around with some of the equipment for 15-20 minutes, then went over to the pool.

I moved a lounge chair as far back into the shade from the building and got comfy.

John did the same and we spent the next 2 hours talking about our travels and such.

John did get in the water for a bit as well.

Around 11:30 I decided I should go ahead and get back to the room, and then check out and head over to the other hotel where I will stay for the next 2 weeks.

John and I said our goodbyes as I would likely not see him in person again, then I returned to our rooms.

I checked all the space and made sure the bags were ready, then left the room and headed down stairs.

In the lobby the bell staff came over and took my bags and put them by the door.

I went to the desk to pay my bill (just the meals and drinks from last night) and then asked to get on the Wi-Fi in the lobby so I could get an Uber ordered.

Desk staff put my phone on the network, and then I got on the Uber App and ordered a car to take me from this hotel to the other hotel, which was about 14 miles away.

A driver took the call almost immediately, but was 15 minutes away.

After a few minutes, the car had not moved, so was starting to wonder what was going on.

Then it started driving toward me, and eventually went past the driveway (expected as they need to U-Turn and come back to it).

But then car went to the airport and stopped, and a few minutes later canceled the ride pickup.

So now I have wasted nearly 20 minutes waiting for a car that will not come.

A new driver picked up the ride after a few seconds, and was a bit closer, but again, car sat there for a few minutes before it started to move.

Once moving, it changed its direction several times getting out of the neighborhood, and soon was on the main roads toward me.

Once it pulled into the driveway, I went outside and my bags were brought out.

The car pulled up, but then stopped for a few pedestrians, and finally came up to the front doors.

Bell staff loaded my bags; I got into the front seat as the back would never take my legs.

Then we just sat there.  Driver kept looking in his mirrors, but no clue what he was waiting for.

Hotel staff made him move forward a bit, but then he stopped again.

After about 5 minutes, staff came over and started talking to him, and then to me.  They wanted to know if I had stopped the driver, but I said I had no clue why we were sitting there instead of going to my destination.

Some back and forth and they said the driver thought my location was wrong for the dropoff.

I pointed to his phone and map showing the route and it was correct.  It matched my phone app’s location, as well as Google Maps, and was same location Hotels.com had it.

Hotel staff looked at things, and then told driver it was correct and to take me there.

Wasted another 10 minutes for some stupid driver crap.  Driver never tried to communicate with me, and I picked up that he had little English ability, but still to just sit there and ignore me instead of trying to figure out what needed to be done.

That episode ended my plan to tip him nicely with cash.

We finally started to drive, and then he did follow the planned route.

It took us around 30 minutes to reach the other hotel across town.

Once dropped off the driver left and I went inside to check in.

I was told to have a seat and they would get to me; they were still working with a group in lobby checking in before me.

Sat down and waited, and after 5-10 minutes, then got me checked in.

Once I had my room key, the bell staff grabbed my bags and took me to the room on the 2^nd floor.

He put bags in room and then showed me a few things in the room that I might need to know.

Once he left, I sat down and relaxed.

I got onto the WI-Fi, though a bit concerned as they gave me 2 codes, and each is stated to only work for 2 days, yet I am here for 14, so may need to find out how that will work, as the listing on Hotels.com stated free Wi-Fi here.

After some time getting caught up on things online, I decided to head out and try to find an ATM and buy a SIM card.

I asked the front desk if there was a SIM card place nearby, as my searches online were not being helpful, most of the findings either reviewed at incorrect locations, or comments about how hard they were to find with maps being inaccurate.

I walked down to the main road and headed in one direction.

Lots of shops and food places, and other services, but after 2 blocks, no SIM shop or ATM.

Went over to other side of street and finally found a bank.  But they had no ATM in the room anymore.

Another bank was few doors down, ATM was there, but when I went inside, the machine indicated it was out of cash, so no withdrawals possible.

Kept walking, but found nothing more.

Crossed road and found a cell repair shop with sign saying SIM Cards.

When I asked, they told me I would need two local phone numbers to buy one.  What the fuck?

I know they need ID and local address (the hotel in my case), but why would I have access to two phone numbers as a tourist?  Perhaps the Hotel number, that makes sense, but how many travelling tourists actually know someone in town?  He said I could come back tomorrow and they would give me another address to visit the main office and they could sell me one.

I am probably not going to do that though, seems a bit hokey, so will check somewhere else, or just forget about it.

Bit farther found another ATM.

Card was in, PIN entered, requested the funds, and then machine spits out note that it cannot communicate with my service (seems to be a problem around here with card machines and ATMs not being able to talk to anything not local).

Went down the road a bit, another ATM.

Card goes in, but then touch screen to choose options does not respond to my touch, totally locked up or something.

Canceled that transaction.

Ended up back at the hotel after 30 minutes with no SIM Card and no Money.

I am started to see that this area of India is lagging behind the western parts of the country in the areas of technology and services.

I sat around working on some stuff, then finally decided to go have dinner in the hotel restaurant for this night.

Went up to the 4^th floor, got seated and then it took 5 minutes before anyone brought a menu over.

The place only had 2 larger parties in it, but there were at least a dozen staff walking around, so not sure why it took so long.

I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out what I wanted, mainly as the menu was mostly Indian food, but a lot of pretentious crazy dishes.

Finally figured out what I wanted and put the menus down.

Nearly 20 minutes later, a guy finally asked if I had ordered yet and then took my order.

My drink was brought over soon enough, and about 10 minutes for the main course, but the soup I had ordered had not come.  Figured they forgot and decided I was not going to bother.

But 5 minutes after I finished my main course, the soup arrived.

Bizarre, but ate it and finished my water as well (bottle of water bought for the table).

All the food was really good and total cost to me was roughly $18.  I put it on the room and then left.

I noticed the door across the hall was now open (had been closed earlier) and heard music, so this must be the bar they have.

Peaked inside, but told the hostess I would come back later.

I returned to the room, mainly so I could piss!

Sat around for a bit checking more stuff online and playing around.

After about an hour, decided to go up and check out the bar as it looked to be more like a night club as well.

Went up, went inside and took a table.  The had menu on a QR code, so loaded that up.  Bought the bottle of water on table, and ordered a Coke.

I then decided to get a snack as well, so ordered some hot (spicy) dumplings.

Once I had eaten and had my Coke, I sat and messed around on the phone while I drank the water and enjoyed the music.  Place was getting busier as well, but then people started to leave around 10:00PM.

I left shortly after and came back to the room to type this up.

Now it is bed time.

Will hopefully have better luck tomorrow with the money, and then will figure out the SIM card issue.  Also want to research some options for local tours or a bike rental tomorrow.

Catch ya down the road!

Back to India

October 18^th, 2026

Guwahati, India

Woke with the alarm at 7:00AM.

Took a nice, long, hot shower and then dressed in street clothes, no riding today.

Went down for breakfast.  Was a simple meal, but filled the stomach.

Went back up to the room to finish the few packing tasks, and then noticed that my hat was missing.

I went outside and checked in the van, perhaps leaving it last night on way back from town, but nothing was there.

I asked the hotel staff, perhaps I left it in the bar or dining room last night, but they had nothing.

Went through all my bags again to make sure I had not packed it by accident, nothing.

Only thing I can think of is that I left it at the restaurant last night.

The hat was going to be retired after this travel adventure, but really would be nice to have had it for the rest of the trip to keep my head from sun burning.

I was back outside a bit later and off had mentioned it to Kinley when he asked how things were, and he said he would send Sam down on the bikes to check.

I hated to have him do that, thought we could call, but he insisted.

Sam rode down and back in about 10 minutes, and sure enough, they had the hat. 

Oddly, I do not even recall wearing it to town, let along leaving it at the restaurant.

So, now that I have everything, I sat down and played online for a bit, then started to update apps on my phone as I had not done so in at least a month.

I was about 75% done when it was time to leave and head down.

I put the last things away, used restroom one last time, then grabbed my bags and left the room.

Dropped my bags behind one of the waiting taxi’s (The van had departed about 1 hour ago with the truck carrying the bikes.)

The driver loaded them into the car while I walked around talking with a few people, then took my key over to the office to drop it off.

Shortly after that, we all got into the cars, 4 of us in each cab, and then drove down to the border about 1 mile away.

We stopped at the Bhutan side, and some of us got out of the cabs, others stayed in the cab.

We stood along the side of the road while Himal worked with the Bhutan officials to exit us out of Bhutan.  Sam had to come over for a bit (he had come down on the bike) to finalize things as he was our official guide and had to be there when we left.

Kinley, who had also ridden down, was there to bid us farewell, and do a few last minute photos.

Once all the formalities were done, we said our goodbyes to Kinley and Sam who were staying in Bhutan.  Himal would accompany us all the way to our stop in India tonight.

We walked through the Bhutan gate and over to an office along the road for India.

We were told to sit in this small area while Himal did whatever he needed to do to start the check in process.

After this (which took about 20 minutes), we all walked over to the cabs, now through the gate as well and got in.

We drove through town a bit, then turned off onto some small alleyway road and wound down to reach another official building.

Here we had to first pay our exit tax of 800 Indian Rupees (About $8).  Most of the guys did not have rupees on them, so I ended up giving about 1500 rupees toward the total needed.  Ben said he would pay me back later, though I was not too worried. (He had borrowed 3000 from me earlier when I exchanged my Bhutan money with Himal and Sam for Rupee before we left).

We then walked over to another building, and were told to wait in a room.

After a few minutes, Himal and the one cab driver came in and handed out forms to fill out.  One of them was the same form we had just filled out online the night before, so after some back and forth, we did not have to fill that one out.

The other form was the standard health declaration form, which we could have done online as well.

We all filled it in, not really having exact answers for many of the questions, and then once done, we could go into the next room with our passports and get stamped into India.

This process took about 5-8 minutes per person, but we eventually all had our entry stamps.  Oh, then never asked to see the arrival forms we did online, and while most of us handed over the health form, then did not care, one guy even had the agent tell him to keep it??

After this we went back to the cabs and drove back over to the main road.

We went a few blocks down and stopped again to check out of the border zone.

A few of us got out of the cab, but most stayed in.

Himal and the cab driver went over to work with the local staff to photograph the passports and visa stamps, and filled out some papers.

We stood around talking with a military guard with his dog, who he had trained to do a few tricks, which he showed off, and even had Ben and Brad get a photo with the dog.

Once done, we all got into the cabs, and finally drove across the boundary and into India proper.

We now had a roughly 3 hour drive to Guwahati.

It was a narrow, traffic packed road for most of the way.  The last hour at least was on the 4 lane highway, but still lots of slow moving vehicles, wrong way drivers, pedestrians, broken down or stopped vehicles, and the odd cow or two.

We pulled over at one point to wait for the other car, but Ben said lets do this at a tea house, not on the side of the road.

We then had the other car pass us right about then anyway.

Few miles down the road we stopped, and ordered some tea at this restaurant.

We were told we could have lunch here as well, but as the hotel was only a 30 minute drive away, we figured we would wait till then.

As I was the only one with Rupees, I paid the bill, but then Ben got some rupee from someone and paid me back.

We continued onward and reached the city, where things got a bit congested.

Took us closer to 45 minutes, we reached the hotel, which was right across the road from the airport.  Would make it quite quick and easy to leave from here for most of the guys, and I thought perhaps staying the remaining 2 weeks here could be useful.

We pulled up and got out of the car, and stood around while the drivers unloaded the bags which were then run through the x-ray by hotel security staff.

We all went inside and started the check in process, and had a welcome drink. (Some green fruit that did not taste too bad, but smelled like sulfur!)

Once we all had our keys, and our bags were ready, we got the bags tagged so they could bring them up to the room later.

At this point Himal said his goodbyes.  While he was originally going to stay the night, it was later decided that he would return to Bhutan tonight with the cab driver who must live near there (though driver was from India).

Brad and Jude went in and had lunch at the buffet, Dennis tried to order some food, but it never showed up after 30 minutes.

Once we all had everything done, we went to our rooms.

Guy arrived with my bag after 1 minute, and then I spent some time on the Wi-Fi getting some stuff taken care of.

I saw a message from Mike that he and Dennis were going into town.   John said he might go, but in the end, he just walked around the local area for an hour or so.

After an hour, the rest of us took an Uber over to the local Royal Enfield dealer as some wanted to buy some shirts, and Brad was looking for a new riding jacket, his was falling apart, so he left it with one of the guides who was not worried about the cosmetic issues.

We arrived, and the dealer was hardly that.

It had a big service shop, but the show room was exactly 1 bike, and a few odd things on the wall to sell.

The person running the shop took about 3 minutes to show up, and had very little English ability, and while Jude can speak some Hindi, he was having some issues getting our needs across.

We needed to go to another dealer a few miles away to get what we wanted.

Brad tried to get an Uber, but the app never came up.

Ben tried, and Brad tried again, and finally he got a car to take the request.

We waited a few minutes, car arrived, and we spent next 30 driving to the other place.

This dealer was large.

They had several bikes on display, and lots of accessories.

After going through most of the stuff, Brad was going to buy a jacket, Ben wanted some stuff and Jude was getting a shirt.

But for some stupid reason, they could not seem to process a credit card.

The seemed to be setup to only take the various payment apps you can use on the phones, but those are not things that tourists would have access too.

In the end I gave Jude and Ben the Rupee to pay for their items, and Brad gave up on buying the jacket for other reasons, and decided he did not need the shirt either if they could not take a card. (He turned down my offer of Rupee to pay).

The store lots several hundred dollars of sales because they could not take a Visa credit card.

We ordered another Uber, which took 5 minutes to arrive, and then spent the next 40 driving back to the hotel, taking a longer route, but avoiding the busy traffic across town.

Once at the hotel, we had about 2 hours till dinner, so we all went to our rooms to do whatever.

I spent some time finishing updates on my phone, created maps for the Bhutan trip, and researched hotels in the center of town.

This hotel is nice, but its about $80 a night, and there are no restaurants or retail places in a 1 mile area, so a bit isolated.

I wanted something with plenty of food and shopping options around, so after researching the best part of town for food and nightlife, I explore that road and found a hotel on the Hotels.com app in the $50-60 a night range.

Place was listed on the recommendation list from google, had good reviews on Google and Hotels, and lots of them to boot.

My member tier on hotels dropped the price $100 over the 2 weeks, and my bonus points gave me another $13 savings, making my final cost about $55 a day.

The place is right in middle of town, close to lots of food and retail.  Also a few cultural things nearby, and even the train station is close if I wanted to day trip to a nearby city (unlikely, but option is there).

I also found a bike rental place about a mile away, so that option is open.

I will stay at this hotel tonight of course as this is part of the tour cost, and will stay tomorrow as well so I can spend the day with the few guys with later flights or leaving the next day.

On the 20^th I will Uber over to the new hotel and check in, and will stay there 2 weeks.

Will figure out other plans after I get there.

Around 7:00PM we all met up in the bar (A few of us had stopped there after the Royal Enfield dealer trip as well) and had a few drinks before dinner.

We went over to eat about 8:00PM.

Large buffet, but not much I really wanted to eat, but managed to find enough to get full, as I had not had lunch either.

After dinner, many of us had desert as well.

Then it was time for most to turn in.

We said our goodbyes to Jude who will leave at 6:00AM, so will not see him again, though will work with him to get money I loaned for his shirt later.

Ben also leaves at 6, though I will see him in a few weeks for another adventure I have coming up.

The rest of the guys are going to be at breakfast at least, and a few will be around till early afternoon.  John will be staying the night of the 19^th as well, so we will be only 2 left at that point.

I went over with Ben to figure out some money stuff.  He owed me for the funds borrowed, but he decided to put my extra room night on his bill and I would pay him the difference.

In the end, it worked out to about $40, and he was able to take the US cash, so paid him right away.

Returned to the room and got started on this blog.

Few minutes later Ben was at my door.

He had some 2XL tshirts that had been given to him by the dealer in Siliguri he had visited, and they were nothing he needed, so though I could use them as throw-away shirts, to wear and then toss when no longer needed.

I pulled them out of the bags so I can stuff them into the bag later, and then came back to the blog.

Now that it is done, I will check a few things online, but then head to bed as it has been a long day.

Tomorrow I will get my financials sorted as I have not balanced or checked them in almost 2 weeks.  Did not use the cards at all in Bhutan, so not much to pay off, but still need to verify things.

I will see if I can get over to an ATM tomorrow as well, or a money exchange place, just want to get at least $200 worth of Rupee as it sounds like using cards around here might not work very well.

Then will just chill.  No cell phone shops I could find nearby, so will probably have to wait a day to get a SIM card so my phone works here.

Will figure it out.

Catch ya down the road!

 

 

The final ride of Bhutan

October 17^th, 2026

Samdrup Jongkhar, Bhutan

Woke a bit before 7:00AM and took a shower.

Geared up and then went over for breakfast.

Once done, went back to the room, finished packing, and after a short rest, took the bag and left the room.

Staff saw me and took the bag from me, so followed them out to the van where the bags were being loaded.

Dropped key on the front desk and then went to find my bike. (The tend to move and arrange them each morning, so never where you left it the night before).

Setup the bike, then waited while others did the same.

Few photos taken, and then we all got on the bikes and headed out.

The first challenge was the steep downhill road in the loose dirt/rock.

Made it down without issue, and a few of the others made it without too much trouble, just slow, and a few needed a hand balancing bike for some difficult sections.

To make the ride more challenging, every damn car in the city was driving up to the hotel!

I guess there was some kind of meeting of the monks from the local areas, so they were all arriving and driving up the hill.

We finished the paved section of the hill, most of the same issues, sharp corners, and lots of cars going up.

Once off the hill, we headed out of town on the highway.

The road soon turned south and would take us mostly in that direction for the rest of the day, though is zigged and zagged quite often.

We started heading up the hill right away to get out of the current valley and into the next.

The roads were very twisty, lots of hills, several small villages, far too many cows on the road, and a moderate level of traffic.

We stopped after an hour along side the road to take break and get some water.

A nice view over the valley at this point, and we were right at the top of the ridge and would soon start going downhill.

While hanging out here, I found a good sized bug clinging to the tail bag on the bike.

It looked like a leaf, and was about 3 inches long.  A bit of searching and I think it is a leaf-mimic katydid.

Took some prodding, but it finally flew off and landed in the grass nearby.

Not sure how long it had been there, or where I picked it up at, but hopefully the higher altitude would not hurt it and it would find its way home or find a new home in this area.

We took a group photo and then got going.

Had some great riding down the hill.

We stopped soon after to have coffee in a small village, and really got some attentions here, do not think they are used to foreigners stopping here.

After our break, we hit the road again, still going downhill.

Another good hour of riding and we came to another village where we stopped for lunch.

We parked up the bikes and went inside a small place, but it went way back and there was a nice little room at the back where we had our meal.

It had a small balcony off the back wall overlooking the valley, and was situated about 30-40 feet off the group below which fell off rapidly in a steep incline.

We finished our lunch and were back on the bikes.

About we climbed again, and then headed down again.

About half way down, I had to stop and take a piss, could not hold it any longer.

So found a spot off the road where the bike could park without falling and stopped to relieve myself.

Rest of the group went onward and Ben, bringing up the rear, stopped for a second and then headed down the hill some.

I got back on the bike, and shortly after passed Ben who was taking some photos, I think.

We really started to push it then, trying to close the distance to the main group.

Some hard cornering, a few slips, and felt like I might have drifted the back wheel on one corner.  Few wiggles from the rear on several corners, either from loose rocks, or sand, or possibly the layers of cow shit all over the road.

Finally came up to the rest of the group as they were stopping in another village.

This was our last coffee/drink break.

We ordered or drinks and Kinley bought some fresh walnuts from the local vendor and shared them with the group.

Sam also collected all of our passports as we would need to pass a checkpoint a few miles before the border town we will be staying in tonight.

Once back on the road, I was in the rear of the group for about half the ride, then at one point the rider in front of me (Mike, I think) slowed in a really rough spot to avoid tangling with an oncoming car, but I was going too quick to stop, so I just took to the large sandy/dirt section everyone was trying to avoid and passed by him.

We eventually reached the police checkpoint and pulled up along the road.  The officers indicated for a few to pull through the checkpoint and park a bit farther up to avoid blocking too much of the road (there was not any place to actually pull off the road.)

But then we had to sit around and wait as Sam had all the passports and documents, and he was in the van which was probably a few miles behind us.

A truck pulled up behind the bikes and probably a dozen or more guys got out and had to go through some kind of process as well.  But some cars would just pass through after slowing down.

Once Sam arrived in the van, he took care of the paperwork and we were cleared to continue.

It was only about 2 miles to the hotel at this point, but we did have to ride through some of the town, which was a bit slow going.

We pulled up at the hotel and all did our congrats to each other on a good ride.

Then it was time to start taking things off the bikes.

I had my rain gear in the tail bag to remove, the straps for my tank bag (and the bag), my GoPro mount (which I had not used since Thimphu), the Quad Lock mount for my phone, and the phone and camera as well.

Once all of that was off (with the assistance of our lead ride guide who had the tools to remove the Quad Lock since I had lost my tool in airport security) I went up where Kinley was handing out the room keys and just grabbed a room.

I was on the 2^nd floor of the center building of the structures in the resort.

Went up and got into the room, dropped off the stuff, and then hit the restroom as I had to pee really bad!

Once done, I went outside to see if my bag was still on the pavement, it was, and two girls were standing there, they saw me and I indicated it was my bag.  They grabbed it and brought it up.

I then got out of the riding gear, took a nice cool shower, and then sat in the cool air for a bit (after turning on the AC unit which I had not seen when first in the room.)

Finished getting dressed and then started to unpack all the bags and sort stuff as I would need to move it all into two bags again instead of just one.  But first I hung all the riding gear up in the closet, but left doors open, to let it air out some and dry the sweat as it had gotten really warm today.

I put on the GoPro batteries to charge and the laptop as well.

Played on the phone and bit and then saw the messages come in that some people were going to go into town.

So, I grabbed my key and went down to join them.

Upon reaching the parking lot, I saw that they had already loaded 6 of the bikes onto a truck to be hauled back to Thimphu in the morning.

The other 3 bikes were going to be ridden back by some of the guides.

We talked for a bit and then got into the van and drove the mile into town which sits just before the border crossing.

After dropping us off, we agreed to meet back in that spot in around an hour.

I walked around with Ben, checking out shops, looking to see if there was anything I could buy that would make a nice memento, but would be small enough to carry the rest of my travels.  I still have way too much local currency to use up.

We stopped in one shop and I bought 2 small bags of chips, a Coke, a candy bar, and paid for 2 candy bars for Ben and only spent about 400 Ngultrum, out of 7000.  Yeah, not going to spend it all.

I figure I can just exchange the money, either on the India side, or perhaps there will be a money changer at the border.  It could be easy to change into Indian Rupee, though will lose the commission to the changer, but its nearly $70, do not want to just leave it, and probably will not be back in Bhutan any time soon.

We wandered a bit more and then the group came together.  We had taken about 20 minutes.  Not sure where the van or guides went, a few wandered off to look.

The van was found parked nearby, but no one around it.

Finally, someone reached out via Whatsapp and found where the guys were hanging out, a small restaurant nearby.

The group wandered over there and we all crowded into the place.  We all had a drink and spent about 30-40 minutes talking until we decided it was time to return to the hotel.

We loaded up in the van and drove back.

Once there, we had 40 minutes till dinner, so all returned to our rooms.

I spent most of the time packing bags and getting things organized for the trip tomorrow.

About 5 minutes before, I headed down and found a few others also walking over to the dining hall.

We stopped in the bar first as the food was not yet ready and ended up spending about 30 minutes there.

There was another large group here as well, think they are a bicycling group as we saw lots of bikes being unloaded from a truck as we arrived.

We finally went into the dining area to eat, the meal was okay, but nothing too fancy.

We then went outside and had a small gathering of all the riders and guides.

We had all contributed money for the team as a tip (I fair amount in the end) to be divided among the 4 (or 5) team members.

A few speeches were made by some of the team and riders, then a few goodbyes were said.

Our photographer Jason and the Driver Tenzin would be leaving with the truck early in the morning, so will likely not see them again unless I get up really early.

Sam, Himal, and Kinley will be around a bit longer.

Sam and Kinley will leave about same time we do and head back on the bikes.

Himal will be crossing the border with us to assist, and then probably returning to ride a bike back as well.

After the goodbyes, most returned to rooms, but Ben, Kinley, and I went back to the bar for a while.

John and Dennis joined us a bit later, but then both left not too long after.

About 10:00PM we all returned to our room to get ready for bed.

Breakfast is at 7:30, though we will not depart till 10:00AM.

I came up and sorted the last few things I had, then remembered where I had left one of my pairs of gloves on the bike, so had to go out and retrieve them from the inside pocket of the tail bag.

Then it was time to get this blog typed out.  I had spent some time earlier uploading the GoPro footage and will worry about the phone later since we are not riding tomorrow and likely will not be taking many photos or videos with it.

Tomorrow we will cross the border into India, which I expect to take 1-2 hours at least.

Then it’s a 3 hour drive to Guwahati.

Then we will have the evening to hang out together, minus the guides, just the riders.

The next day most of the riders will go home, though myself and John will be staying.  John leaves the next day, but I will be hanging out for almost 2 weeks. 

So until tomorrow, catch ya down the road.