Towels of Insanity.

If you have ever tried to repair a bicycle you will know what a frustrating task it can be. An afternoon attempting to regrease the bearings of my headset should have been an easy enough job but events took a turn for the worst as the hotel staff discovered my new cricket bat and pitched up a quick game of cricket next to me to show of their cricketing skills namely straight driving the ball at the crimson faced sweating figure of fun, me. This coupled with other interested hotel guests picking up pumps, tools, and cycling gear whilst quizzing me on my marital status made things decidedly tricky.
Another tour has finished which by all accounts was another massive success accept for an unfortunate incident which involved 4 of my cycling guests riding over a tiny puppy whilst leaving me to pick up the apparently dead pup to ensure that relations with the local Tamil population were not irreconcilably damaged. A miracle saved the day with my mouth to mouth resuscitation attempts; which involved me spitting water sucked out of my camel- back onto the nose of the upturned squashed puppy; appearing to work which startled me and the puppy in equal measure. The locals seemed similarly astonished as I handed back the fluffy little canine which was promptly stuffed into a bundle of straw to finish off the recovery process.
Presently in the middle of the penultimate tour of the season before heading back to Darjeeling to complete preparation for next Octobers inaugural tour which promises to be interesting as we have to arrange a caravan of Yaks to follow us on the high altitude trails on the Singalila ridge on the Indo-Nepali border. Today’s main riding interest came in the form of a happy looking elephant flapping its ears in joy as it enjoyed a trip on the back of a truck whilst making its way to its next logging job.
Stop Press: A sanitary towel (unused thankfully) has just landed on my head more are now falling from the sky. Investigations reveal a troupe of monkeys have raided one of the rooms above and are emptying the contents of some unfortunate ladies bag over the balcony and on to the terrace below. A tube of toothpaste and a bikini top has now made its way down with more items expected soon.