46 km
The owner of Sonali in Bhopal is a very nice older gentleman. He was really interested in my bike and told me that his main business is actually selling bikes. He also speaks very good English. He told me I could find a good hotel in Sehore, only some 45 kms from Bhopal. I do think he also talked about a road bypassing Sehore but I did not pay much attention to that.
It felt great be on the road again after so many rest days in Orchha and Bhopal. Within not too long I came to a split where one headed to Sehore and the other towards Dewas, bypassing Sehore. I took the one leading to town.
Every so often Indians ride up next to me on a motorbike asking the ususal questions. It traffic is not too busy I talk to them. Today there were several such. One bike had two guys on it. One with a tatoo on the side of his neck. Where I come from the only guys with neck tatoos are criminals, probably so in India as well. I was not too talkative but said Sehore when he asked where I was going. I think those guys gathered that I did not really want their company. Eventually they started laughing as if they thought I was real fool, and then sped off.
A bit later two policemen on a motorbike rode up next to me and asked where I was going. I told them too I was going to Sehore, and they waived me on as if they meant I should go faster. I needed lunch and did not want to go fast, keeping an eye out for retaurants, and hotels. The cops followed just after me for a long while. Eventually they rode up next to me again and told me to stop. We were just outside a police station. They said they needed me to come in so that they could run a check on me.
There were lots of policemen there, and two journalists from a local paper. The police checked my passport and visa. They asked where I had stayed in Bhopal etc. More and more police arrived. The journalists took pictures of me and asked many questions. I was there for about an hour and a half. The police told me that some guy in a black jacket had tipped them off about me. I think it was the dude with the neck tatoo. Eventually though they seemed to realise that maybe I was not a terrorist after all. I was served a cup of tea and asked if I wanted water. Over all I must say they treated me fine and I was not in a big hurry. But I was getting more and more hungry. And I thought the whole excersice was quite useless. Eventually I told them so. I said I am a tourist, from The European Union, I have my passport with visa etc. And I asked them if they really did not have more important things to do. They said I could go.
The two journalists seemed a bit embarrased about the whole thing, and offered to guide me to a good hotel. They took me back onto the main road, the highway that bypasses Sehore. After 3-4 kms we came to The Crescent Resort. I could see already from the outside that this would not come cheap. But it did not feel prudent to ride back to town and maybe again attract the coppers attention.
'Tis the holiday season now and this place was quite full, big as it is. The only thing available was a luxury suite for 4200 Rs and another even more luxurious suite for 12000. I went for the cheaper one and now have a fabulous suite that is a good bit larger than my apartment at home. Actually wish I had a place like this. I would decorate it differently of course but would love to have a bathroom the size of an ordinary living room.
No comments:
Post a Comment