Lost in Translation

Often I have met people who are keen to jump on the back of the bike but timings have never worked out. I meet Yvonne climbing a pass out of the Everest valley, both on the way to India in 2010. After a month in India we met up in Mumbai with the plan to drive 4,000km to Kathmandu – easy for me but you never know how the reaction of riding on the back, bumps, rough roads, heat and dirt would put most people off the idea.

After several days exploring Mumbai, we headed north, to Gurujat, several hours in the freeway car parks of Mumbai and several more on the freeway north. Yvonne quickly learned that the BMW only has one speed, fast, and enjoyed riding on the back. The busiest road in India varied from single lane road works, dual lane freeway and to a car only European freeway (which we got ¾ of the way along before being forced off, but that is another story).

Rajasthan, the state between Delhi and Pakistan, home of Mughal forts, Rajput Kings, Mosques, deserts and the busiest tourist state in India. We did the standard tourist stuff, visited the Mughal forts, learnt about the history, walked the markets and then moved onto the next town.

Travelling with Yvonne was filled with constant miss-interpretations, requests to ‘please repeat’ or ‘please talk slower’, and general miss-communications caused by my slang. My quick, intelligent wit was lost on her, the Aussie sarcasm received with confused looks so we were left to talk about the weather.
The bike performed fantastic, overtaking with incredible speed, much to the horror of Yvonne. Travelling with Yvonne was enjoyable after 10 months alone but for a long trip, the only way is for everyone to have their own bike. The experience of motorbike travelling has converted another and Yvonne learnt to ride the bike and is keen to get her licence back in Germany.