KATHMANDU TO KALIMPONG 2014: Friday, 21st February, 2014. Duday to Siliguri

Distance - 42.3 miles Climbing - 403 feet.
Route Details http://www.strava.com/activities/115454910

We had a long lie till 7.00am this morning, breakfast at 8.00am and on the road before 9.00am. Bliss.
Lovely clear morning for our last camp start, breakfasted outside and bid goodbye to the team. Very sad to see them go. Prakash is now in charge and it is good to see him in the lead vehicle hanging out the passenger window, counting heads, making sure we are all ok. The nearer we got to the Nepal/Indian border the heavier the traffic became. At customs there was the usual form filling, fine, but as the bikes had no point of entry stamp there was a bit of a problem. After a bit of tooing and froing Prakash and James took care of that with a 1000 rupee donation !! All sorted we headed for the large town of Siliguri, past beautifully manicured Tea Plantations. This is where Ken was brought up and he said the tea bushes were cut level, by men and women, with a scythe. It would be a few months before the leaves are ready for plucking. We hit Siliguri in the rush hour so had to keep very alert in the heaving, noisy mass of traffic. I love this, jinking in and out, traffic appearing on all sides, so colourful. Great fun.
We were welcomed at the Sarovar hotel by former pupils of Dr Graham's Homes and Jennifer Webster, John's wife. Jennifer had travelled to India, on her own, to support us on the last day and visit old friends in Kalimpong. It is great to see a weel kent face. Kada's, scarves of welcome were draped round our necks. Oh it was lovely to be in a hotel, I washed my hair at last, had a proper shower and changed into clean clothes. Felt so good. We all met for a celebratory meal but I found myself missing the camp cooking. It was so delicious.
Some of the group have asked me about the hill tomorrow, 4500 feet over 10 miles. It is doable but daunting, I walked it in 2008 but cycled it in 2010. My advise is slow and steady, conserve your energy, go at your own pace. I feel a bit of pressure to cycle up without stopping, as I have done it before, but that was 4 years ago. As long as Spike doesn't let me down we will give it a go.
Lying now in a clean bed, oh it would be so nice to have a long lie tomorrow.