I have always loved sitting down in the evening and planning the next day’s route. These recent days have been the most challenging because of there being no one to ask and there being a multitude of possibilities.
I do not want to go the most obvious direct routes but neither do I want to go very far each day because of the heat and my still painful leg. I also have to find a hopefully ac hotel.
The multitude of rivers and ferries can be confusing and timings of course non existent. So far I have been lucky.
That said, I do like the ferries and intend to take the maximum.
I am trying to take the most southerly route possible, eventually to Cox’s Bazaar. It should take me through Noakhali, infamous for the communal riots in early 1940’s.
For all of this I am a true disciple of Google Maps. I love using it and supplement it with a couple of other excellent apps, mapy.cz, pocket earth, and maps.me
A couple of random photos from ferry-

So I rode along the most southerly road I could find and headed east through a very rural Bangladesh of fish farms involving huge expances of water (mostly too saline for rice).  This was very pleasant cycling. And eventually a ferry across a huge river.  I arrived in the town of Mithbaria.
Room tonight is 1500rs. nice and with AC. Last night room was not so great at 1000.  Did have AC.

Tonight unable to find any alcohol .  Last night had to take a ferry to find the bar, dark and seedy like in India.

1. In Despite the huge crowd crossing the border I was escorted through the Indian side then the Bangladesh side where they gave me a visa no problem.  They are very particular about one having a hotel reservation for some reason which I had done the night before.
   A SIM card and money exchange and I was on my way to Jashore (old name Jessore) about 40-50 kms. away.
   I was very much an object of curiosity immediately with the first question always “where are you from?”.

Road was good and somewhat less traffic than on the West Bengal side.
I have found so far along the way that some people (guys of course) speak Hindi and when I have asked them where they learned it they said from Hindi movies.  It is always a relief because English is not very common.

Last night, in Jashore I was able to buy 2 small cans of Hunter beer and tonight one of those cans would have cost me 800 taka or about 600 r/s.  I declined.

After the Simlipal rest day I had an early start and just ground along the 4 lane national highway with a few fairly dangerous 2 lane sections with potholes, speed breakers (still painful for my “broken”!!  leg).
After about 40kms. or so I realized I would be doing the full distance to Kharagpur (160 kms.),  the only obvious place of finding a good hotel.  It was hot, 41 c., and I drank a lot of water and energy drinks. The route today also went through Jharkhand for about 30 kms.
Now I am in West Bengal and tomorrow will be in Kolkata.  Not looking forward to the inevitable traffic nightmare that is coming.  It will be a challenge.

Here in Kharagpur I looked on google and found a hotel (Kaushik), looked good, but they could only offer a non-ac room with no window.  Sorry but no thanks.  Farther down the road is Greenlands, nice, but very small room at 2,200rs.

I am so glad I did this, and my driver was excellent.  Total I guess this cost around 4,000 to 5,000 rs.

I was only able to see a very small part of this massive park and only a superficial idea of the tribal culture here.  It was a very tantalising glimpse.  The very popular BJD government of Naveen Patnaik seems to be making a great effort in improving the lives of the adivasis with grants for pucca houses, small solar panels, schools, etc.

It is a prime attraction visiting Simlipal to see tigers, elephants etc. especially at a place earmarked for that where the Forest Department places salt beside the water hole.  We only saw deer and monkeys but that was ok.

Lunch inside the reserve was similar to the tasty thalis I have had everyday in Odisha.  I would give this simple inexpensive vegetarian rice plate 10 out of 10.

Often (but not today) karela (bitter gourd) , my favourite , lightly fried is served.

After this delicious lunch I strolled over to another local eatery where this delicious looking chicken dish (wrapped in leaves) was being prepared over wood fire and as you can see in my photos being consumed by 3 local tribal lads along with this local rice made brew which seems to be a staple of the tribal diet, being sold everywhere along the way.

these guys are drinking the brew and sharing the chicken cooked in the wrapped up leaves over the wood fire.

This is the finished product and how I wish I could have tasted it, but I had just had lunch and had a mouthful of gutka and just could not have tried, and unfortunately I don’t think I will ever see this beautiful preparation again.  On the other hand, the fermented rice drink that the lady in the photo is selling, and I think is a sort of weak rice beer is even very often sold along the roads and highways.

• Yesterday was without doubt my worst day.  It was raining in the morning but by 8:30 it looked ok.  At around 11 a.m. I was crossing a bridge and hit one of those water disguised potholes and went flying.  A kind soul picked me up from the ground but I was a mess. I had some road rash but had definitely done something to my leg.  I found that I was able to cycle so continued on. Stopping for eats was another matter.  I could hardly walk at all, my right leg unable to bear weight.
  I eventually arrived in Boudh, my original destination and just managed to hobble a few paces.
•      In the morning it seemed so bad that I convinced myself I had broken a bone.  I looked up Orthopedic surgeons in Bhubaneswar, asked the hotel manager to book a car, and asked if someone could find me a crutch or walking stick.
•      I had in the meantime taken a painkiller, and that, along with some walking about had me feeling much better.  I don’t think I had broken any bones!
•      I felt almost euphoric and off I went.
  The leg is still giving me a lot of trouble, getting on and off the bike, and the curse of cycling in Odisha- dreadful speed breakers all the time- they hurt my leg.

Sister Jane alerted me to an article about me in Telangana Times from a week or so ago.  The guy had video interviewed me but I didn’t know that there was print article too.  Here is the link: https://telanganatoday.com/american-cyclist-james-stevenson-on-a-journey-to-explore-india-reaches-yellandu

Raining this morning.  Should I leave or not?