The Hummer’s journey through North India, a continuation to last months Hummer expedtion, from the diaries of Dr Enrique Suarez Cabrera.

They came, they saw, they got frightened by the driving style. But at least they had a pumped-up Hummer H1 to hide inside, a full metal jacket in which to do battle with some of the Sub-continent's most severe and bizarre driving conditions.
Welcome, then, to the second part of our journey with Tony Velazquez, head honcho of a four-man posse of adventurers who make up the 2005 Hummer Expeditions tour (www.hummerexpeditions.net). This non-profit Venezuelan outfit, dedicated to sponsoring orphanages across the world, has traversed around a greater part the globe in the past five years - seeking to build bridges between different cultures, taking their Hummer through the kind of terrain that constitutes a Maruti 800's nightmares and scaring the pants off any rickshaws looking to play chicken.
Keeping a record of the weird and wonderful encounters along the way, Tony here reports on the second leg of their epic journey across this beautiful and baffling land we call home.
“October 1. New Delhi. The Hummer laughs in the face of potholes, gives kerbs the kiss-off and crawls like some surreal steel elephant through the city's wide, congested avenues. But after our fair share of sightseeing, getting our quota of photos in front of India Gate and the Qutab Minar, we have to leave this elegant, historic state capital and hit the road once again, heading north, towards the roof of the world, the Himalayas. Our destination is the source of the sacred Ganges river, and after a seven-hour journey along a single-lane carriageway, muscling our way past all manner of vehicles, we arrive in Rishikesh, a serene and beautiful place surrounded by lush hillsides. It's here that the Beatles came in search of the spiritual antidote to their Sixties burn out, putting themselves under the guidance of Guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Our activities here were spirited rather than spiritual, taking a spectacular rafting trip in the sacred waters of the Ganges - an adrenalin-fuelled feast of rapids. But, that said, we did get a sense of the deep and ancient faiths at work here when we were privileged to watch the ceremony of the Aarti in the Ghat Triveni, where four priests sang to different deities and placed oil lamps into the waters of the river.

At 8 am we left the idyllic surroundings of Rishikiesh to drive to Ranikhet, choosing to cross through the National Park Corbett, which turned out to be something of a bad decision; it took us 14 hours of narrow trails, hampered by one landslide after another to reach our destination. I don't know how we would have done it in any other vehicle. At 10pm, amid a chorus of stars, we finally found lodging at a beautiful English ranch. With another early day if we wanted to reach Lucknow, we found the energy to eat dinner and crawl to our respective beds.
Once we had made our way through Lucknow, the journey began to one of India's most sacred cities, Varanasi. The old city streets certainly weren't built for cars, let alone our hulking beast. Even the diminutive rickshaws found it hard getting through the chaotic labyrinthine streets and alleyways.
In this mystical and medieval place, we once again took a chance to replace road with water, sailing down the Ganges at a rather more sedate pace than in Rishikesh. It gave us a chance to witness the immersions and offerings made to the river via the ghats (stairways) on its banks. It is a startling sight for a foreigner to see all the activity here - people drying clothes, yogis, tourists and the archaic temples situated a little further back behind the steps. The cremations themselves are both disturbing and touching, the loved ones around the fire performing the last rites and then the ritual scattering of the ashes in the river. It's especially odd to see the partially burnt remains or even whole body parts floating in the water amidst normal scenes of children playing or the odd tourist swimming.
It seems appropriate that from the spiritual intensity of Varanasi we continued our mystical trail, this time heading north towards the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal and, specifically, Lumbini, the birthplace of Sidharta Gautama (Buddha).
In contrast to Varanasi, and despite the thousands of pilgrims, there was a tranquillity here that is indescribable. We realised quite soon after our arrival that part of this calm was due to the absence of any car horns blowing, something that's constant when driving in India.
We left just as the first slivers of sunlight appeared on the horizon. We had decided to make the most of our all-terrain capacities and take a short cut north through the Himalayan mountain trails. But we had been somewhat naïve about the effects of the rains that had caused the path to all but disappear. However, we wouldn't have had it any other way as the scenery was breathtaking and for every frustration, driving there was an antidote in being able to gawp at the sheer scale and grandeur of what we were
driving through.
Early that afternoon we arrived at Pokhara to see the spectacular view of the Annapura mountains. We were lucky to be there during the visit of a Royal couple, meaning the whole town had been decorated in celebration of its honoured guests. After enjoying the hospitality of the townspeople, we left the following day for the six-hour drive to Kathmandu. We were warmly received here, too, by Nawan and Pemba Dorjee, two expert Sherpas of the Himalayas.
That night we met with Alfredo Autiero, our friend who had just returned from a trek to the Base Camp of Mount Everest with a group of twelve Venezuelans. It seems that even making it to Base Camp is a demanding experience.
In the morning we rode on motorbikes through the teeming and chaotic traffic of vehicles, animals, and carts to reach the Swayambunath Temple. A steep staircase led us to an impressive Stupa (Buddhist Temple) guarded by a huge Dorje, masculine symbol of spiritual strength.
At noon we were invited to have lunch with Nawan at his house and to visit his orphanage, the Helpless Children Mother Centre, which he runs with his family. They care for fifty-two boys and girls, also providing them with a comprehensive education.
After lunch, the children put on a performance for us, showing some typical dances of the region, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Enrique was so touched by it all that he decided to adopt a very special little girl called Tshering.
At 6:00 am. Alfredo, Enrique and Angel escaped to Bodhnat (a Buddhist Temple) where the biggest Stupa of Nepal can be found. This is the favourite temple of the Tibetan refugees in Nepal and we found the amount of people that arrived before dawn to pray there was amazing.
We took our time to explore Nepal, visiting Pashupati-math, the most sacred Hindu Temple in Nepal and also one of the most important temples dedicated to Lord Shiva on the whole of the Sub-continent. We then left for Bhaktapur city and to Patan, which was a spectacular complex of Buddhist temples and monasteries.
The next day Enrique left to go back to Caracas, and at our farewell dinner we reminisced about our favourite moments of the expedition and realised there was little that we could describe as a bad experience. As obsessive travellers are wont to do, we also began to talk excitedly about our next trip to South Africa and the desert of Namibia and the desert of Gobi.
Deciding to take some time out and recharge our batteries in Kathmandu had been a prescient decision, because the route to Biratnagar was even rougher and more demanding than the ones before. We were at high altitude and the roads were dangerously curved and crowded. One rash manoeuvre and we could have been heading down the mountain quicker than Speedy Gonsales. We had been heading towards the border only to find it had been closed to vehicles, thus forcing us to take a tough 90Km detour. We finally crossed the border and spent the night in Ragenj, a small town that was in the midst of celebrating one of the many Hindu festivals.
Having lost some time, we set off early next morning with the firm goal of reaching Calcutta early. We stopped for lunch at a truckers place where they had never seen foreigners, and that coupled with the vehicle we were driving must have made them think we'd arrived from another planet.
On reaching Calcutta, we found it to be a clean city with inhabitants as warm and welcoming as anywhere else in the country - India is unique, I think, in its self-effacing, spontaneous sense of generosity.
We were luckily able to visit one of the Hospices founded by Mother Teresa and make a substantial delivery of medicines and donations, which were received with a great deal of gratitude. These homes seemed almost like churches, opening their doors to everybody and tending with particular care and dedication to terminal patients. While in Calcutta we visited the major sites of the city, such as the Victoria Memorial and even used the large white building as a striking background for photographs of the Hummer.
Our stay in this vast metropolis ended with an extraordinary press conference thanks to the efforts of Goodyear, the principal sponsor of our expedition; and also the Calcutta Tourism Office, that praised the members of Hummer Expedition for the successful completion of our journey across Indian soil - even if it wasn't over yet -, covering more than 17 thousand kilometres. It gave us a sense that we were genuinely strengthening ties between Latin America and India - a bond that we hope continues to grow.
In Calcutta, we sadly had to say goodbye to our journalist Pedro Castro Amare, who caught a plane from here to return home. We, however, journeyed on to Bhubaneshwar, and were yet again struck by the Herculean struggle of trying to drive during a monsoon. It rained incessanlty for the 10 hours that we drove. Awesome to experience, but awful for driving! And yet the toughest was yet to come.
The next day we discovered that we could not pass through any cities because the entrances were completely congested with trucks. This forced us to take circulatory routes via small, poorly developed towns and villages. In one incident we were forced to drive through a lagoon. It was here that the true grit of this car revealed itself, digging deep, with water coming up to the windows, to pull us through. Remarkable stuff. Soon after we found some decent road, but this time we were faced with some drivers performing kamikaze manoeuvres in awful road conditions. Usually on this tour we saw three to four accidents a week, but here, on the highway, it was a shocking six to eight crashes a day.
This delayed us more than we expected and we arrived at Bhubaneshwar late. Mr. Gobind Buhyan and Mr. Santosh Kumarde of the tourism office were already waiting for us together with the Goodyear Team and we received a wonderful reception. It's just a pity we were there only for one night.
After a great breakfast and getting a good look at ourselves in all of the local newspapers we began our journey to Chennai, the place from where we'd begun this extraordinary journey. We passed by Vishakhapatnam, a beautiful coastal city with a huge port and large Indian Navy establishment located on the banks of the Bay of Bengal and then continued on to Vijayawada. The road of this coastal highway was blessedly smooth and trouble free and we arrived in Chennai by 4pm. And quite appropiately this last bit of driving was most pleasant.
We had done it! We had closed the circle and finished a journey that had taken in thousands of miles, millions of people and not an inconsiderable number of fuel stops along the way!
As usual our friends Venkatesh from Goodyear and Elumalai of the tourism office were waiting for us, and together we drove to the Towers Residence Hotel where the people once again treated us with the sympathy and smiles that epitomise the people of India.
On the 25th of October we gave our 13th and final press conference, and described how honoured we felt to have visited this great country. It would be impossible to thank all the many people who have helped us, from the Embassy of India in Venezuela, the Ambassador, Deepak Bujuani, the general director of the office of tourism in India
Mr. Rajeev Talwar, the president of Goodyear India Mr. Antonio Capellini, down to the most humble people of India and Nepal, always ready with a welcoming smile and generous heart. It has been a truly unforgettable experience.
Thank you India!”