Had a biiig breakfast – well, untoasted toast (some call it ‘bread’) with cheese and jam, and a whole melon. The ride on NH 8 was unspectacular. The truck carries a part of a wind turbine.
Swastika
Nope, this is not a ‘Hakenkreuz’, it’s a Swastika and has a completely different meaning here – wealth and good fortune. Interesting – for me as a German – to see it in wide use. On the right side of the truck is the sanskrit Aum (Om) sign, a sacred syllable in Hinduism and other religions.
Stopped in Khulwar (according to the map it could be Khulwar, but I haven’t seen any proof yet) and asked a police dude if there was a hotel in town. He gave me some rough directions and then offered to share his food with me.
Fought my way through another massive traffic jam, only to find the hotel of choice to be booked out. Ended up in a simpler guest house. The second one where I’m not allowed to take the bike into the room. Soon after my arrival, another police officer knocked on the door and demanded to check my passport and visa, and asked all kinds of silly questions. I think he was just curious and wanted to (ab)use his authority. When I left for dinner, I instinctively took all my money and the passport with me, and put a shoe as close as possible to the inside of the door before closing it. When I came back, the shoe lay at the wall. Somebody had entered the room while I was away. The receptionist (a school boy) denied everything, and I’m not missing anything so far.
