Diu mind?

Not at all actually. Finding the ex-Portuguese enclave of Diu in southern Gujarat has been like taking a holiday from the holiday. Note to anyone attempting independent road travel in India: It can be a massive ball ache 60% of the time. However on reflection we have travelled 2000 kms on our trusty steeds now and with the benefit of hindsight, and a few days on the beach, it is still a lot of fun.

Possibly the most punishing day riding reaching Diu with a 15 hours marathon of sleeping rough, breaking down (twice), bumping along pitted roads - which make the surface of the moon look smooth, and an hour or two of night riding - not for the faint hearted and not for me again thank you very much. Help though has come in all shapes and forms, mostly Indian in nature and always by the truckload. A simple fuse blown in one town sparked a gathering of biblical proportions as the towns folk rushed to see why a gangly red head was poking around his motorcycle with a screwdriver whilst his long legged female friend slunk around trying to look inconspicuous. As it happened at least four motor mechanics turned up and had us up and running again before a stampede occurred. And all for the bargain price of zero rupees and thunderous applause as the bikes roared off.

Sounds good on paper eh? It's this sort of thing though which harmless in intent is intense by nature as mine and holly's personal space protocol is compromised, leaving us slightly stunned, albeit eternally grateful.

So, what does a ex-Portuguese Island in the Arabian Sea have to do with this??? R& R. Cheap beer - well beer in general as Gujarat is a 'dry state - golden sandy, relatively uncrowded beaches, and a distinct lack of hustle. Seafood has also been on our menu several times with the odd barbie on the beach thrown in for good measure. Holly's is happy as her tan returns to its former glory. Mine sadly leaves a little to be desired.

Still, another couple of days of this and I think we'll be ready to ride again, back into real India...