Early in the morning I walk through the empty streets of the city to the center. The sacred cows and the stray dogs are already waiting at the houses for the sacrificial meal that will be served to them. I'm on my way to the ATM because today my credit card is blocked. It was hacked a few days ago, after which some blurry statements have taken place. The online part is immediately blocked, but I can still pin today. Then that too will be blocked and a new card will be sent to India. With my pockets full of money, enough to bridge the 3 weeks without a card, I walk back to the boarding house.
After breakfast I'm on my way again and that feels great. I stayed in Tourist Pension for no less than 10 days and today I set course for Jaipur. It seems to be a beautiful city and I feel like discovering new things again.
When I have driven 30 km I end up in a road jam at a railway crossing. There are works and traffic squeezes forward in rows, where only a few can cross the track at a time. When I have just crossed the track I suddenly lose my balance and I fall with the engine and all into the 30 cm deep road excavation next to me. huh? I do not understand! Someone must have hit me. I'm stuck with one foot under the engine. Fortunately, 5-6 men immediately come to the rescue and put the bike right again. My boots did their job well, I didn't hurt anything.
But the engine has come off worse and fell right with the valve cover on a stone, which cracked it. The oil drips out. poop! What now. I decide to drive the 30 km back to the Tourist Pension. When I got there, my boot and the side of the engine are completely covered in oil, so it's a serious leak.
I call my dealer in NL for advice and Rajesh's son starts calling around in India. Coincidentally, during the Bush Mechanic course in preparation for this trip, I learned how to plug a hole in the valve cover with malleable metal, so I also start the repair. It soon turns out that a replacement cover is not available in India, but the same afternoon Keram Motorrad sends the supplies to India, so that I can replace the valve cover myself in 2-3 weeks. Top!
The temporary repair is going well, so I can still leave for Jaipur tomorrow, but it is still exciting whether the emergency repair will keep all trips in the coming weeks. Until the turn of the year I'm going on a tour through different cities and in about 2 weeks I'll be back at my current place, hoping that my Visa card and the valve cover will have arrived by then.
