Bangladesh!

I have just arrived to Thailand and I am writing this from Chiang Mai. Last week I spent in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is crazy. It is like India, but more of everything. More people, more traffic, more poverty, more attention. However I met some really nice people who really helped me out with different things. Thanks to all of you if you are reading this.

This is from a club - Toastmasters - in Calcutta. People from the club gather every tuesday and holds prepared and improvised speeches. Then the other members give feedback to the presentor. It is all about improving presentation skills. I was introduced to this group by an entrepreneur that I stayed with, held a speech about my trip and recieved some great feedback. This thing is really a great idea and Toastmasters is an international club.

One of the guys from the clubs owned an ice cream shop, so we went there to stuff us a little.

For a newspaper in Calcutta.

Complicated story. I had to cross the border to Bangladesh with my two bicycles - the Indian and the Swedish. Fortunately I got some help. It was amazing, normally I am quite restrictive with giving money away, but one of these guys that helped me carrying was deaf and mute, so I gave him 100 taka, which is around 1 euro, for helping me. He got so unbelievably happy. He tried to hide his happiness but he just couldnt.

My two bicycles at the room in a guesthouse.

The ferries in Bangladesh are crowded. Accidents happen all the time.

Random brother.

Totally squint-eyed guy.

I found a place by the road where people could leave me in peace. Normally they crowd up just some seconds after I stop. This was a library and the children went to school. I tried to help them a little with their English. They were so happy that I could understand what they had written.

This is what happens when I stop somewhere. People come from everywhere. It is quite insane. It was hard to get this picture.

Village where i stopped.

Roads in Bangladesh are very beautiful. Very green and lively landscape.

Niceee cycling.

There is a lot of water in Bangladesh. Rivers and ponds and lakes everywhere.

Ok, in Bangladesh I was done with my Indian bicycle. After Bangladesh came Thailand and here I will repair and go with my Swedish bicycle again. But I went 2500km on my 30 euro Indian bicycle without gears and I thought that was worth celebrating.

So by accident I met this man, must have been a cause of the law of attracion. He took me to his office and there we had a preparty. Bangladesh is a muslim country and alcohol is not really available but I was lucky.

We listened to old English music on his LP-player.

And then we went to buy flowers and decoration for my bicycle. I planned to decorate it on the street and let people join in. Not every day I have the chance to create such a party so I thought I might as well just take the opportunity.

And this was the result, a huge crowd helping me decorate the bicycle. I gave a man some money and told him to make a banner. It says "Bombay to Barisal" - which is more or less the stage I made with the bicycle. And I like how they got my name "Viktov Predan".

My bicycle with the crowd.

How pretty.

I gave the roses and the other flowers from the decoration to some of the people around.

Here I am arriving to Dhaka. The traffic was totally insane. I have never seen so many cycle taxis or "Rikschas".

Couchsurfer meeting in Dhaka! Many of them were cyclists also.

And in a couple of hours I will start my first day of cycling here i Thailand. Weehoo.

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A map of the trip can be found here.

I have crossed India from west to east!

So, I have made something which I am actually quite proud of. Crossing India on bicycle from west to east, a journey of almost 3000km - most of it on a one geared bicycle for 30 euros. Crossing India was not easy compared to the other countries I have passed. So, now I am in Calcutta and in a couple of days I will head towards Bangladesh.

Crazy vehicle. I could only fit half of it on the picture. There was one truck pulling and the other pushing.

Me in turban.

People around lakes that I pass in India are normally very poor, but it is somehow often very beautiful. The lake is used for washing clothes, having bath and all.

Scary bridge with nothing on the sides.

Students all wear suit.

Let's bring the family on the bicycle.

A beautiful temple that I passed.

India is sometimes very crowded with a lot of crazy traffic. However, a couple of days, when I found roads like this it was heaven. No traffic, perfect weather, good road condition. Then it is very enjoyable to travel on bicycle.

I was announced to reach a hotel and they welcomed me with flowers and all :)

And sometimes I get to write autographs.

Kid practising his high jump skills.

A child on the field.

Buah, the guesthouses where I am staying are sometimes not very nice. Spiders and all kinds of animals are moving around sometimes. Bedbugs are very common. I always sleep with long sleeved shirt and pants because otherwise I wake up in the middle of the night because all my body itches.

Hehe, how much can you carry on a three wheel bicycle?
Viktor Predan

This is the general hand set when driving in India. Left hand always on the horn. This is by the way Sumit who I stay with now in Calcutta. He is a pure entrepreneur so it is very interesting to stay with him.

Random things from India

Carrying stuff around.

Man on the road.

They transport all kinds of things on the road. This was a huge bastard. I suppose it is a train wagon.



Buffalo(?) enjoying himself.



Haha, this is my friend. I met him on the road. He is so kind but a little retarded I think. He is a farmer. He calls me every now and then. "Hiiiii Viktor. How aaare you?". Me:"Oh, hi my friend. How are you?". He: "Fiiiine". Me: "And your family?". He: "Fiiiiine. Everyone is fiiine". He again: "Welcome to my house". Me: "Oh, thank you, but I am a little far away. He: "Ok, byeee". Me: "Byeee". And that is it. And sometimes he sends me text messages, for example this one: "I Am Pray to God With You Your Mission and All Dhe Best My Friend".



One couchsurfer that I met had a cotton factory or something. This is inside the factory. The working conditions are a little sad. This is one of the workers and he earns around 2 euros a day. But the worst thing is that he works 12 hours a day and 7 days a week. And the noise from the machines inside there is horrible. 2 minutes there was enough for me. That was very sad to see.



The owner of the factory. He was a soldier in the military and participated in the war between India and Pakistan. He got shot in the shoulder but survided. That was a tough man.

On almost every truck it says "Horn please" or "Blow horn" or something similar. They use the horn aaall the time.

I stopped by the road and wanted to take some pictures of the kids playing cricket. They all got extremely exited and started to shout and dance and completely forgot about the game. They were all running against me and I had to escape as fast as I could.

The bulls are usually painted in different colors.

Another man. He couldnt understand why I wanted to take a picture of him.

It is so hard to make some Indians take a picture. They just dont know how to use the camera. When I give the camera to them they think they are recording a movie because of the screen. So they walk around with the camera and tells everyone to wave. It was funny in the beginning but now I get frustrated. As seen on the picture I try to tell him to press the fucking button.

Rain, rain, rain. But the rain is warm so actually there is no problem.

The monkeys crossing the street. Oh my god, first time I got so scared when I saw them. Still I think they are very disgusting. Look at the tail. Blää, horrible.

Another man.

It was suprising to me how heavy work the women do. Here at road construction.

Me being recorded by the state television, just telling a little about the trip. They are fascinated that I go on an Indian standard bicycle.

And here on TV. Wohoo.

A guy, Mayur, who I met on the road invited me to his house. He was a very funny man working with insurance. Here I am eating with his mom and her sister. Mayur always had funny comments when we drove around in his car. He was always talking about how crazy the Indian traffic is, for example: "Look at this fellow. He doesnt care about anything, he is only enjoying his riding".

Name of my bicycle is Dhoni - just like the captain of the Indian cricket team obviously. It is working fine actually. Now we have already made 500km together. I think I will go with him in all India and Bangladesh, sending the other bicycle to Thailand. Maybe I will regret that.

This was funny. I was taken to Lions club which is some social club active all over India. They got all exited about the trip and was gonna write about in the local newspaper. Nowdays I am giving interviews all the time. This is not my bicycle however, I didnt want to cycle it to the place so we improvised something.

Indian marriage.

I stayed in the birth town of the Indian president so her birth house was the biggest attraction in the town. After talking to the security guard a little he invited us for a tea in the garden of the house.

A monkey at some tea place by the road.

Yesterday I stayed with a big family. It is not uncommon that 3 brothers or sisters with their families live together.

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Viktor Predan