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

Two videoclips

Well, I thought I could put a couple of videoclips on the blog for the first time.

Here is me cycling on my new bicycle. Even though it can not be seen so well it is quite steep uphill which is not the easiest on a one geared bicycle. Anyway, it is not always tough like this. Today it was sunny and the wind was from behind so 100km flew by easily :)

Uf, I dont like to see myself like this, but this is the proof that I was on Indian news on TV yesterday, telling a little about the trip! This is recorded from my "hotel"-room. The channel covers the whole Maharastra state which has a population of around 100 million, but I suppose everyone doesnt have a TV.

You can leave a comment if you want here :D

I have bought myself a new Indian bicycle!

Things have been changing. I have sent my bicycle 520km forward, to Nagpur, because the

spokes on the back wheel kept on braking and nobody can fix it. I dont have the good tools and neither the mechanics here in India. So, hopefully I will get some tools sent to Nagpur, and I can fix my bicycle there. I dont hope too much though. Emotionally it was really tough to send the bicycle away. I always say that it is my wife when people ask if I am married.

So, to be able to get forward I bought myself an Indian bicycle for around 30 euros. It is really shitty. At least I hope it can take me 520km to Nagpur, and then we will see what happens.

These are all the things I sent with my bicycle and that I decided that I could not carry on the Indian one. Things include the sleeping bag (sheet is enough), jeans, sweater, deodorant, hair wax, tooth brush (that one was for the bicycle, I have another one for the teeth), sun screen (no need, cause I'm already tanned!), rain wear (no rain here I hope) and other things.

The local newspaper came and took some photos and had an interview with me. My ass is nicely dirty I notice.

They asked deep questions. Example: "As a foreigner, which advice would you give to us in India?". I had no good answer at all.

The crew who helped me buy the new bicycle. It was a big thing.

Me and Vikram, the couchsurfer I stayed with. He was such a nice man and I had a discussion with him that gave me some perspective to my problem with the bicycle. He was a wealthy man, having a business in the jewellery industry and staying in a big, nice house, but unlike many other wealthy Indians I have met he had his feet on the ground. The day I stayed with him he arranged a day for mute children in the city. However, we both decided that I should not participate because it would kind of steal the show. Anyway, he had a deep insight in poor India and when he told me about all that I realized that my problems are not so big after all, when put in perspective. I dont know, it might sound philosophical, but I try to think of that when my bicycle or something else fucks up. Hehe, or maybe I'm just mindfucking myself.

On the new bicycle. The seat is way too low and I cannot raise it more.

Picture taken today, the day after buying the bicycle. Today I went 120km on it in the rain. It makes very strange sounds and it feels like it will brake down whenever, but it is going strong. So now I have cycled 180km with it in total. And people are a lot more happy and friendly when they see me on this bicycle. Always when I stop I say "Atlas, Atlas" which is the brand of the bicycle. "To Kolkata!". Everyone starts to laugh. Today one guy said: "Haha, Atlas cycle. Ordinary. No ranger!".

I have now cycled approx one week and 700km in India and it very,very different to anything else. Traffic is crazy, people stare me out, problems with the bicycle, bad roads. But I'm moving forward and mostly I enjoy.


A lot of animals on the roads. Here camel bastards. Almost hit one when he didn't keep a straight line. Today a big monkey crossed the road right in front of me. I got extremely scared.

All kinds of animals.

In this village I sat down to eat something waiting for my bicycle to get fixed. They all formed a half circle around me and just starred at me. If I did something, for example took the water bottle from my bag, they all started to talk or whisper to each other. The problem with the bicycle is that One spoke on the back tire is broken. I have now tried 10 repair shops and nobody can replace the spoke, so now I have ridden around 500km with a spoke less. I hope not another one brakes.

I came into a city which I guess had never seen a tourist or something. The major welcomed me to the city and the local newspaper was there and took the same picture as above. They were gonna write about the crazy cyclist. The major showed me the nicest hotel in town and let me stay for free. Then he took me around to the important people of the city - the police officer, the head doctor etc. Felt like a king.

Cool man.

In the quite big city Jamnagar I stayed with Kristian for one night, a Swedish guy from Uppsala! He studies Indian medicine over there. Wow, it was so nice to get away from all the attention. We ate pancakes and met many of his friends. I felt like home. It was hard to leave :)

I was hesitating alot before putting this picture but anyway. At Kristian's place, without thinking I drank one glass of tap water, which I told him. He said "You have to throw it up, otherwise it is very likely you will be in bed for several days". Well, terrified I filled my stomach with clean water, put the fingers in the throat and up it went. It seemed to work cause I felt good the day after. Horrible experience.

Eating Indian food with couchsurfer Jignesh and his family.

Protecting myself in gayly fashion against the malaria mosquitoes.

Sometimes I stop at those kind of places by the road, to get some shadow, drink and food. Doesn't seem like so much is going on in their lives unfortunately.

On the door to enter a restaurant. They have humor in India obviously!

Funny machine?

Motorcyclists gave me a flag! Now I have placed it on the side so that trucks dont run into me.

A lot of women carry stuff.

Viktor Predan