I made a detour inland to Chiplun to meet with an old flying friend, Ram.  His friend, Ajit, cycled out from Chipun to meet me and lead me through the city streets.  He took me to see a nature reserve on a small 20 acre piece of land on a tree covered hillside. Four years ago they put in a small pond and in the heat of the day that attracts the wildlife, particularly birds.   He also showed me photos of leopard taken by automatic night camera.  The big concern was fire.  Either accidental or started by poachers.  Riding back the next day I saw where there had been a wildfire. It was still smouldering but thankfully looked like it had not been too intense. What was noticeable was no bird song.

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Ajit’s son, Ashutosh Joshi, is currently walking down the Western side of India.  A couple of years ago he walked 1800km across India, unsupported and pushing a 2 wheeled trolley with his gear in it.  Makes my ride look rather pathetic!   His trip resulted in a book ‘Jouney to the East’ which as well as being a travelog describes rural life in modern day India and how it is being effected by large scale corruption.   On his current journey he is looking at how large scale developments like iron ore extraction, petrochemical plants and power stations are changing rural life and the environment with local people getting no benefit.

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Last year I left my Giant MTB in Panaji after riding it South from Mumbai and it had been brought back to Chiplun and is now in regular use.  It looked a lot cleaner than when I had it and thankfully the gears are still working OK as last year they had got pretty gritty.

The ride to and from Chiplun was on smooth concrete with shallow gradients.  So much easier and faster than when riding the steep broken coast road two days earlier.

I went for a swim in the evening from the deserted beach.  No safety net of lifeguards in towers or powerful rubber dinghies…. just a bit of common sense about choosing where to swim.   In the West we subconsciously expect professional back up to be there if we need help.  From RNLI to ambulances and hospitals.  There is certainly not that level of professional support here and as a result people help one another more.

I also do wonder if we expect too much of professional safety nets.   For example if there had been shark in the sea yesterday could a lifeguard on shore actually help?   Unlikely.