To Dhar: Road construction

March 4, 2016

"I'm glad this is a short day, it's already getting hot" Patrick says. We are eating poha at a junction rest stop. A few kms back the joy ride with an asphalt road turned nightmare with construction and lots of dust. The unsealed road continued but with long sections where the road base looks ready to pave so was a bit smoother. In another year the road will be all joy ride for cyclists between Mandu and Dhar.

We arrived at the round about with the statue of guy wearing a turban on a horse and continue straight past the entrance to the Dhar Fort. We are looking for a hotel on google maps only not to be able to find it and turn around. While looking at the tablet, a man on a motorcycle stops. "You looked like you needed help, so I turned around" he said. He will show us to a hotel. Then he slowly leads us back to the round about this time turning left. We both were a bit surprised because we had seen a sign going right to Dhar City and thought that would be where more hotels would be located.

The hotel he led us to Patrick checked out but was concerned about where to put the bikes. So he walked to another hotel nearby, Hotel Natraj Palace and for 700 rupee we have a nice room with a fan and hot water, a restaurant and a courtyard for the bikes.

Late afternoon, we take a tuk tuk back to the Fort and walk the ramparts with great views of the surrounding area. Made of sandstone, the Dhar Fort was built in 1344 AD by the Sultan of Delhi. The ride back to the hotel was with a shared tuk tuk...four of us squeezed in the back and Patrick in the front by the driver. We had waited a few minutes for the tuk tuk to fill up.

Today the temperature was getting hot early and in the 90's and rain early afternoon adding humidity... Same forecast for tomorrow, so we will have an early start.

The plateau Mandu is situated on drops down slightly on the north side to a "saddle" with several stone gates. Then the road climbs again for more rolling country and baobab trees. Rachel is the blue spot in this downhill.

The landscape around Mandu is full of tombs. Some are being preserved, others used for cattle barns.

Nomads are camped in a field. Their belongings goes on the camels, they tend their herds of goats and cattle.

Architecture at Dhar. Just about all new construction are reinforced concrete posts, beams and floors, while the walls are infilled with clay brick and covered in stucco.

We walk through the main gate not sure what to expect. Inside is a large wooded area where people seem to live. We take a walk around the ramparts.

View of Dhar, makes us really appreciate what we have in Boise.

Today's ride: 38 km (24 miles)
Total: 13,863 km (8,609 miles)

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