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Our bikes had miraculously arrived only two days after us, though we were not aware of this as the station doesn’t tell you, and there is no way to contact the station by telephone to check!! So when we turned up at the station a few days later we were delighted to see our bikes already waiting for us!! Alas a closer inspection revealed significant damage, particularly to Sedef’s bike (top ring and derauiller bent, chain snapped, handlebars bent, bike-stand leg snapped off, both tyres flat and, last but not least, her cute little Snoopy mascot stolen!). Nic’s bike fared better as it must have been shielded by Sedef’s bike, and only had the derauiller slightly bent. Not only were we not compensated for any of this damage, but we had to pay storage charges to the station before they would release our bikes!!!
Our second main worry was a parcel from Optima in the Netherlands containing a replacement seat for Nic (as he had been riding a cracked one since southern Italy, getting worse day-by-day!!) and a bike trailer to help both of us with the weightload. We had been waiting for this for three months since Turkey, where it was sent originally but never turned up!!! We were delighted to hear from UPS that it was in Delhi, alas our joy was short lived when we heard that there was an extortionate customs duty attached. The value of the duty went up and down daily like Enron’s share prices! (a veritable rollercoaster) until we were left wondering if the duty was fictional and would simply go into someone’s back pocket. We went to our embassy for advice who said that the duty seemed too high and we should ask to see the supporting legislation before paying. So we did, but got nowhere. Exasperated after 7 days of fruitless chasing we grudgingly agreed to pay the charge just to receive our parcel.
Finally, we gave up hope on our lost GPS, after checking with the police several times. Hopefully we won’t get too lost 😉
