Wake up late as the desire to get out of bed after such a broken sleep is difficult. Breakfast at the hotel, rice pudding from the dinner menu and scrambled eggs. Treat factor. Meet the crew in the corridor who all look no worse for wear given late night service. Very interested in the bikes we develop a crowd in the enclosure out the front whom we say goodbye to.
Roll still on the incline down to the Punjabi, Himachal Pradesh border which is defined at this point by the river. We are churning the kms only slowed by the occasional discussion and picking up some soft drink. Pass plenty of military as their are both army and air force camps on the edge of town.
The main street of Pothankot is unexpected, straight, with street lights in the centre and even a large LCD screen on one corner. First we have seen in India. Post a couple of discussions we roll through town on the road to Amritsar and locate a hotel. Negotiations identify that all their cheap rooms are unavailable. We cycle on. On the way back into town we spot Hotel Raj off the main road slightly we spot the Shari Om Hotel to the side that for some reason appeals slight more, whether the concrete driveway or.. Not sure but we head in. Met by a Punjabi guy mid 40s. Identify that the hotel is owned by his family made up of three brothers, assoc families and the brothers parents. Rate is half that of the previous hotel. Bucket hot water only from some where on the roof, but that is doable. We lie down a little latter on the bed and it is as solid as a rock and crinkles like a chip packet. We have a look under the sheet and the mattress has a plastic cover.
Post settling in we hit the road to do some investigation as to best way to get to Amritsar and back. Ask all the necessary questions at both the taxi stand and rail station. 35 rup train 3hrs, 1500 rup taxi 2.5hrs. Decide to go with the train and to make it back for our night train to Haridwar this requires catching the train at 5.20am which requires a wake up at 4.30am. Bummer.
As the hotel requested payment upfront we have to track down an ATM as our funds are low. We find the Bank of India, but they have no ATM, we head back to the train station to the State bank of India ATM but after a wait it turns out the machine is out of funds, down to the Punjabi bank but we have had issues using our cards their in the past and this is no different, so hire out a rickshaw to head deeper in attempt to locate another State bank of India ATM. Somehow we always seem to get the old guys. It is great in terms of personality and giving them business, but it does not take long before you start feeling guilty. Two people and a backpack. Still town is relatively flat so breath easy for a while, or unfortunately two of us do. Cross the rail lines which breaks the ease and so I jump of for a while to help.
Successful at finding an ATM and even better one that gives us some cash we head to find a dhaba. Crazy thing is to get funds out we are charged $2USD which is about 90rups or one meal for two, 18 cups of chai. A few locals direct us to a place that is low on signage but big on crowd. After loitering out front for a while we are ushered to seats down the back. We try and develop out Hindi a little and also our customs. The table has a bowl of green chilies in it. On discussion one of the guys sharing our table indicates we should take one when he does. I decide to give it a go on the basis that maybe it is a different variety, post biting into half I quickly identify that no it is not. Burning mouth, watering eyes and sweat comes quickly. (and that is too one who quite likes chilli. On seeing the watery signs seeping out of me the dude across from me shakes his head takes some kana(food) and then nibbles a little bit of chilli. Ahhh not apertiser, flavor additive, cheaper then chili sauce. The food justifies the crowd, but does not reach our wall of fame.
Back to the hotel, full on jets fly over town, while we grab the bikes and roll down to a car wash station close to the hotel to clean our bikes. Not self service so we have to stand back while the attendant has a go. His tools of trade include a small bucket of petrol, a small bucket of soapy suds and a high pressure water hose. After seeing him slap the chain with the petrol wrag a couple of times decide to step in and try and direct effort. Sometimes with more success than others, as he obviously thinks I am being overly protective or stepping on his turf. Still we reach an affable arrangement, but the disk brakes will definitely be contaminated from the petrol, hopefully no other damage.
At the hotel we are talked into a home cooked meal by the parents as a hotel service. We agree just because they have been quite nice and it may assist getting an early night pre train rise tomorrow.
Watching some cable, construction noises coming from upstairs, whilst waiting 7.30pm comes and goes, we snack on some peanut brittle cakes (sold in markets), then some pomegranate. 8.30pm comes and goes and we are starting to wonder whether the communication came off fine. Soph goes exploring on the roof and is intercepted and communication confirmed but will be a further couple of minutes. 9pm knock on door with food service by one brother and his father. They have brought a roll out plastic mat which appears to be some old signage, and roll it out onto the bed. Then place the food onto it. Different. Still the crinkle below reassures that we can't do to much damage. Food is great, but post peanut brittle we struggle.
Jump into bed but the construction upstairs continues for an hour or so more. Asleep until 2am when someone is noisily up and about.. Not great. At 4.30am we struggle out of bed, one down side of bucket hot water, difficult to request for early departures, we head to the train station.