India Overland with Swagman Tours, London to Kathmandu.

Gwalior to Khajuraho
As the front wheels start up the ramp I can feel the ferry settling into the water, it seems like the boat is sinking. By the time the front wheels are on the ferry I am driving uphill as the far side of the ferry is much higher. Just as I pass the half way mark the weight transfers to the far side of the ferry, down it goes farther and further until it feels like the bus will slide off the ferry into the water. I am pressing the brake peddle with all my force but it is usless as the vehicle is not moving, all I can see is the water coming up to meet me. Just as think all is lost the boat starts to rise again and after a moment or two it stops rocking, I move on just enough to get the back wheels on board then the ropes are released and we head into the river. It is at this point that you can feel the strength of the current, we are soon well down stream of the loading point. The ferryis moving to the other side but much further downstream, it seems like a cork just bobbing along in a stream. We are now 3/4 of the way across but 3 or 4 hundred meters downstream of the landing point , suddenly the ferry turns up stream and the engines are put at full throttle.	Off the ferry at last
It takes 10 minutes to struggle up to the landing platform & get tied off before it is time to get off this death trap. The same happens on the way off, as the weight moves the out side of the boat rises which at first seems fine. Then as the rear wheels clear the ferry it leaps back up and slams the underside of the boot causing the floor to fall out spilling the boot contents all over the ground. It is not serious and we soon have it back in with some wire holding it until it can be fix properly. While this is happening all the passenger came across on the next ferry with 2 cars, it is very crowded and some very nervous faces jump on to dry land as soon as the ferry docks. We drive away from the ferry past a very long line of trucks, people & animals, that will be there for hours waiting for their turn to cross the Chambal River. Now a day later we set of for Gwalior.	Water Buffalo
You can see the fort long before the city is visible, it stands high above the surrounding land. Gwalior is a rambling town with narrow streets and finding the road to the fort is not easy. The locals are not exactly helpful and I'm glad when we are free of the town heading up towards the fort. This is a very imposing building with beautiful inlay work. On a tour around we are shown a secret passage way from the Mahrajas chamber leading directly to a fire. In the event of a him being killed in a battle his wives were supposed to slide down this steep passage into the fire and comit Suti (death by fire). This was to ensure that no other man could claim his wives. These grand building make you realise how developed the Indian civilisation was. We could not build such monuments these days even with all our modern machinery, they would be too expensive. When you consider they were built by pure manual labour it is a fantastic acheivement and a memorial to mans ingenuity.	Gwalior Fort in distance
Inlay work in fort courtyard	Fort ramparts
We set off in the direction of Khajuraho but will not reach it today, the plan is to get as close as we can then camp for the night. We set of early the next day rolling though undulating country with mango trees lining the road. It is a great day weather fine, bus running well and Kathmandu only a week ahead. Wings are singing "Band on the Run" and even now 30 years later everytime I hear that track it takes me back to that day and reminds me what a great adventure it was. The roads in India are often narrow the road edge is rough and broken both of which make it difficult to pass another vehicle. The trucks are over loaded and very reluctant to leave the road to let you pass, lots of horn blowing will get them to slow down but not pull over. We had been following a slow moving truck for about 20 minutes looking for a chance to get pass. Then the road got a little wider which would let me pass while only putting one wheel just off the sealed surface.	Mango Trees
The road edge looked good and I only needed to go off about 18 inches but no sooner were the wheels off the road than I could feel the wheel being pulled out of my hands. There was a drop at the edge of the road and it felt like we might go down the bank and roll over. In one way we were lucky, the edge was very soft and the wheels sank deep pulling us to a stop very quickly. At first there seemed to be very little damage then I noticed that the front wheels were pointing in different directions. The earth had damaged the tie rod that keeps the front wheels running parallel, it was bent at 90 degrees, this was not going to be easy to fix. The truck we were passing stopped and were quite happy to help us dig the bus out and pull it back onto the road. It took 2 hours which gave the cooks time to make a brew and amuse the every growing crowd of onlookers. We straighten the tie rod by chaining it to the axle, to hold it still while using the jack to bend it back to shape, slow process but it worked. The fix was only a tempary repair it would need a good check over before we set off up the dangerous winding road to Nepal, the last thing you need on that road is faulty steering.	Soft Edges

The trip continued