After about 3 weeks in Bagdal, with a side trip ride to the mystical village of Hampi with palaces of the past everywhere, I returned again to Bagdal for a wedding. Krushed and Mustafa's daughter, Azar, was getting married on November 8. It was so special for me to be able to be there, and I think they enjoyed that too. On November 10, after the Walima dinner at the groom's home the night before, I headed back on bike to Bidar and then took a train to Aurangabad, Maharastra. In Aurangabad I booked my ticket home.... yipppeee! and also got to see some of the sites, including the amazing paintings at the Ajanta Caves.

On Dewali night I hopped a bus to Nagpur and got to see a city-to-village-to-town, ongoing Dewali celebration. There were little clay lamps lighting up everything along the road from homes, to mechanic shops, to rooftops. In one town I watched as a bunch of kids cheered and jumped in joy as a sparkling fountain illuminated the night. There were also lots of crackers going off, which made me feel like I was a fugitive trying to escape a war zone....luckily that was not at all the case...just happy pyros at holiday!

My stay in Aurangabad is a highlight of this trip in India in that I met so many great people. I stayed at the Aurangabad Youth Hostel, and that turned out to be a perfect rendevous zone, meeting travelers from Europe, Japan, and Korea. Also, the cyber-cafe owner that I met on the first day got so passionate about PeaceBike that he is ready to start an India branch and designed and printed some PeaceBike stickers! These stickers are now on his motorbike, my bike and a few more two wheelers. I was totally impressed with his initiative. Thanks for this and 100 other things, Yogi! You certainly get the unofficial PeaceBike "Most Hospitable Guy In India" Award in my book!

I also met two other international cyclists, and this hasn't happened for me since New Zealand! Micheal is from Belgium and Tomas is from France. Their trip is online and educational in nature and PeaceBike will soon be collaborating with them on sharing their journey with the Friends of PeaceBike! They have special permission to enter Bhutan and share their journey with students. This is an extremely precious opportunity, as only about 8000 tourists enter Bhutan each year.