Day 4: Wednesday, Feb 2

Today's route: 7:45am from Takli without water & just a meal replacement each in our tummies. Arrived at 1pm at Ralegan Siddhi, the first of the model villages we were keen to visit and learn as much as possible from.

Weather: Sunny, light wind coming from the front. Surely must have been around 40    degrees, at least around noon.

Cycled: Hills, hills, hills. Were they ever going to end?? Yes, of course but not soon enough. We only had 30km ahead of us but they seemed the longest ever. After a lenghty break, a good cry and wise words from Mr. K-ji just a few kilometres down, uhm, up the road even Wiebke found the energy to continue. The sun was high up again and Wiebke still in short sleeves. We swapped her into a long-sleeve Adidas shirt of Kalyan and eventually got to the fun bit: a stretch of some km just downhill, some of it really         steep with breathtaking views. Before we knew it we arrived at Ralegon Siddhi, the model village developed by Anan Hazare and visited by thousands of Indians (and some foreigners) to learn from for their regions.

Didn't cycle: Zero, zilch, nada, nothing. Cycled all the way, yeah!!


Ate & drank:
7:30am: 1x meal replacement with H2O each
On the bike: nuts, power bars and after a couple of hours without water, our beloved Enersol was back in the hydration pack
3:30pm: rice, roti, dhal and veg curry, plenty of H2O
8:45pm: rice, roti, dhal and veg curry, plenty of H2O

Highlight of the day: 1,5 hrs. interview with the guru himself: Anna Hazare, admired and loved by most Indians, hated by a few, e.g. for introducing the RTO (Right to   Information) act in India. Whilst he usually remains silent even during the visits of the thousands of people coming here, he not only gave us the honor of offering an interview but he spoke for 1,5hrs and we were even allowed to film and photograph him. See also separate blog post on this to come.

Health Check: Wiebke with serious heat stroke, dizzy and tired. Kalyan full of energy over the prospect to Anna Ji himself in person.


Stayed at: Principals House with 3 bedrooms just for us at the Training Center for         government officials & NGO’s being trained in Watershed Development. Cost: none.