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obtained .
Eventually I was called into the guard hut and handed a telephone receiver . The manager was on the other end , he spoke English well , but the conversation was still very confusing .
“ So , there are two of you , you and your husband ?”, he said . “ Yes ,” I replied . “ And one motorcycle ?”, came the next question . “ No , two motorcycles , was my answer . “ But it ’ s you and your husband ?” “ Yes .” “ So , one bike ?” “ No , two . We have one each ,” I tried to explain .
Silence . I could almost hear him think , as he was trying to wrap his head around the idea that a man would let his wife ride her own motorcycle . This was just not done in these rural parts of India . Eventually he seemed to have decided to believe me , even if it did not make any sense to him . He asked me to hand the phone back to the security guard and I rejoined the others outside .
Eventually the guard came out and checked our passports . He was satisfied and told us we were allowed to stay here for one night . Everyone was relieved that the plan had worked out . Meanwhile one of the mechanics from the workshop where we ’ d got the spark plug earlier today had turned up . He offered to take Aidan ’ s bike with him and fix it overnight !
The others loaded our luggage into the car , and we drove across the complex to the guest lodging . As they were helping us carry everything inside , they asked again to be sure that we really only needed one room , not two . We pointed to our wedding rings , which we had bought for just such situations even though we are not actually married , and convinced our hosts that it was safe and decent to let us sleep in
TRAVERSE 167