French pair on cycles enters India via Manipur

In the last six months they have covered 10,000 kms

Peddling their way on the busy Mathura Road, French couple Nico and Anais drew curious glances from motorists as they navigated their way through heavy traffic.

Laden with luggage on their touring bicycles, and GPS on their phone for direction, the couple has been cycling for the last six months in varying climatic conditions and covered over 10,000 kilometres so far to experience “countries Frenchmen know the least about”.

Nico, 31, who was a consultant in a French company in Paris before taking a one-year break, said that he and his wife Anais, 29, started their journey from Kyrgyzstan on October 25, and cycled in China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar before entering India through Manipur.

On Tuesday afternoon, they reached Delhi for a brief stopover and are planning to go to Rajasthan to absorb its rich culture.

For Nico, life in Paris had become very monotonous and “mechanical” and he wanted to be in touch with nature.

People and culture
For him, the journey is also an attempt to understand the people and culture of countries which are not very well known in his part of the world.

“We decided to cycle six months in Asia and six months in Africa. In Asia because there are so many cultures, and in Africa because very few people go there,” Nico told Deccan Herald.

With the rations and a cooking stove tucked in the bags on the bicycles, the couple has spent cold nights under open sky in exotic places. “In Kyrgyzstan, we put up a tent in the middle of mountains and spent a whole night there. Not even a single person was around us. And no, we were not scared, as the most dangerous person in the world is man,” said Anais.

Among all the countries that they have visited till now in their journey, they say India stands out for the warmth of the people and the richness of its culture.

“In other countries of Asia that we visited, it takes some time for the locals to open up with foreign travellers, but in India people are very curious and helpful towards us. It could be because of the language barrier or perhaps because of the culture similarities or dissimilarities, but we found Indians very warm towards
us in comparison to people of the other countries we have visited till now in this tour,” said Nico.