In Shimla, a dodgy internet cafe virus wiped my SD card, and I lost all the photos from Nainital, Haridwar, Mussoorie and Dehradun that were on it. The ones I was most upset about losing were the ones from my day in Dehradun and the two couchsurfers I’d met.

When I got back to the UK, I used Recuva to recover the data from the SD card. Some of the photos were immediately recoverable in perfect condition, while others were corrupted to differing degrees: some were completely destroyed, while others had bits and pieces still salvageable.

In Dehradun, I first met up with Neha, and we visited the Forest Research Institute. The photos of us there were corrupted, though with a bit of work in GIMP and Photoshop, they look quite good, with just a bit of colour oddness left.

Couchsurfer Neha and me at the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun

Neha and me at the FRI, Dehradun

After a morning with Neha, I met up with another couchsurfer, Manish, for lunch, and then we drove out to visit a local landmark called Robber’s Cave.

Manish and me at Robber’s Cave, Dehradun

Me at Robber’s Cave, Dehradun

Finally, riding back down from Mussoorie a couple of days later, I stopped to get a photo of myself and the bike, with the beautiful backdrop of the Himalayan foothills and the road winding up to Mussoorie behind me.

One of the good times on the bike: the road to Mussoorie