Fortuitous Bike Breakdown In India

I set off this morning with the intention of riding my Bajaj Pulsar 180cc into the back of beyond, high up into the hills, exploring woodcutters paths in the jungle, something I have been doing for 25 years.
I have been warned of the danger of doing this several times, but I have absolute confidence in the reliability of my bike, in fact it has never broken down, despite being 12 years old.
I carry some basic tools and a canister of puncture repair stuff, a liter of water- phones are useless as there isn't a signal, so I rely on my experience and knowing mine and the bikes limitations on such journeys.
Anyway, I was just passing through a small village not far from the start of where I enter the jungle when the bike sputtered to a halt. A few basic checks, I had a full tank of fuel, enough for 400 miles, but no spark. I suspected the CDI unit being the culprit as a month ago when I arrived in India to pick up my bike it wouldn't start, it turned out the particularly heavy monsoon had played havoc with corroded pins in the connection to the CDI unit, and once that was sorted and a few wires chewed by rats sheltering from the heavy rains repaired, the bike ran perfectly.
I asked a group of guys hanging around- no work on Sunday, if they knew where I might hire a truck to get me home, within minutes I had guys running around on scooters trying to get hold of the owner of a truck, he was located and he offered to take me to a mechanic a few klms up the road. We lifted the bike in the back of the truck and set off. We arrived at the mechanics shack but he wasn't there, a quick phone call on the young drivers phone and the mechanic who was at a festival was summoned to sort my bike. 30 mins later the mechanic arrived, performed the same basic checks I had carried out and confirmed my diagnosis. once the tank was removed giving access to the CDI unit he showed me a broken pin in the wiring harnesses connection block. Superbly resourceful, he stripped a few strands of wire from a gash length and formed a pin which he then connected into the loom, 10 mins later the bike was back together and I was ready to leave.
The mechanic asked for Rs150 ( about £1.60) I gave him Rs 200, then I had a predicament paying the truck driver who had been so very helpful- I only had a Rs2000 note, and no other change, so I offered it to him, but he declined as it was too much money. We agreed to go back to the village where he would get change for the note which he did. He would only accept Rs700 from me and was adamant that he wouldn't take any more.
Now if this breakdown had of occurred when I was deep in the jungle, high up in the hills I would have been in serious trouble. So I feel very fortunate today.
I rode back home and treated myself to a Uutapam, delicious.
The hills in the photo was where I was heading.

 

@RickyX Concerned though I am about the snakes; especially the King Cobra, the Russell's Viper, and the Krait to name a few of the local inhabitants, of far more pressing concern is that I'm down to my last peg of my good whisky, which means I'm forced to drink the gut rot Royal stag for the next couple of weeks!-

 

Dropped into see my local mechanic yesterday to sort out the temp repair to my CDI unit's connection plug which had caused my recent breakdown.
Still removing my helmet and gloves whilst he already had removed my tank bag and nearly had the tank off, he quickly decided to cut a good connection block from an old loom,handily hanging up on the wall of the workshop, and in less than 15 mins cut out the old connection block and neatly spliced in the new one, all done expertly and super fast. Got to love these guys for there 'can do attitude' If anything is humanly possible they will jump straight in and have a go . I went to pay the owner who is always smiling and keen to help me out- the bill :Rs100 ( that's about £1.10p )
I discreetly folded another Rs100 note into the mechanics overall pocket.
I love watching this guy work, I would quite happily pay for the pleasure of watching him work as he's a blur of fluid movement and a master of his craft.

On the Snake theme, I met Lorenzo,an Italian mate of mine, a master Tabla player who did a 4 year apprenticeship with a highly respected Tabla maestro in Varanasi in the 70's.
He told me that he was floating on his back in the sea,over near Monkey Island a few days ago,observing a huge Sea Eagle circling effortlessly overhead, when suddenly the Eagle went into a dive , apparently going straight for him, before he could even react to the potentially nasty attack, the Eagle dived into the sea only a few Mts away and surfaced with a sea snake about a meter long grasped firmly in its sharp talons. Lorenzo told me he raised both hands to his forehead to his Gaurdian angel!
Another friend of mine Alein, an eccentric Frenchman, told me that the previous night he'd gone into the bathroom to take a piss and noticed a thin snake poking its head out of the sink drain outlet in the floor, he went outside, found a length of bamboo and stabbed it to death. I would have screamed like a girl, and had to move as I have a healthy fear of snakes.

About 8 years ago, I was exploring on my motorcycle,near the Karnataka border, trying to find a way down onto a beautiful looking beach that I had found looking at the coastline on Google maps.
I was trickling the bike at barely walking pace along a very narrow footpath with tall dead grass on either side,close to the cliffs,when suddenly there was a blur of movement from very close to my front wheel, the hugest King Cobra; unmistakable from the huge hood on the back of its head, disturbed probably from its slumber, thrashed its muscular body into action to avoid being run over by my wheel.
I have never experienced such paralising fear, unable to move or even think, the bike continued on its own without a conscious pilot, trickling along the path for at least another 100 mts until my conscious mind reamerged from its paralysis, I then noticed I was shaking with fear, and stopped the bike and switched off the engine, and took a swig of water and slowly calmed down.
I then realized I'd reached the end of the path, and would have to return the same way to get out of there.
I eventually rationalized that the Cobra probably still wasn't hanging around in the immediate vicinity waiting to attack me, so I started the bike and went as fast as I could back along the track until I was out of Snake country.
When I told my mate*Commando John about my adventure, he laughed and said he would have thrown a rock at it lol!
*Commando John, an ex paratrooper, still hard as nails, famous for being the first soldier captured in the Falklands war, he was the first out of the plane, and parachuted down straight into a big group of Argentinian troops who were waiting with pointed weapons, he was captured and spent the entire war as a prisoner. Treated reasonably well apparently.

Photos of the corroded connection block, and of Monkey Island