Week 11

Day 71.

Saturday 7th September 2109

Ponnani to Fort Kochi.

Left another hotel with no hot water! Lovely morning ride following the side roads of Kerala with its Portuguese influence - Rain forest and waterways. The monsoon has caused floods in Kerala and its still incredibly wet. Amazingly we stopped at a roadside cafe and met a women from the Philippines who cooked us pancakes.

Chatted to two boys on one bike who were desperate for our phone numbers (a bit too young I think). For the first time we struggled to get food that we thought was safe to eat. Stopped at 3 cafes and were served food which didn't look freshly cooked. We didn't eat it which made us pretty hungry as we rode into Cochi which was incredibly busy and the road surface was terrible. We made it over a bridge towards Fort Cochi took a wrong turn and ended up in a local festival. It was lovely to see the procession which was Christian - monks, nuns- people with colourful umbrellas - hundreds of people were involved. Finally found a hotel late evening. Ate and went to bed!

Day 72

Sunday 8th September 2019

Fort Kochi to Kollam.

Fort Kochi is lovely - a laid back feel with its Ayurvedic treatment centres, Portuguese influence, Chinese fishing nets and Colonial buildings. We cycled to the harbour and looked out over the Indian Ocean. We then found a cafe which served filter coffee. We met the second westerner we had seen since arriving in India. Finally we set off - following the coast passing dozens of churches and watching everyone heading to church in their colourful Sunday best.

There were decorations in the streets from the festival the night before. We could see Kerala’s waterways at their beautiful best as we rode along a spit of land separating Kochi from the mainland. It was lovely the nicest day’s ride in India so far. Also it didn’t rain - the first rain free day in India so far!

We stopped to dip our feet in the Indian Ocean. We carried on through the villages delighted to see girls on bikes (first time in India). We eventually joined the main road and headed into Kollam riding through the traffic which comes at you from every angle (including head on as Indians are happy to drive on the wrong side of the road if convenient to them) and staring up at the massive bats as the sunset. We are staying at a nice hotel #RegantLakePalaceHotel. The manager read our blog and brought us some fruit - lovely!

Day 73

Monday 9th September 2019

Kollam to Vilivancode.

We headed to the coast and followed a lovely although bumpy and rough route along the river and then the coast watching the waves break along the shore. The tragedy is the amount of rubbish, in particular plastic, in the rivers and strewn across the beach.

We passed by houses, schools, churches and mosques all facing the sea and at the side of a river. It was privileged insight into Indian life. We stopped for lunch at a stall busy with locals and had a tapioca thing! Later in the afternoon we saw what looked like a nice hotel and thought we would get a drink. We ended up in a bar. It was full of men. The windows had been blacked out, it was dark and TVs were blasting out music. It was very surreal - not quite the afternoon tea we had in mind.

We carried along the main coast road which was being rebuilt. The road suddenly run out and we backtracked in land to get back on track. The rains have stopped- literally like turning off a tap and it is hot. Really hot! We carried on over the Kerala state line - getting very close to the most southern tip of India. It was dark so we stopped at a very basic hotel. Had Masala Dosa for dinner and went to bed. We will reach the southern most point of India tomorrow.

Day 74

Tuesday 10th September 2019

Vilivancode to Kanniyakumari.

This is it, the end of India. Today we reached the southern most point of India - we have cycled the length of India from Mumbai. Tomorrow will head north along the Bay of Bengal. This is the point where the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Laccadive Sea meet. There’s a sense of accomplishment on making it to the tip of the subcontinent’s ‘V’, past the mountains, green fields, waterways and the rice paddies of India’s deep south. Kanyakumari feels a bit surreal - the Temple of the Virgin Sea Goddess, sits on a small island out to sea which we can see from our hotel room. It’s hard to believe we are here.

On route we stopped at Nagacoil - found some WiFi and had an interview with Radio Oxford about our trip to date. Raz also bought her third pair of sunglasses!

We finally emerged out of the mountains and arrived after a short day’s riding (day off) in Kanyakumari. We set about doing jobs - the laundry and cleaning Alice. I asked the hotel manager if there was a bike wash nearby (there are lots in India for the scooters and motorbikes) - a member of staff offered to direct me. I jumped on Alice without Raz and luggage. I rode up a big hill. He opened a gate into a yard. He then took me to a toilet block and handed me a jug of toilet water. I politely declined. We then headed back to the hotel were there was a hose pipe after all! Heading north tomorrow - ultimately to Kolkata!

Day 75

Wednesday 11th September 2019

Kanniyakumari to Toothukkundi.

Woke early and had the privilege of seeing the sun rise over the Bay of Bengal. Set off heading North through fields of wind turbos. The landscape is really different to that on the west coast. Much drier and the villages more isolated. Women queuing to get water from the village stand pipes. The roads were also practically non-existent in parts - just rocky tracks. What is strange is that practically every village has a speaker system and is blasting out Hindi music - it’s incredibly loud to the point you have to shout to be heard.

Lots of people speak to us as we ride along. They ask - “where are you going?” We reply - Goa, Kerala, South - now Calcutta. “Where are you from?” - England! We sometimes get “photo, photo , photo” or “selfie, selfie, selfie” - we say please take a photo of us cycling but we can’t stop (if we did we’d be stopping every kilometre). Today however we nearly got run off the road twice as people pulled in front of us to stop us so they could take a selfie. We had a number of families on motor bikes ride along side us. It’s a bit surreal but perhaps indicative of the fact they see very few westerners and clearly very few women on bikes.

It was hot today - we drank lots of water but it was difficult to keep hydrated and we both felt a bit spaced out at the end of the day - and the heat rash is back. It is however amazing countryside. We saw numerous birds including peacocks in the wild, ibis, rollers and others (I won’t bore you with the full list). We finally arrived in Toothukkundi which is near the coast - after the usual end of day frenetic ride through the traffic we found a hotel which has hot water. Luxury!

Day 76

Thursday 12th September 2109

Thoothukkundi to Madurai.

Left Thoothukkundi which is a city full of jewellery shops - so if anyone’s is looking for something in gold - this is the place for you.

Places to stay are a bit scarce in this part of India so we headed north to Madurai. We climbed for most of the day. The climate here is hot and dusty. We passed through a few towns - where the contrast between the old and new India couldn’t have been more stark - Ox drawn carts and people on scooters with mobile phones under their chins.

The use of horns in India is a national sport. People sound their horn when approaching you, when passing you and when they have passed (for good measure). Horns are sounded continually when driving fast, when overtaking or on the wrong side of the road (which is frequent) - all of this results in a cacophony of noise which can be overwhelming - so you just ignore it. The only time we do pull over is for the buses which don’t stop for anything and the lorries which thunder through the towns.

The towns we passed today had mountains of rubbish piled up at the side of the road in every available space. It is a tragedy as the landscape has amazing wildlife and temples, mosques and churches all coexisting in what seems to be a harmonious secular society.

We tried to get some cream for our sore bums but the women in the shop just pulled a face when Raz tried to gesticulate what it was for - so we went somewhere else and once the problem had been discussed at length with everyone in the shop cream was produced.

We arrived in Madurai as the light was fading. Rode around a bit (being followed by a strange guy) and finally found a hotel. After the obligatory selfie we eventually got our room key!

Day 77

Friday 13th September 2019

Madurai to Tiruchirappalli.

Left the hotel and headed to the Meenakshi Temple which is astonishing with its intricate carving and it’s shear size. Having stared upwards at the temple we headed off into the hills.

Long climb on a road which kept deteriorating into track and kept us occupied into the early afternoon. The communities in the hills were very rural with huts made of reed. We stopped for sweet tea and coconut buns. The countryside was greener and lush. It was nice to get away from the main road and ride through the Indian countryside and tiny villages. We did pass through a couple of towns - notable because of the rubbish piled everywhere- even on the road! We saw a peacock displaying and met the first cyclist (with a racing bike) we have seen in India. As we heady into Trichy it started to get dark and the sky was lit up with lightening. The traffic was frenetic and we struggled to find a hotel - going around the busiest roundabout in India about 4 times! Finally found somewhere as the heavens opened!