From India with love

Don't worry, we didn't run into one of these. :)

As the days ticked by our enjoyment of cycling in India continued to increase. The roads were quiet, the scenery picturesque, the people smiley and the food continued to cause us no problems. All the things we were warned against have continued to be nonexistent. Though the heat increased we enjoyed our pedal into the Bandipur Tiger Preserve. We were stopped at the entrance gate by a khaki wearing park worker who pantomimed in broken English that bicycles were not allowed in the park. So before you say it...YES, we checked about cycling in this area and the limited info we found said that it 'should be' ok to ride in the park. Since there were only limited roads in the area we didn't have options to get to our warmshowers host place inside the park. We luckily had the number for Santosh, our host, and he talked to the guard and we found out that only a month prior they had closed the road to cyclists due to recent elephant 'altercations'.  We therefore hitched a ride on a small motor taxi for the few km to get to the hosts place. (So here is the latest info on cycling in Bandipur  Tiger Preserve...it is NOT presently allowed to cycle through the park.  This info may change but I based on what we saw, namely quite a few wild elephants with calves, which are the most dangerous, they probably won't change the rule any time soon). 

 

Riding into Bandipur, a baby elephant that we photographed by the road.

 

We arrived as the heat of the day hit its zenith to the home of our host.  One of the most amazing locales either of us had ever seen...not hyperbole...it was like being in an African Safari.  Arid landscape with endless views and sounds consisting of wild birds and elephants. The sunsets and sunrises along with the wonderful host cottage and serene surroundings made for an experience that made our already wonderful Indian travels even better. 

  

We literally did little more than eat, nap, read and stretch our tired muscles, preparing for what awaited.  But first e had to tear ourselves away from our host, which he almost convinced us to stay but we knew we were running out of time on our visa and some big days were ahead.

  

Minding the goat herds on the way to Ooty, bend 1 of 36 on the way to Ooty.  Ugh.

It was only 60 km to our next stop, the hill station of Ooty, a welcome break from the heat, but it as also one of the toughest single days of riding in almost 8 months. We gained 2000 meters (>6000ft) in about 20km (about 12 miles)!  Needless to say that there was more than a bit of pushing, sweating and cursing on our way up. We love worth all the pain however Ooty is a treat. An old town built by the English in order to escape the heat.  We stayed a few nights and even spent an evening watching a movie in a historic restore movie house for the equivalent of 50 cents.  

  

Tea fields on the way out of Ooty

The ride out of Ooty started out as an another amazing ride coasting downhill through emerald green tea plantations and small bustling villages. Our enjoymeant was short lived, however, for as we descended through steep hairpin s-turns the heat and humidity began to rise (as we were promised) until at the bottom we were in an unbearable steam bath, the likes we had not felt since we had left Indonesia so many months back. To top this off we found ourselves in the extremely congested city of Coombiatore with noise, traffic, and aggressive drivers like we had not experienced as yet in India. We both looked at each other and wondered if maybe we had been in a pretend India and now it was time to enter the real one? Luckily, to our pleasure,  after fighting for an hour down clogged one way streets and tiny alleys we burst out on the other side and the roads slowly mellowed and we were back cycling in a more chill India. Due to the combination of the heat and waining desire (if we are to be honest) we decided to jump a train to take us the last 70km from Thiassur to the port city of Kochi.  Though it took us the usual patience, commitment and luck (i.e. a friendly local guy that helped interpret and ultimately shove us onto the correct train) we Indian public transit system did not beat us and for a whopping 30cents per ticket, including our bikes, we coasted into our final Indians destination.  

 In Kochi we checked into another converted YMCA and then proceeded to visit a local bike shop owner that we met on warmshowers who helped us get the bikes back in slightly better working order, thanks Abraham and the mechanic at The Bike Store (8 months of continuous touring has left them wounded but not dead yet).  

  

Kochi fishing nets, beautiful old architecture on the water.

The rest of the time was spent taking water taxis around to the old city of Kochi which was once the most important Dutch port in western India. The final evening I popped into one of the corner barber shops and for the penny pinching total of $2 USD I received a haircut (a really good one), head massage, and straight razor shave and had a milk tea and cake at the next corner. Once  again southern India and its destinations were a pleasure the likes of which we began realizing, as our departure time loomed, we would truly miss much more than we could have imagined when we were planning this trip. We want to take this moment to thank all those that made our time in India a surprising highlight of our travels and placed this vast subcontinent at the top of our list of destinations that require a second visit in the future.

One last kingfisher...