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...

Everything I thought I knew about India I learned from Hollywood

  

Chiara and I couldn't have been more wrong about the who, what, and why's of India. Granted we had been getting accounts of cyclists that had mostly traversed the north central parts of the country and we had based the majority of our knowledge of the country from Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom, but so what, this vast subcontinent can't be that diverse, right?  Team assumption strikes again, however this time the surprises could not be more pleasant or welcome.  

After our short hiatus for my birthday we got back on the bikes and left Bangalore early. It took 2+ hrs of cycling in pretty heavy traffic to escape the sprawl that has become the Indian IT headquarters. Once out, however, the roads quickly became some of the nicest that we have ridden this far in the tour, surprise number one.  The traffic rapidly subsides once you are out of any inhabited areas to consist of an occasional bus, a few cars (usually full of families traveling and who are excited to slow down and wave or take your photo, the occasional tractor or ox drawn wagon. In fact the largest obstacles are the almost endless number of lounging, complainant cows that dot the roads , the ubiquitous Hindu Holy Cow. Our first day ended in a wonderful surprise. We were headed toward Mysore, where we had been told we would find a more peaceful and spiritual India full of yogis and palaces. Not that we didn't eventually find this well know destination but we first had, what has become the type of experience that this tour has enabled us. We were waved down along the highway in the afternoon by a car who's inhabitants subsequently invited us to come and stay at there organic farm.  Tilak and his family at Nanda Organic Farm could not have been a more amazing oasis for us.  A serene, peaceful place surrounded by small hills and open space. Presently consisting of mostly chickens and banana trees, the farm was far from a bustling enterprise. It was the venture of a family that was tired of the busy city life and was making a transition. As well, Tilak and his father were regular practitioners of the ancient practices of yoga and we were welcomed to join him to learn about Pranayama (breathing exercises) and meditation. We relished this opportunity and spent 2 nights with the family sharing amazing home cooked local cuisine, wandering the lands, discussing the subtleties of India, learning the practice of organic farming and practicing meditation. We can't thank the family enough this opportunity to share and learn from them and can only hope (as we have reiterated  so many times on this journey) that we get the opportunity to repay them at some time in the future. 

  

A lovely mosque on the way out of Bangalore,calm traffic-free roads 

  

Sunset with the cattle herds next to crocodile-infested waters, our wonderful hosts at Nanda farms

We found Mysore mildly anticlimactic aft this experience and in fact if it weren't for our wonderfully warm and welcoming Warmshower hosts we may have not stayed more than the night. But as it turned out our enthusiastic and open hosts made our time more about present day interpersonal relationship then any ancient practices. We enjoyed 2 nights with Myuk and his housemates. We wandered and Mysore but as is usual in the cities, even the small ones, traffic made moving around a challenge and the heat had started making itself a factor.  

  

Entrance to Mysore palace, hosts and a lovely couch surfer we stayed with in Mysore

I guess this as good a place as any to start describing those aspects of India that have surprised us most.  For starters the weather.  Though we understand that India's size and location give it distinct climatic zones and ranging from frigid mountains to tropical lowlands our prevailing bias led us to expect our time being more akin to the weather we experienced in SE Asia. However the hot, sticky humid air is only a subset of ever changing microclimates that cover the country. We, based on our travel regions have been in much more arid regions, generally hot in the day and but pleasantly cool in the evenings. Great for sleeping and enjoying early morning rides. Next, the food and water have been clean, simple dishes both prevailant, inexpensive, and without the GI upset we were all but promised prior to our arrival. In fact, we both had much worse troubles in our time spent in Nepal the we have had in India thus far. Not to say that there are no possibilities for concern and that precautions should not be or are not taken (seeing us use our Steripen to clean the water after filling our bottles often leads to some of the most obscure looks) but we both have felt at ease with the general cleanliness of the south of India.  The roads have also been a welcome surprise. We have finally found some solace in the cycling here as most roads, outside the cities, are relatively quiet and even the passing vehicles seem patient and willing to pass without the need to blare their horns or feel the need to run us off the road.  Finally the people have not presented as the mass swarms we expected or experienced briefly in Nepal. They are inquisitive, no doubt, and often can't help themselves from ringing our bells or touching the leather saddles but nowhere have they yet inundated us enmasse and their polite questioning about our land of origin and our professions (we are not certain if these ar of extreme interest or simply the English that they feel most comfortably asking) have been enjoyable to answer and often led to pleasant conversation at a roadside tea stall. 

Back to the tour we left Mysore behind and started heading in a meandering path to the west to visit a site called the Golden Temple.  This village is the largest established Tibetan Buddhist enclaves in India. They were granted the one by India when they became refugees escaping persecution by the Chinese government. The site was beautifully peaceful and the visitors ranged from local Indians (mostly Hindu) to westerner travelers (mostly Christian one would guess), to local and foreign Muslims some dressed in full burka. The juxtaposition of these groups with the robed Buddhist monks made for a beautiful amalgamation.  It was the picture of hope that all these groups can and should be present and coexisting in close proximity, sharing in each other's culture and knowledge and not persecuting and looking to harm the other. Maybe...

   

Buddhist monks marching to worship in the courtyard at the golden temple, a diverse crowd at the temple

 We then road south to another Warmshower host in the village of Kutta.  This hill village was squarely placed amongst thousands of acres of coffee and tea plantations.  Our hosts were a local doctor and his brother, Arjun and Nakul.  The ride in in the area was peaceful and the sweetness of the coffee blossoms filled the fresh air with a magnificent aroma that we wish could follow us all the way back home. Though offered to stay another day we realized our time was growing short to make it to our port of exit, so we headed out for our next stop, the wildlife sanctuary of Bandipur. 

Riding through the coffee plantations in Coorg on our way to Bandipur