Day 11: Mon 20 Nov 17 - Theni to Humily, 97 km - total so far: 757 km

24 to 34 deg, fine and sunny.

We just grabbed a quick coffee and a banana about 6:15am this morning and we were underway by 6:40am. Trying to beat the hottest part of the day.

The first 50km today was some of the most amazing scenery we’d seen thus far, and that’s a big call. I just felt that it was “Real India”, the crops (maize, sorghum, small crops, dairy, veggies, herbs and the staples - goats and coconuts) were well tendered and healthy and the peaceful, idyllic villages with the rugged mountains in the background just did it for me.

The only fly in the ointment was Mick having a heavy fall due to what appeared to be a mechanical failure; broken chain. It shook him up a bit and he lost some bark off his arms and legs. However, all credit to him he got back on and completed the day. It could have been much worse as he went down very heavily. As it turned out he was a quick healer and in a few days he had just about 100% again.
Did I mention the mountains, yes it was time to do some climbing. A gentle warm up for 50km then the climbing legs had to kick in as we embarked upon a 1,300m ascent to Bhodimet and the Keralan State border. 18 switch-backs gave us the elevation and the platform to look back over the vast Tamil Plains and see where we have ridden. Great views all the way up. I believe the Aussies got the mountains stage today. Ken, of course, took the honours for the first to the top. What usually takes mere mortals one and a half hours he did in 43 minutes. I took 54 minutes, while Bob and Phil were not far behind. The others made it in various times up to two hours. Plenty of snacks, water, tea or coffee later and we were ready to roll again.

As we headed into Kerala we weren’t finished with the hills, we had many steep climbs to negotiate before the day was done, through some great countryside. Then about 11km from Kumily we had the ride you normally only dream about, a fantastic descent all the way “home”, Chrissie’s Guest House. After a long tough day in the saddle, what you don’t want to hear is “your room is on the second floor, there’s no lift and your building is the one beyond all those stairs”. But we survived, a little weary but in one piece.

After the normal chores Bob, Phil, Ken and I went to find the others who had gone straight to the bar. They were replacing important fluids lost during the day of course. We found a very clean, neat and tidy town, best so far, and a nice quiet bar.

We saw a lot of Europeans as we walked, the most we’d come across all trip. Apparently this is a very popular location for yoga, everything organic, general tourism and wildlife viewing. And the fact that it’s up in the mountains it’s cooler and fresher.

It was back to the Guest House for an in-house dinner which was served on the rooftop by candlelight most of the time. Not because we suddenly turned romantic but because the power had gone out. It was on and off (mainly off) throughout the night. The meal was fresh crunchy salads, (the only place that we’d eat uncooked food) deep fried onion balls, veg curries served with lots of lovely Indian bread. It was hard to say “I’ve had enough” as the food is so tasty.

By 8pmish we were all looking for our rooms. They didn’t have aircon, but luckily it’s a little cooler up here so the fan (when the power was on) was sufficient.

A super but tough day on the bike.

Riding out in the early morning mist


Idyllic Tamil scene

More goats

Waiting for the bus

Going to work in the fields

Nice crop of sorghum with a wind turbine in the background

Firing up the brick kiln

The scene of Mick's nasty accident



Buffalo going for a holiday




Plenty of these around, even in the cities

This is the sign I was waiting for, 18 of 18, the last hair-pin bend

My room


Kumily



The first part of the ride





The other bit









Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 6: Wed 15 Nov 17: Chidambaram to Swamimalai, 86 km - Total so far: 301 km

Image
24 to 34 deg, dry, mostly sunny with high cloud. We head inland today into the vast lush, extremely fertile Tamil plains. Extensive agriculture everywhere, mainly rice but also a scattering of maize, bananas, veggies and forest plantations. The first stop was a rather modest but beautiful 1,500 year old temple called Gangaicholdram. While the 40 acre monster from last night was impressive this one beat it hands down for style and grace. We passed through a lot of what appeared to be subsistence rural areas today and I was amazed at the basic standard of the housing; in the main just a thatched hut, some with the added luxury of a tarpaulin thrown over the top. There are thousands of goats everywhere so at least they have milk products and the odd piece of meat, but many are vegetarian. I didn’t see many household veggie gardens so I don’t know if the grow a lot of their own food. There’s a lot of rice being planted at the moment so there’s many workers (mainly ladies) involved in that ...
Read more

Wrap-up and Reflections

For those interested or anyone thinking about a sub-continent tour, when I remember stuff I’ll include it in here: 1. India is an amazing place and I can now see why some people get hooked on it. 2. I would recommend at least one fully supported tour to get the feel of the place and obtain some hints on where to eat, drink and stay before striking out unsupported. 3. Don’t be afraid to eat and drink local, just be sensible about it. Pick the “restaurant” as you would back home, but don’t always judge a book by its cover. The food was one of the highlights for me and no, I didn’t get sick of eating curries, even for breakfast. 4. The cities are interesting but very crowded and busy, the countryside is best and you get to see the “real India”. Isn’t that what cycle touring is all about. 5. Not once did anyone feel genuinely threatened, unsafe or concerned about dishonesty. Well there was one incident when two of us mistook our poor memories for a theft. Very embarrassing at the time but ...
Read more

Day 9: Sat 18 Nov 17: Kanadukathan to Madurai, 103 km - Total so far: 567 km

Image
24 to 37deg, fine and sunny. Some hot periods during the middle of the day and our Brits Mates felt it a bit. Our day started about 7am with a nice hot coffee in the courtyard, thanks to our Tour Leader Mike. Although I’d been up pottering since 5. We walked a couple of hundred metres to one of the Mansion/Palaces which had been converted to a flash hotel. Just stunning old-world charm. Back to the hotel for breakfast with nice coffee; they beat the SE Asians hands down in the coffee dept. Rode away about 9am into a town that was practically deserted, especially when you compare it with the chaotic cities we’ve been to previously. And the traffic is just about non-existent; we were on the road to Madurai. Mainly smooth bitumen roads today with a short section on a backroad. The lush landscape becomes more arid today, with rocks and ridges becoming a common sight. It wasn’t till we were 20km out of Madurai that we saw any real agriculture, other than goats, thorny acacia and coconut pal...
Read more