Kollam to Kochi was a quick flat ride and gave me plenty of time to spend at Alleppy and Kochi beaches but still missed out on maritime museum. Will try to be quicker through the routes.
Kochi has a warm antique effect with old model buses running through narrow streets and clocks along them.
The first glimpse was of the huge backwaters surrounding Kochi.
Riding from Kanyakumari almost west ward took me to cool backwaters and beaches of Kerela. Kovalam beach is one of them but there are better ones as well. Some kms south of kovallam detoured to find them. After visiting plenty of beaches planned to skip varkala beach; perhaps wanted to get a lodge sooner. Riding today was a different experience. A Kerela festival had brought many participants to the streets. Prasad being served at every 500m or so left me carefree regarding refreshments and hydration. Got too many servings of watermelon, neembu pani and water.
And my current location: close to Kollam.
After the scenic days came a point where I had to face the civilizations and in abundance. If I were to define the cities, I would have one long coastal city of kerela. The villages are dense. Alright will not get too mathematical here...
It turned out to be a harsh pedalling ride covering 242kms in good time though I missed the sunset at the cape which I will see tomorrow.
Covered 1150kms from the start of this journey. Am now warmed up for the ride.
Rolled down from a hill station to sea level and now getting a feel of better bike control. It also marks the end of cool hilly air. The high point of the day was the boat ride to Alleppy through the weeds that had already register their first victory against the boat. After an hour of delay due to repairs, it was my cam working instead of the bike. Those pics will be shared sometime later. Also managed a reasonable home stay besides the transport canal. Will admire the sun rise tomorrow before moving further south.
Once again a change of plan and a good one. Instead of taking Alleppy and repeating it on the way up, I came down exploring pangong tso and surroundings. Actual name is Idukki water reservoir but looks like a south indian version of pangong tso. Similar wide angle view...windy..partly barren small hills on the other side and inhabited surroundings. Earlier this morning had to return from the gates of the arch dam (world's 2nd such dam) and was not allowed to go over.
So in the desperation climbed too steep slopes and trails of mount kalvari to have a look at the water that was hidden from me. It was the lowest gear climb almost throughout. Also went offroute to get another angle of the lake.
The day's ride also saw too much of long and steep rolling terrain. Thanks to them, I achieved the maximum recorded speed on my bike: 59.7kmph(pedal less) and definitely max acceleration. Velo doesn't measure that somehow. Haulting at Kumli. No clue about the plan next. Never know might end up at alleppy ;-)
The ketchups from my farewel party and half a loaf of bread in my saddle bag fed me well for lunch on a bandh. Sounds like crisis but I managed wadas, icecreams, biscuits from stalls away from munnar. Food is still not available. Ration stock is not yet depleted :-)
And, I managed dinner as market opens up.
Had a cool 20km stroll around munnar through the tea estates, wishing I had one. 2hours later reached Madupatty dam which edges a beautiful lake. Sat besides the lake for over an hour and on the return visted a small flower garden and again spent plenty of time there. Am going to miss out on top station this time...keeping something for next time.
Another scenic, diverse, long and tiring climb brought me to Munnar, Kerela. Similar to ooty route and though difficult to compare, I would prefer to repeat the munnar route in future. Lucky to see a long agile cobra(probably) today but no jumbos. Might take an off tomorrow from cycling and go for some hikes. Time for cyclocomp to rest. It has computed till 650kms.
The bharat bandh is taken pretty seriously here and ALL shops and restraunts are closed today. Wish bangalore was like that. Would have loved to roam around on streets as I did this evening. Relying on emergency ration was not expected in a town. Glad that I carried the load and it paid off :-)
Fortunate to have a friend and dealer flagging off my journey. The dealer, fitness through travel, joined for the initial 50-60 km stretch while Karthik rides with me till Kanyakumari exploring some of the best routes. Day1 ended at nanjangud via a longer kollegal route. Riding 200km felt tough because of the load but to gain 1600m to ooty after a late start showed us new levels of toughness. It was the scenic and diverse route that kept us moving. Vast open spaces, dry forests where we spotted deers and elephants, dense green jungles, green bamboo trees covering up the road, Ooty's tea gardens, misty woods all were a delight to experience. And the slope ensured that we didn't miss out on anything. We made it to ooty pretty late but the night riding experience in the forest was too good to miss.
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