Today I planned to ride my bike from Bangalore down to Kochin, planned being the operative word. Somehow I didn't quite make it that far.
I got a late start, leaving the hotel about 10:30 am. I asked for directions to the town of Mysore, which seemed like a good stopping point on the way to Kochin. Thankfully the directions to Mysore weren't too confusing from the hotel, since it had taken me 3 hours to find my hotel again after leaving Matt, Rachel, Annie, and Adam last night. I wound up riding through traffic for about an hour to leave the city, and saw my first wagons pulled by water buffalo. So, it was about 11:30 by the time I actually left the city and got onto the highway.
It's kind of funny, but riding in Bangalore the night before with my helmet on, people kept rolling down the windows of their cars to ask me directions (in English, too). I just have to tell them I have absolutely no idea, since I just got there the night before. I think maybe my bike looks kinda fancy, since it's an Enfield, and most people ride the small Japanese scooters/bikes.
The highway was actually fairly impressive, given what people had told me about the roads here. It had a large center divider, and two lanes on each side. Of course, there were definitely some differences from America. Instead of putting "Slow" signs, they actually install a chicane on the road using 3 gates that traffic has to weave through (slowing it down nicely). There are also big nasty speed bumps by the towns, so everyone slows down there as well. I got the hang of this kind of traffic pretty easily, and pushed on to Mysore. I finally got there at 1:30 or so, way after I thought I would. I think it's only about 100 kms from Bangalore, but it took me forever to get there. I'm guessing this will be common in India.
I had been thinking of getting lunch in Mysore, but after riding around to see the palace, I realized there would be no way I would make it anywhere if I sat down for lunch, so I decided to press on. I took the road to Ooty, hoping to make it to the coast of Kerala, and then go down south to Kochi. Ooty road was a shock for me. Gone was the center divider, and the 2 lanes per direction, as was the smooth asphalt. This road was bumpier, more crowded, and a lot scarier. The big trucks are fairly slow, so everyone tries to pass them, which, of course, can make things pretty tight on a small road. There was no way I was going to make the same time on this kind of road.
I passed an elephant walking along the side of the road (with a man riding it) and stopped to take a picture. Another motorcyclist stopped too, and held out a coin for the elephant. At first, I thought it was a peanut, but that's just Dumbo. The elephant took the coin, and then put it's trunk on the man's head, blessing him. I wanted to get a blessing, but I couldn't find any coins through all my motorcycle gear.
After a bunch more of that, I got to the Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary, which really just meant some signs asking you not to honk, park, or picnic, and lot's and lot's of really big potholes. The cars were having to drive very slowly and swerve back and forth across the road trying to find the one less-bumpy path. Thankfully on a bike I could just zip between the potholes no problem. I didn't actually see any animals in the wildlife preserve, but after it there was a truck broken down on the side of the road and there were 4 monkey watching it. I pulled over to take some photos. There were 2 adult monkeys and 2 baby monkeys. They were pretty cute, but I didn't get off my bike in case they were cheeky monkeys and wanted to steal my stuff.
By this time, the sun was going way down, and I realized there was no way I was even going to reach the coast, much less Kochin, so I set my sights for Kalpetta, a small town about 75 kms from Calicut, on the coast. I made it there at dusk and rode around for a while to find a good hotel, and finally found an Ayurvedic Hotel and Spa. They had one single room left, which was great luck for me, but unfortunately, all their massages for that night had already been booked. There are a lot of Indians travelling for New Years. At any rate, I made it safely 280kms or so, and I have another 280 to go tomorrow. I'm going to try to actually leave early in the morning so I can get to Kochin to have time to enjoy it in the sun. Maybe I'll even get to hang out on the beach!
-- Don
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