Fishoponds anyone?
Trip Start
Jul 07, 2008
1
83
236
Trip End
May 27, 2010
Kumily, Kerala, India
Friday, January 16, 2009
V M Lodge, Udumalpet, Tamil Nadu, South India
Cooling down
Pollachi - Udumalpet (30kms)
A very short day today because we couldn't make it all the way to the place we're headed. Our ultimate destination is Munnar, a hill station just over the border in Kerala, but there's another lesser known one, on the way, Maraiyur.
Again, not much to tell about today's ride except that as we were riding across the plains we came across the first wind turbines we have seen in India. At the same time, the smell of coriander hit me. Either side of the road were fields full of the wonderful stuff, they were obviously growing it for seed rather than leaf, because it was flowering.
Udumalpet is one of those places no one would actually choose to go to. It just happens to on the way, and, to have a couple of lodges. It's a bit like a foreign visitor going to Fishponds, on the way to The Arboretum, and stopping overnight; except without the pubs. Because we only had to cycle a short distance we arrived here at 1030, and it now feels like a very long day. Thankfully, we have a tiny little balcony that has been shaded throughout the course of the day, so I have been able to sit and read.
Sometimes in these places we feel like we're going stir crazy. Once we've walked around town, had something to eat, perhaps taken a few photographs, there really isn't much else to do until you do the whole thing again later in the day when it's cooler. Occasionally we find a park, but that's rare. We were commenting the other day that what India needs is a 'roof top cafe' culture, as opposed to 'pavement cafe' because you wouldn't want to be sat on an Indian pavement drinking coffee.
Tomorrow we'll be climbing into the hills again, we know that Munnur is at 1520 metres, but we're not sure about Maraiyur. Anything short of 2300, which is what we did to Ooty, is a bonus and will feel like a doddle!
Laters
Reading: Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro (still)
To date:
The Last Grain Race - Eric Newby
Cancer Ward - Alexander Solzenhitsyn
Utterly Monkey - Nick Laird
Atonement - Ian McEwan
The Tesseract - Alex Garland
Mr Vertigo - Paul Auster
