Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Hello to another blog!
Its going to be a tough one to update as alots happened so i will give you a basic run down of events and any questions you have please post on messageboard!
We are currently in Fort Cochin, very different from the rest of India, extremely old fashioned with houses and streets looking like they should be in Venice, not India! Its a good place to be for our day off so we are shopping!
The journey here has been long and fairly eventful. We met our cycling group last week and the following day left Mysore. The early rides were nothing to special as the scenery was fairly similar. The fun began when we had a 98KM ride from Mysore to the Bandipur National Park. The first section was great, lots of small villages where the kids were so enthusiatic to see us, in one town we had to get off the bikes as we were surrounded! Just before and after lunch we had to ride on a very straight road and it was really really hot, Em , still getting over the cold from hell felt the full force of the sun and about 6 KM's from the hotel we stopped and got the support vehicle the rest of the way. For Em, this started a series of events which would lead to here not feeling well at all! That evening we had a safari in the Bandipur National Park to try and see some elephants and tigers. Sat in the back of the jeep Em started to feel a little sick so she moved into the front seat, inside the cab. My view of what happened next was fairly disjointed but as we started moving again Ems head dissapeared out the window as she proceeded in her own words to "throw up quite elegantly!", at least ths gave the onlooking monkeys something to chat about! Feeling better, Em was fine throughout the rest of the safari. Our two hours in the national park was great, we saw a leopard off in the distance and abut 7 million deer and monkeys, the highlight though was a family of elephants up close. Em's condition worsened after the safari and we spent the evening in our amazing cottage with Em no more than a meter away from the sick bucket. I even bought back some chips and jelly from dinner to try and make her feel better but it didnt work!
The next day riding was through the Bandipur and Mudumalai National Parks. Not something you cn do on your own as theres an eement of danger from wild animals. Exodus are the only people allowed to do this. I cycled the whole way, it was a fairly short ride. Em, not wanting to miss out cycled parts of the national parks up untill the crazy hills, she didnt miss much as the riding out of the national parks was hard. Nausea was the main problem now and due to this eating was difficult which in turn led to bad stomach which then led to no energy. She was struggling but when we got to our amazing stop off for the night (Wildhaven) she had a sleep and felt better for our trip to the orphanage. This was a great experience for the pair of us as the kids were so happy to see us and wouldnt leave us alone, kind of felt like Lenny Henry on comic relief! The hotels location was stunning, out of our balcony we had a view over the national parks, and behind us was the towering mountains of the Western Ghats. At night we could hear the elephants trumpeting in the distance.
The toughest ride ever! 28KM of which 13 was up hill, not just a slight hill either but a mountain! It took me just over 2 and a quarter hours riding time to make it up Ooty hill which consisted of 36 hairpin bends which gradually got steeper and the clim was over 2300 metres. I have never felt so drained but chuffed that i did it. Rightly so, Em sat this out as she wasnt well, i dont doubt at all though that she would have done it if she could. Or hotel that night was very comfortable and even had a bath! We did call the doctor out to check Em over, she wasnt much hep and although Em tried to explain the nausea to her the doctor only focused on the not eating bit, anyway we got some tablets and hoped this would help. The final episode of Ems illness arrived that night and not much sleep was had. I arranged a taxi to take us to the following days lunch stop where we would meet up with the group so Em could try and sleep. Taxi ride very interesting! 90KM of bendy roads in a hot car breathing in car fumes, you can imagine how this made Em feel!
That night a member of our group (an ex-nurse) gave us a course of anti-biotics to try and kill whatever bug Em had, touch wood it worked!! We both went on the ride the following day to an elephant sanctuary and then in the afternoon to an elephant festival which was the most surreal experience, they were the best dressed elephants ive ever seen! Although shattered Em was feeling tonnes better and the nausea had vanished! Yesterdays ride was long and flat and we got our first real taste of Kerala, a very green, blimmin hot and humid state with massive houses and friendly people. We did an 80KM trundle which followed the coast and i had a very brief paddle in the sea. Em did 90% of the ride but got the van for the last stretch down a long busy main road. She had the right idea!
Today as i said we are in Fort Cochin shopping and generally chilling which is a nice change of pace.
Mike (and Em)
x
- comments