We are up in the Western Ghats, near an old colonial hill station called Ooty, staying in the appropriately named Jungle Hut, for a day’s rest. The rooms are spread beneath towering bamboos and tall trees with bright purple blossom, all laid out beneth a rocky-green mountainous backdrop that rises 2000 feet behind.
Deer wander in and out of the forest, monkeys scamper across open ground and at night the dogs bark into the night at the perimeter – they can smell the prowling big cats in the bush, leopards and tigers that reportedly emmerge occasionally to take a sheep, goat or even one of the dogs.
So, in short, this is paradise! The riders are recuperating well, still just one hospitalised for heatstroke, another with a broken ankle, a man with a few cracked ribs… This is the only holiday I have been on where there is a prize awarded every morning (the ‘skid mark trophy’) for the best accident from the previous day’s ride! And what’s more, every day there are several serious contenders! Still, if you could see the rules of the road out here (makes driving in Madrid look like child’s play!), and taking into account the state of the highways, this is no big surprise… They say that you shouldn’t ride faster than your angel can fly, and I think that perhaps not enough of our group are taking that to heart!
More soon, thanks for your comments on the last post,Ben
Notes from Spain by Ben Curtis 