The best day yet today, down stunning mountain roads from Kodai, across the plains then up through spectacular tea plantations that carpeted endless rolling hills – without doubt the most movingly beautiful road I have ever seen.
Two days riding left, then one days rest before heading back to the UK. I feel like I could ride acroos India for months, and hope that very soon I will… Still, this has been an introduction beyond all expectations. I highly recommend it! Hasta pronto!
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
Amazing, a hotel with an internet connection! I am alive and well, though many of the 100 bikers that started the trip are not! There have been a few accidents and many are down with stomach problems and fever… But India… wow, what a country – we ride all day through vilages that are almost medeival in terms of living conditions, yet everyone greets us with radient smiles and enthusiastic waves. The landscape smells of jasmine, sandalwood and rose, and the locals are the most honest, helpful and kind I have found anywhwere in the world.
We have done 1000 k’s so far, through tea plantations, jungle, tiger country, lost beachs and arid plains and I have been left breathless by everything I have seen. So all is well, I’ve taken many photos (the Indians are SO happy to have their picture taken!) and recorded some audio. It’s impossible to sum up the experience in a single blog post, so look out for pics and a podcast when I get back… Saludos a todos! Ben
I leave for the UK this afternoon and fly out of Heathrow tomorrow evening. In the past I have been lucky enough to visit much of South East Asia but India has always been the ‘big’ one on the horizon. And the strange thing about this trip – 2,500 km in 15 days on Royal Enfield motorbikes across ‘India profunda‘ – is that I have almost no idea where I am going!
The usual months spent pouring over the Lonely Planet prior to a trip like this have been replaced by faith in the fact that we are following a fully organised itinerary, along a meticulously planned route. We’ll be given a map every morning, and told where we’ll be sleeping every night (from beach tents to tiger reserves and five star hotels – apparently!) So I’m ready to be surprised at every turn, and think it may be a really interesting way to travel!
So watch this space. I’ve been told there are cybercafés all over India so I’ll check in here at the blog if I can – meanwhile Marina has promised to post occasionally in my absence. I’ll be back in 2 weeks, hopefully with lots of exotic recording material from India. Thanks again to all of you that supported the sponsored side of this trip, I’m afraid Notes in Spanish 31 has been left in the air for my return – we would love some audio comments or questions in Spanish for the next episode if any one is up for it! E-mail us here.
Hasta Pronto!
Ben
‘Podfading‘, whereby podcasters just give up and let that poscast slide, is not what’s happening with Notes From Spain, worry not! What is happening is total stress in the lead up to my India trip next week, and work overload for Marina. So, the travel hints podcast has been re-scheduled (for the last time!) for this Sunday… Still time for any more questions you would like answered on travel in Spain – why not record an audio question to send to us?
By the way, 43 folders, where I picked up the new word in the title, is a great website for helping to keep life stress free and, for converts like me, Getting Things Done.
We still haven’t recorded this week’s Notes from Spain podcast, so there’s still time to include questions on anything you’d like to know about travel in Spain! Just add to the comments on the previous requests post here.
It’s time you started concreting those plans for your 2006 trip to Spain, and we think it’s time for a good old Notes from Spain podcast full of travel tips and ideas. We’ll record it, hopefully, on Tuesday night, so, if you have any questions or great ideas about a trip to Spain, comment below or e-mail us direct. Thanks!
Haven’t put your pin on our map yet? Come on, help us get to the 200 mark!
Or perhaps it’s a podcast full of wonder… either way, I highly recommend the first episode of the new Alan Watts podcast, especially the first six and a half minutes. It’s philosophy the way philosophy ought to be, and delivered in the finest of British accents!
There are some fine podcasts listed here, in this article by Budget Travel On-line. Particularly the third one down 🙂
Notes from Spain by Ben Curtis 