We enjoyed our break at Munnar and left knowing that as we descended towards the west coast it was going to get hotter but we did not realize how hot. The GPS said we started at 4600 ft which was in conflict with the guide books which said that Munnar sat at 5500 ft above sea level.
The first part of the ride was enjoyable, downhill with lots of sweeping bends and good road surfaces. Kerry and Fran thought that either the smell of honey suckle or orange blossom was in the air. We road though some nice villages with friendly people and the scenery was good. I actually thought that the confidence of the team was getting too high and there may have been an element of ‘red mist’ judging by the progress we were making but all made a safe and exciting decent to the bottom of the Gnats. On the first stop where we had already lost 2000ft in altitude.I had gained some converts to riding in shirt sleeves which was another good reason for taking it steady.
As we got to the flatter countryside it was noticeably hotter and the roads became more congested. It was difficult to keep the other riders in sight despite the high visibility jackets. I would say that progress was a bit ‘hairy’. but we all arrived at our destination all in one piece. We were very tired, hot and perspiring and just wanted to enjoy a cool drink and rest.
Once down the mountain we called in to the Ideal Islamic Trust School where Shafi's daughter is a pupil. The children with a range of ages and of various faiths were very excited by our visit. If you look out for videos Neil Shaw took a video of the youngsters dancing a traditional dance.
As we neared Alleppy we were joined by Sanjay who was out tour guide in 2010 and who had joined us last year for a couple of days. It was nice to see him again. He just appeared beside us at a set of traffic lights astride an Enfield.
The house boat accommodation was a big surprise, not only were we staying on house boats but we were actually going to cruise around the huge labyrinth of waterways and inlets know as the backwater at Alleppy which is a few miles south of Cochin our final destination. The backwater so called as it is separate and behind the sea.
All our luggage was loaded onto two house boats and we set sail for a sunset cruise prior to having our evening meal. Cold beer was consumed as we sailed into the sunset between the acres of paddy fields. Each house boat had three crew who prepared and served our evening meals.
A nice evening, with good company and good food. Ted Curtis treated the ladies to a ‘moon’ between boats. The air conditioning in the dining room and the bedrooms made it bearable as being so close to water it was very humid. We had all treated ourselves with insect repellant to avoid being bitten. The open deck on the three berth boat had mosquito nets unfurled around the deck but our four birth boat was the one with air conditioned dining room.
Nigel
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