A fairly prompt start to today's ride as a visit to the large temple at Thiruvannamaiai was planned so we had a short ride from the Sparsa Hotel into the town. Most of the team were able to go into this magnificent temple. It was so hot I decided to take my motorcycle trousers off and wander around in shorts. I would have been an embarrassment to my daughter Lucie as I still had motorcycle boots on which do not lend themselves to being worn with shorts. They would not allow me to enter the temple wearing shorts so I was denied the experience,yet they allowed Fran Bunce in wearing what looked like black tights keeping his knee pads in place, very unfair I thought.
Around the perimeter of the temple, the air was permeated with the smell of urine; I did not notice this at first until it was pointed out by Peter who by this time was wearing a mask. Any smell to me is a bonus having only just regained my sense of smell after more than a year.
I walked around the perimeter of the temple which is so large it took about 45 minutes. It was whilst I was walking that I reflected that I was as far away from my way of life that I had even been. The poverty, the living conditions the general way of life, begging is still in evidence, litter is strewn everywhere as it is along any road in this part of India. Gullies are blocked with stagnant water and rotting animals.
Gilly you would have loved out chia stop this morning where there was a squashed rat by my back wheel.
We made our way towards Pondichery on the east coast through a fairly
flat fertile countryside where many crops such as rice, corn and sugar cane were grown. It then became apparent that the roads in this area had more than one purpose for here we encountered straw being laid over the road where the passage of traffic over the straw has the effect of thrashing and leaving the corn to be picked up from the road surface. The smell of the straw evoked memories of summer holidays when I used to work on the farm helping with the harvest.
Later we encountered many oxen and tractor drawn trailers heavily laden with sugar cane on their way to the sugar cane factories.
We arrived at the Hotel Atithi in Pondicherry early afternoon and were welcomed by the hotel staff with cool flannels and a glass of fruit juice. Luggage transfer is a major operation and we were grateful to the hotel porters for delivering our suitcases to our rooms. The early arrival after a 75 mile ride allowed us the look around the town and visit the beach and for some of us to see the Bay of Bengal for the first time. On the promenade there is a giant stature of Mahatma Gandhi which is very impressive, one of the team remarked he was the spit and image of Ben Kingsley.
The beach at Pondicherry, rather than sand descending gradually to the water; was a wall of loose granite stone. This was as a result of the Boxing day Tsunami 2005 when 1500 people lost their lives in this town when the water hit.
Richard Pearse is pleased that his fellow villager Clinton Rogers is following the blog and says that Route 66 would have been a doddle compared to this trip. Perhaps he should think about joining us next year especially as he is a PRIDE trained motorcylist. Most of the route today was India Route 66.
We have now been in India a week and time is passing too quickly which I supose is an indication of how enjoyable it has been so far. Cannot believed that some of the team have to start their journey home on Sunday.
It was nice having Shafi our tour guide riding with us today. We normally see him with the back up crew bus or car.
Today Friday 10th February we make our way up the east coast to Chennai, in theory we cannot get lost as we just keep the sea to our right.
Gilly I am sorry to hear that your eye problem has returned on the eve of my departure. I am thankful we have some good fiends in Mike and Alex for taking you to hospital to see the specialist.
Nigel
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