What goes up must come down!

The A long and technical day in many ways today.  Not all of it requiring much pedalling, but plenty of consentration as we can down from Ooty.

Need I say it was a lovely morning...again??  

The long haul trucks of India are lovingly decorated in bright cheerful colours and images.  But trick to photograph whilst I or they are on the move,

but I made the most of a traffic jam and tea break stop today, so you too know what they can look like.  Think I have missed a rich photo opportunity here.  So will try to capture some more if I can later.

All the time we come across gems of photo opportunities, everyday life but still worth capturing never the less.

Tea stops provide the perfect opportunity and also plenty of amusement for the locals - adults and children alike.  They must hink we are totally bonkers, but it doesn't stop them from running over to chat, raising their hand in greeting or shouting out 'hello, what's your name, where you come from??'

And then sometimes I just abandon my bike for no other reason at all but to capture the moment.

Tea plantations and brightly painted village houses clinging to the hill side.

Every stopping place becomes a retail / snack opportunity!

Gradually we work our way down the mountain, twisting and turning the narrow roads.  It was very cold when we set off, extra sleeps and jackets were needed and still our teeth chattered.

But gradually the air temperature stated to warm so by the time we stopped to watch the tea packers at work we could think about peeling off some layers.

It's a bit of a thankless task harvesting that much needed cuppa for you.

Tea plantations have way to

Magnificent eucalyptus forests,

Look how tall and slender those trunks are.

The road was far from perfect to say the least.  Some areas are so full of potholes it really is a travesty to call it a highway!  Still some effort was being made to repair the damage wrought by the huge trains India trucks, but that in turn caused chaos because of the sinful line of traffic.  Still no road rage was evident, but I did have sight of 6 traffic comes...the only ones I have seen in the whole of India!

Down we came, the huge vegetation proving much welcomed cover for the hot sun.  Soon the trees had given way to massive bamboos 

Down off the mountain we cycled through small towns and villages.  I noticed this bank sign

So proud of being an ultra small branch!

The ride ended at lunchtime after we had ridden 86km (52 miles) which was a blessing because it was getting so very hot. I was a relief to go into the air conditioning to cool down and have a much welcomed lunch of....curry! 

The bikes were then loaded up on a truck and we had a 3.5hour bus transfer to our next hotel in Guruvayoor where we are staying for the next too nights.