Day 10 - 60 km ride along the coast

With most of the shops shut on strike the ride was a bit more relaxed, no doing battle with trucks and lorries.  But the buses, tuctucks and mother bikes still gave us a run for our money!

We cycled along the coastal road between the sea and the backwaters, didn't know which way to look at there was so many interesting things to see.  But no monkeys this far down in Kerala.

So I just had to keep stopping to take photographs....

We passed a boat builders, making the traditional Keralan fishing boats.  All wood, they looked as though they had been stitched together:

Beautiful inspiration for mark making?

It will need oiling and then sealing with tar to make it waterproof and ready for sailing.

Stopping for drink breaks frequently beneath the shade of a convenient tree there is a chance to see what is going on 

One of the main 'industries' of Kerala is coir processing.  The coconut husks are separated and the fibres collected together for spinning into the ropes and other items.

On we cycled passed fishing nets,

boats (various) and

palm tree fringed beaches, dotted with water birds.

Fishermen were busy,

and wherever we stopped Rintu attracted a crowd of friendly children!

Our tea stops are very often taken at roadside kiosks,

but today we have many more miles to pedal...60 km / 37 miles in all on a very, very hot day.

So it was with relief we turned right, made our way down the canel and into our next home stay. And of purse a chilled glass of fresh watermelon juice helped too.

The hotel is on the waterfront, so our bikes were parked in front and off we went to find our chalets.  Debs and mine is the one on the rights. Unlike the others ours wasn't thatched, but our walls were still made of palm leaves; thank goodness it had air con though as it was really hot and humid.

Here's the view from our veranda, we can sit here and watch the world float by.

Want to have a look around? 

It's really quite a treat with all its dark brown polished wood and copper (brass?) fittings and things. The lights are the lovely glass hand blown ones that we have seen all over India.  I have this feeling that they may have originally come from Belgium, but then I might have totally made that up.  

All looks quite colonial.

Here's a closer look at the brassware gleaming in the late afternoon sun.

And this is the pot of orchids hanging on the veranda.

Hurrying back to the main house for my Ayurvedic massage (a very interesting experience) I saw this chap busily fishing.  See the plastic bag hanging up?  Well it was positively jumping with fish...

Doesn't our dinner table look lovely? Lorraine had been busy with the help ( and shopping skills) of Joseph and Rintu.

A little swim in the Indian Ocean

A very long flat ride today, about 83km/51 miles in total, but it was a ride of two halves.

Once again ( are you fed up of this opening line yet??) it was a beautiful start to the morning, spinning along empty roads, a cool breeze and the promise of a (too) warm day ahead.

I stop so often to photograph that I am usually the last one, keeps the sweeper busy!

The back water is a hive of activity with boats and craft of varying sizes. Fortunately Kerela has a high Christian population so there are no Sacred Cows wandering all over the road for us to dodge.

We are also taking a coastal road which is quieter, just local traffic, motorbikes and tuctucks.

One of our regrouping stops was by this beak.  Miles and miles of golden sand and no one else in site. I was needed just to keep this palm tree from falling down....

Our destination was Fort Cochin which involved two ferry crossings.

Here we are waiting for the ferry, the bike decorations are care of Lorraine for, a gift for Valentine's Day.

It's a small ferry when it arrives from the otherside, everyone lines up and then it's a free for all...fortunately we all make it on board for the short crossing to the other side.

We get a closer view of life on the water

I seem to think I took a similar photograph of a man in a boat when I was in Vietnam hanging over a bridge!

The lunch stop was a delight.  Quite long and the chance for a quick swim in the Indian Ocean.  Utter bliss....warm and salty, it's just the thing when you've had a long hot ride.

But before too long we are off again, there's another ferry to catch and many more miles to pedal.

How Rindu manages to keep cool in all that gear is beyond me!

The final few miles are a pleasant ride along the back waters, sandwiched between the sea and the lakes and canals.  Then it was back onto the busy main road for the last 10 km.  Always needs your full concentration,

so it was a delight to reach our next overnight stop - a home- stay in Fort Cohin.  Air conditioned and the novelty of mosquito nets!

Can you see the sea yet?

A bit of a lie-in today...much needed!  We had a relaxed circular ride of 37km/ 22miles today starting with a cycle to the beach.

Miles of golden sand fringe the Indian Ocean, and it was all virtually empty except for the fishermen and this very excited group of school children and their teachers!

The children are very keen to practice their English and have their photograph taken.  I certainly never had teachers as colourfully dressed as these ones were!

Cycling past the fishermen was quite oderous, with the fish that are caught being processed and packed into ice ready for selling.  Seem to be all shapes and sizes on offer today.

I was a bit worried when I took a photograph of the fish seller he thought that I actually wanted to buy one, fortunately it was the person behind me!

This was a popular area for the local bird population who were more than keen to help clear up.

Nets need to be mended and

Laundry done when the catch has been landed.

But that didn't stop the school party from enjoying their day.  No icecream on sale, but prepared fresh fruit stored in glass jars filled with water.

The fishermen use traditional Kerelan boats when they go out to sea

 and when not in use they are dragged up onto the beach.

Where ever we go people want to have a photograph taken with us.  Weird or what?

Still it's wonderful to be beside the sea at thong last.  Strangely many Kerelans are unBle to swim apparentl- because they don't have public swimming pools or lessons.  Bit of a mistake when you live by the sea?

We cycled on, through the back waters, where the water is chock full of water lilies and water hyacinth.

We had a brief stop at a Syrian Christian Church built on the spot St Thomas was supposed to have preached from.  I don't know about that, but the front door was quite beautiful.

The colour combination of the walls, doors, shutters and painted wood work was very appealing.

Continueing on our ride we rode through a series of villages all celebrating some Hindu festival.  That meant the elephants were out in force, decorated brightly with cloths and gold jewellery.  To stop them from charging away their feet are shackled with giant chains, which wasn't very pleasant for them I expect.

There are two Indian states which are communist, Kerela being one of them. With state elections happening later this year the campaigning seems to have started in earnest with slogans and symbols daubed everywhere.

Lunch was at a very smart hotel restaurant, where the Head of the Bank of India was also dining with his retaineu.  Pity we lowered the standard somewhat were we trooped in not and less than fragrant...  Still a delicious lunch of thali serves Kerelan style on a banana leaf.  Doesn't look much but I'd eaten some of it and then remembered to take the photographs!

A cooling rest was needed after that ride but not for long as Terry, Debs and I went off to explore the local area and do a bit of retail therapy.

Guruvayoor Has one of the largest Hi du Temples in India, and it seemed that they were all keen to go.  The streets lined up to the temple are packed with Indian tourist shops, with the shopkeepers more keen on local trade rather than harassing travellers.  So quite lovely to stroll and browse at all the tat!

Fashions here in the south are different from those we saw in the north.  For one thing - most men don't wear trousers but a dohti.  Basically a colourful cotton bedsheets 2m long which they wrap around their waist and hitch up or not depending on how hot they feel.  Ladies saris and shalwar kameis tend to be  more subtly coloured unlike the peacocks of the north!  And no turbans are worn either.

There were no Holy Coconuts only Holy bananas, and no one was remotely interested in selling us one either.  bliss!

We came back after dinner with everyone else and it was really busy with ?worshippers going to the temple to make offerings.  We just went to see the dancing entertainment

Went on for a bit too long if you ask me....