I intended on writing a blow-by-blow, day-by-day, pedal stroke-by-pedal stroke blog. I'm so excited, however, I'll cut to the chase.  I've made it to GOA!  23 days of riding, some 1880 km, 777 mosquito bites, 300 litres of bottled water, an equal number of bananas, at least 25 masala dosas, curries every night and, sadly, only 5 beers later I've reached Patnem, GOA!    Technically, I still have another 100 odd kays to ride to Panjim and later to Calungute Beach but I have 7 days to spare.  So, for the time being, I'm parking Ganesh (who has served me well) and heading straight for the Arabian Sea.   

So here are the more salient points of the last three days. 

Udupi to Murdeshwar (110 km)

The ride from Udupi to Murdeshwar was a mixed bag. The roads varied from very good to very poor, to quite busy to no traffic at all, from barren sage-like shrub to rice paddies and green palms.  The only constant throughout the day was an unbearable humidity. There are lots of turn-offs to Hindu temples and at Maravanthe Beach the National Highway divides the Arabian Sea and a large river.  This is really cool with bodies of water on both sides of you but it only lasts 3-4 kays max and, because of the pristine view, all of the truck drivers take the opportunity here to drop their drawers and take a piss. It's true.

The mostly flat road made for a fast spin and I opted to go further than intended in hopes of finding an ocean to dive into. I read on the internet about this little fishing village cum temple town just south of Kannur that boasts an incredible beach resort and little foreign tourists.  So, just 15 clicks from Kannur I turned west off the NH17 to a slow and charming backroad. 2 kays later I landed on Murdeshwar Beach and at the giant Shiva temple.  The town itself is extremely small, all Indian, no internet, is not a 'resort' and lacks options for entertainment or dinner.   Nevertheless, it's a real Indian fishing village which, outside of the temple, retains a certain amount of charm.  I spent most of the afternoon fully amused as a pathological people watcher.  Only in India could I see in one single snap shot ON the beach: muslim men in their Taqiyahs (white caps) and Thobes (long white robes), cows, fishing boats, dead dogs, packs of dogs, cow dung, sareed women with baskets of fruit on their head, BBQ's, speed boats, ice cream stalls, ox-driven carts and sun bathers.

Side note:  I received 3 emails on my Nokia that night. One from the Kiwi who rode from Managalore to the town just 12 kays behind me (Bektal).  Although I never experienced it he got caught in a short but pretty heavy rain storm.  One from Canada who arrived in Calicut and took a second class ticket on the train to Goa.  Apparently it was the train trip from hell.  Lastly, Marcus has made it out of the Ashram and he was on a bus heading from Fort Cochin to Gokarna.

Murdeshwar to Gokarna (75 km)

If there's anything to be said about today's ride it's this: it was divine.  This is significant because there's a handful of erroneous accounts floating around in the cycling world about this stretch being particularly hilly and hard.  Without naming names, I have a sneaking suspicion that they were either embellishing, hallucinating or both.  I literally got myself so worked up in anticipation of a tough day -- drinking extra water, loading up with carbs only to learn of a few bumps in the road hardly worth a mention.  

I'm a slow learner but I finally figured out the proper amount of caloric intake throughout the day and I was in extremely good spirits and feeling strong. It was downright rural between Murdeswhar to Gokarna allowing me ample opportunity to say 'hello' to everyone in hopes of spreading international goodwill.  It was refreshing to feel a return to the raw India experienced in Tamil Nadu sharing the road with several ox-driven carts, cows, knife wielding tribesmen, buffalo, Indians carrying extremely heavy baskets on either side of a bamboo stick balanced over their shoulders (this in particular reminded me again of Vietnam) and a large number of Sadhus (wandering holy men). The women walking barefoot along the road were all down from their tribal villages carrying large baskets of vegetables on their heads to the local market.  The sarees worn by this particular tribe were a more risque version of the usual; tied like a halter top around their neck but otherwise sleeveless, backless and exploding in vibrant colors.  Sadly, the women were mostly toothless as well. 

Occassionally a bus would pass and remind me that I was still on the Indian National Highway.  The road here is very narrow, with no paved shoulder but in most places there was a dirt path for emergency bail out purposes.  This came in handy on one particular occassion that afternoon when I was pedaling along minding my own business and a bus passing me at 100 km/hour suffered a tire blow out careening left and forcing me to drop a few flights onto the dirt shoulder. 

I had high hopes for a 2-day stay in Gokarna, a small temple town graced with a series of white secluded beach coves.  Travelers from Kanyakumari all the way up the Malabar Coast raved about the Indian authenticity of this magical beach town.  Gokarna is nothing if it's not magical, and there's nothing magical at all.   It only took me one afternoon to cess it out and know that despite my aching arse, I didn't want to stay another day.  Admittedly, there's always the risk of disappointment when you set high expectations for something or someone or some place.  But, honestly, between the extremely dirty accomodations, dirty town, lack of decent restaurants and abundance of stoned and lost backpackers it held nothing of interest for my soul.  Even the beaches, which would normally merit a 4-star hotel, require a 40 minute trek scaling rocks and sliding down stone to get there. 

Searching about town inspecting hotels, I was pleased to find Kiwi arriving more knackered than I and covered in the usual road soot. He had found his way to a peanut butter and banana smoothie before attempting the trek to Kudle Beach.  I haven't seen him since but he told me in a phone conversation later that the trek was the worst 3 kays of his entire trip. 

Gokarna to Patnem, GOA (90 km)

I learned only a few weeks before taking this trip that I'm blind.  Okay, not really blind but when I try to read something up close it's blurry and causes me to squint. I didn't bother to address this before leaving the US because, quite frankly, I'm still in denial.  This is important to know only because the night before leaving Gokarna and under a sliver of a moon I plotted out my next ride on a very small map.  Somehow, between my eyes and my math I missed an entire 50 kilometers in my calculation.  I woke again in good spirits expecting an extremely short 40 km day to the town of Palolem or Patnem, GOA.  The miscalculation didn't come to light until I was a good 59 km into my ride and having only reached the navy town of Karwar, Karnataka.

I literally sat for 30 minutes in a state of shock reconsidering my day.  It was well after noon and hotter than the Sahara Desert.  This is no exaggeration, I've ridden in the Sahara Desert so I know.  Karwar has a beautiful strip of sand but no place to sleep outside of the dusty city center.  On the other hand, the only other fact I knew for sure was that the beautiful beachside Intercontinental Resort at $300/night would be my first (and perhaps only) option if I could make it that far.  

Frustrated trying to piece two different maps together, I finally just tossed them aside and continued to ride.  My nearly listless pace allowed me to reflect on how barren and ugly the stretch is between Karwar and the border for Goa.  I'm being generous in using the term 'border'.  I wasn't even sure I was there until technology took over and AirTel sent me a text message welcoming me into Goa.  I stopped right then and there for a celebratory photograph for having reached my riding goal.

Once in Goa, the road continues a series of short pesky climbs but the coconut trees suddenly reappear providing much needed shade.  Another 25 kays and lots of sugary fluids later, I found the turn-off for the Intercontinental and later the road to Patnem.  A series of unmarked coastal roads took me the long way around but, in so doing, I was fortunate enough to meet an extremely friendly Indian (named Luke?) who steered me directly to the lovely and comfortable SeaView Hotel.  Yes, I think I've gone to heaven on this stretch of perfect sand.  I'll be here for at least 5 days!

Namaste and thank you for all of your support!  If anyone is interested in seeing the photos, I'll post them when I return home.  Cheers!

Ride Strong!