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| When Kiwi, Marcus and I finally came to conciousness on Kovalam beach, we had only two things on all of our minds: our immense thirst, closely followed by our hunger. Looking for a restaurant along the 1-person wide beach boardwalk gave us a chance to finally check out the Kovalam scene. It's an interesting mix of mostly rotund European tourists on inexpensive package tours combined with skeletal long term stay yoga-mediation freaks. We didn't fit into either one. Nevertheless, there was a certain attraction about the fresh steamed Baracuda in banana leaf and cold Kingfisher ... |
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| Posted by Julie Gildred at | | | |
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| Kanyakumari to Kovalam, Kerala (90 clicks)I know many of you are wondering where Marcus is most of the day. I'm equally perplexed. He departs sometime in the middle of the night when I'm still in bed, arriving in most towns some time before 11:00 a.m. This morning we both woke at 5:00 with the unusually loud 'call to prayer' and while Marcus hit the road well before 6:00, I ambled over to the Sea View Hotel for a western-style breakfast with Canada.Today was a turning point in the trip. We were finally moving from south to ... |
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| Posted by Julie Gildred at | | | |
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| Tirunenveli to Kanyakumari (84 km)I apologize, the blogging and forward progress has been way-laid by slow internet and sunny beaches. There's a certain attraction about being the only westerners in a town. People are instantly curious, overly friendly and, in this case, candid to a fault. Now, it crossed my mind once or twice that cycling 2100+ km around South India might just help in shedding that unwanted 'middle' that many women receive as an unexpected 40th birthday gift. How misconceived could I have been? An Indian man set me straight. It was February 3rd and ... |
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| Posted by Julie Gildred at | | | |
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| Madurai to Kovilpatti (94 km) to Tirunenveli (55 km) February 1 & 2, 2007Road conditions: Superb A++ and pancake flat. Elapsed Time: 4:00 and 2:30 Fuel: The usual mix of Pongal (another rice variation for breakfast with spicey sauces), Iddly and bananas. Weather: 32-33 C (in other words, HOT).From Madurai it's a straight shot on the NH 7 down the center of South Central India to Kanyakumari (the most southern tip of India). Given the rising temperatures and paucity of shade, we decided to break the jaunt into three manageable days. From Madurai to Kovilpatti, ... |
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| Posted by Julie Gildred at | | | |
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| Trichy to Madurai (130 km)Road conditions: sealed and superb. Elapsed time: 5:25. Fuel: Dosas, bananas & peanut butter and 2 litres of water. Weather: Pleasant overcast morning giving way to hot sunny skies.Even the most indecisive should have no trouble in India. Choices are kept real simple. Restaurants are either veg or non-veg; menus separated by wet and dry; hotel rooms are A/C or non-A/C; water is either 2 litres or 1; or, as it applies to alcohol, there really is no choice at all. Perhaps the only multifaceted matter that presents itself with a daily ... |
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| Posted by Julie Gildred at | | | |
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| Tanjore to Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) (55 km) January 29, 2007 Road conditions: smooth sealed most of the way. Total elapsed time: 2:30 (another 30 to get through town). Fuel: 2 bananas, milk coffee, 1 litre of water, buttery biscuits and Gu. Weather: Sunny and warm/30 C.There was nothing particularly tricky about getting to Trichy, it was just an uphill toil. From the get go, the landscape is largely uninspiring: industrial factories, engineering townships and Trichy suburban sprawl. And, but for a few seconds here and there, the Indian city traffic never thinned out. ... |
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| Posted by Julie Gildred at | | | |
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| January 28 Vengangali to Tanjore (100k).Road conditions: bad to smooth sealed. Total elapsed time: 5 hours. Fuel: Dosas, bananas and gatorade water mix. Weather: Overcast to sunny hot.I awoke in a state of panic when I pried my eye opens and finally could look in the mirror. My upper and lower lids were swollen together like siamese twins and a red rash had taken over my thighs. An obvious allergic reaction to one of the many varietals of bites tattooing my body or, perhaps, to the expired Malarone. Usually, I would have welcomed a ... |
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| Posted by Julie Gildred at | | | |
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| Chidabaram to Vailankanni (old name Velanganni) - 95 kmJanuary 27, 2007. Road surface excellent sealed most of the way to pot-hole poor. Total elapsed time 5:00 hrs. Humid with cloud cover about 85 degrees. Fuel: Not enough, no breakfast!Marcus and I had spent most of the night prior pouring over maps, discussing distances, routes and departure dates. Two things became abundantly clear: Hercules was not living up to his name and Ganesh was keen on staying on the coast. There were essentially two potential directions for the day: continue south or go west. Marcus agreed ... |
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| Posted by Julie Gildred at | | | |
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| January 26 Pondicherry to Chidambaram 70kmSmooth sealed road with intermittent shoulder; 4:20 elapsed time. Fuel: 2 iddlies (steamed rice thingys) and dahl (yellow lentils), 4 small bananas, 3 litres water, 1 Chocolate Outrage Gu I can't say if it's jet lag or the early morning bang on the door asking 'Chai, please?' 'Coffee Madame?' but I can't seem to sleep past 5:00 a.m. Fortunate for me, the coffee culture is alive and well in India. Starting early every morning, on every street corner, in every town (large or small), you'll find large groups of men huddled ... |
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| Posted by Julie Gildred at | | | |
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| Janaury 25 - Tailwinds to Pondi 100 kmDespite the small morning incident where Hercules (Marcus' new bike) flattened a cute black dog on our way to see the Five Rathas Temple, Indian Karma ruled supreme today. Waking up early paid off in Rupees at the Temple. The usual guards and bus loads of pilgrims must have still been asleep and we were able to access the local road to witness in solitude the Five Rathas in the eastern morning light. Before checking out, we found a ... |
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| Posted by Julie Gildred at | | | |
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