Kerala has been amazing so far, super mellow vibe, lush beautiful forests, and ridiculously nice people. I could have spent our first day in Cochi sitting in the tropical garden at our homestay drinking tea and reading. As it was we managed to make it out into the town and take in the eclectic mix cultures foisted up on the town by various colonial powers, consisting of churches, synagogues and the dutch palace. The waterfront is lined by huge Chinese fishing nets operated by six or seven Keralan men decked out in a kind of kilt/loincloth/manskirt. One guy walks out to the end of the net of the net to submerge it in the water and then the other six guys pull it up with the help of massive rocks attached to the other end of the lever. Everything about the town was pleasant and hassle free, such a nice change from the chaos in Delhi.
Antything I do in Kerala, waking up or walking to the bathroom, results in an absurd amount of perspiration, probably enough to water a small houseplant if the plant didn't mind really salty water. The first day on the bike out of Cochi left my skin with a wonderfully reflective sheen that might have blinded a passerby when hit by direct sunlight. Despite the epic amount of bodily perspiration it felt great to be riding my bike again, passing through the lush forests and over the rolling hills, taking in the serene beauty of Kerala. I really love traveling by bike.
70 km later we rolled into Thattekad bird sanctuary at the base of the Western Ghats along the Periyar River. Our hostess met us at the gate and guided us to her homestay set just off the river within the park. Amazingly for the amount of ponds and still water surrounding the park I don't think I got bitten by a single mosquito, the benefits of staying in an area with a large population of insect eating birds. On our bird watching foray into the park we were fortunate enough to see an Indian Pita, a rare Himalayan bird that winters in the park, as well as a few wild elephants. The elephants ultimately cut the expedition short, apparently they are really aggressive and I'm pretty sure much faster than me. In the interest of staying alive we took a quick peek at them and than left them alone. Our remaining days in the sanctuary we spent riding around in the hills and luxuriating in the calm of the jungle.
The highlight of Thattekad was witnessing the opening procession of the Shiva festival on our second to last night in the sanctuary. The faithful honor the god by staying awake all night to allow Shiva, who protects them, and doesn't sleep for 364 days during the year, one night of rest. To kick off the festival there is a procession of drummers and dancers to lead Shiva out of the woods from his hunt.
The procession consists of two lines of women on either side of the road holding trays with a candle perched in the middle, casting a soft light on the path in the middle of the road. At the rear of the procession there are six drummers and two cymbal players who provide the rhythm for those taking part in the procession. In the middle of the road between the women there was a large group of men dancing and just going nuts to the music, waving bunches of tropical leaves over their heads. Toss in the occasional fountain of fireworks of the deafening blast from an M-80 and it was quite a show.
By far the most impressive performance belonged to the drummers and the cymbal players at the end of the procession. Even though the whole procession only goes about 200 meters, the whole celebration took over an hour and a half. The drummers began with a pretty mellow beat, creating a steady rhythm and performing some group dance moves. But, in order to move the procession forward they would gradually increase the cadence, begin dancing a little faster, until a few seconds later their sticks would be a blur in the half light of the candles. The two rows of drummers would furiously pound their instruments as they set themselves down on one knee creating a space between them for the cymbal players to go to work. Amid the kneeling drummers the cymbal players would run back and forth jumping and spinning in the air clashing their instruments together and working the dancers up into a frenzy. The whole scene would reach a crescendo with the drummers jumping up and charging forward into the mass of dancers jostling them forward a few steps before stepping back into their formation and falling back into a slower rhythm. Amazingly the drummers kept up the energetic show for the entire hour and a half of the procession, working themselves up into a rhythmic frenzy every 10 minutes or so with the same energy and passion. My description doesn't do the performance justice, the procession from start to finish was an epic feat of stamina and skill.
After spending a day to recover from the late night of the Shiva festival we took off for Munnar. Up until yesterday the terrain has been pretty mellow, flat with a few rolling hills. I knew that we would have to climb a big hill eventually, despite that knowledge yesterday's ride still spanked me. We started early to avoid the heat, which we did for the first big 20 km climb, topping it at around 10 am. Unfortunately, it was just the first big climb. The second climb started about 30 km from Munnar and finished in Munnar. Which meant that we spent the hottest part of the day grinding up the windy road to Munnar laden with all of our gear (gear that seems unnecessary right now definitely includes my zero degree sleeping bag and huge cold weather puffy jacket). Despite what I thought was epic amounts of sweat before, my glands maxed themselves out and left a lake of perspiration in my clothes. Despite my glands going into overdrive, the ride was awesome. Every turn on the road provided a new expansive vista of the hills and the valley below, revealing the thick jungle all around me. As we climbed the final few kilometers into Munnar the hills opened up into a shimmering sea of green as we entered the vast tea plantations that populate the slopes of the upper reaches of the western Ghats. After a brutal day in the saddle it was a nice to be rewarded with such a beautiful destination.
Our bike route thus far
View Kerala Bike Route in a larger map
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