8th Jan - Perinthalmannia to Masinagudi

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Had a really great day.

Up at 6.45 to get going. I made the mistake of going to the expensive place that I went for dinner last night for breakfast. Breakfast cost £1.50 rather than 50p! It was rubbish and took ages. They said that they did breakfasts but then only had one option from their menu available and that was something the chef threw together. I will learn to go to busy places where all the local Indians go.... The service is better in the cheaper places :-)


I decided not to go to Pandikkad as I had done that route north last night and instead choose to keep off the highway and take the longer route along the little back lanes. The route I chose was beautiful and rural and I really enjoyed it but it added an extra 25-30km on to my journey. The extra kms would not have normally been a problem based on my usual km/hour rate but it was not the right decision today as a major pass to get to Gutalur really slowed me down and reduced my km/hour rate significantly. I was not aware of this pass when I made the decision to take the rural route. Fortunately, Johnie from couch surfing said that he would pick me at Gutalur , 20km from his house, so that I did not have to bike through the jungle in the dark (very dangerous with all the wild animals).

The first 60km or so was mainly on single track roads through the countryside. I very much enjoyed biking through the little villages away from the highway. As I traveled further away from the larger towns the kids became less confident and less extroverted. I must be a strange sight to people in rural areas that have not seen very many white people. I did not feel unsafe at any time. People were generally very friendly. I was bought a cup of chi and fried banana by a man in a little cafe and on a separate occasion I was bought a glass of freshly pressed cane sugar on the side of the road.

Over the last few days I have found that many people (particularly men) ask me questions when they pass me on their motorbikes/rickshaws or from the side of the road. I posted the following question to FB:

Guess how many times today each sentence was shouted by people on the side of the road/passing on motorbikes/passing in rickshaws:

"Hello, how are you?"
"Hello, what is your name?"
"Hello, where are you going?"
"Hello, I love you!"

Closest answer wins a price :)

I did get bored of counting by midday today.

I passed a little school and stopped off to take a photo of all of the children in their cute uniforms. Before I knew it half the school were running towards me and screaming greetings. They were very sweet. The teachers came over and asked where I was going and about my bike etc. I told the children that I am biking to England. They were jumping up and down and making an absolute racket. Funny.

It was the afternoon before I joined the highway to go to Guladur. The road was much quieter than other highways I have traveled on and I realised that in this instance I would have been happy on the highway and needn't have taken the longer rural route for safety. Oh well - I did really enjoy the route through the villages - even though it was rolling hills and bad quality roads :-)

The climb from up towards Gutalur was challenging but great. The countryside changed dramatically as I climbed into the mountains and into the tea growing region. Over all the area felt cleaner and less hectic. The views were fantastic. I felt much more at home here than in the other areas of India I have traveled through - I love the mountains and forests!

I did not realise that there would not be any little stores along the side of the pass and started to run out of water and food and by blood sugar levels started to go. A rich Indian couple in a car stopped off to chat with me as I was looking at the view and they kindly gave me a bottle of water and some bananas so I was happy again.

Johnie had warned me about Wild Elephants - especially at dusk. He said that if I should see one I should put my bike onto the back of a lorry until I pass the creature. I started to get a little worried as the light was going but arrived safe and sound in Gulatur at about 6.15.

The town has a really different feel to other towns on the coast. The mountains and forests that surround the town seem to make it seem less claustrophobic than other towns of the same size. It is quaint and feels more like how I imagined colonial India would be from the stories I read when a child.

Johnie picked me up on the road leaving two in his big black tank! He seemed like a nice chap - very welcoming. It was very good of him to drive and pick me up.


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When we left the town the countryside quickly became jungle and the views were amazing. The road is single track and passes through Mudumalai national park. I was disappointed that I was not to be cycling this stretch of road and taking my time. At least half of the 1 hour journey was in the pitch black though and it would not have been possible. Oh well - I will probably go back this way when I leave the jungle anyway.

Johnie's house is absolutely incredible. A mansion set in 12 acres of gardens. He as 9 staff to look after the grounds and the house. He was very welcoming.

There were 3 other couch surfers staying when I arrived: Miranda (a solo English traveler) and Denis and Grace (an American couple). Miranda had arrived today and Johnie and the others had traveled to pick her up in Ooti (a hill station 33km from here) this afternoon and they had all explored Ooti together. Grace and Denis have been here for 1 week. I found it strange how everyone spent quite a while on their laptops during the evening rather than talking with our host. However, over the course of the next few days I realised that the atmosphere here is incredibly laid back and as most people spend several days here there is no hurry to get to know each other quickly.

Miranda is traveling in India for the next few weeks and is then going on to make a documentary in Nepal about empowering women. She has traveled there in the past. Please support her and this great cause:

http://www.indiegogo.com/Daughters-of-the-Curved-Moon
http://mirandatravelsblog.blogspot.com

Grace and Denis have been traveling for over 1 year now. Sounds like they are having a fab time traveling the world until their money runs out.

Johnie heats his water using solar power. I had my first hot shower in India! What a luxury.

Johnie cooked an amazing diner for us all. He had bought fillet steak from the butchers in Ooti today and we all had steak, salad and chips. We cooked our own fillets to our liking on the BBQ - rare :-) It was very strange to have western food in India. A real treat!