– ODO- 7896 – 8046km
– Location- Guest House 13km short of Munnar, India
– Weather- 22-31 Haze in the morning
After a days rest in Kochi I headed towards Munnar. Famous for the tee hills surrounding the area. After my first two weeks cycling in India along the flat and overpopulated coastal highway this morning has really saved me. My map took me off the highway and into the rolling fields, forest and canals of Kerala. The roads were quiet with only a few bikes and the occasional rickshaw. Nobody in a hurry. I could finally take my headphones off and let me shoulders come back down from my ears.
Now I sit in a cheap “hotel” eating lunch. “Hotel” in India just means “restaurant”. That took a while to get used to. Most hotels don’t have rooms. I’ve just eaten veg thali. The set menu of the day and I’m stuffed. I have to let it digest a little because next it’s all climbing.
I’m back on the highway now. It’s climbing from the 112m all the way to 1700m at the pass beyond Munnar. I’m hoping that this highway will be quieter than the coast. And if not then at least the trucks will be struggling up the hills rather than thundering past three abreast.
The forest here is lush and green. I’ve seen monkeys but so far no tigers. The first elephant I saw was on the back of a truck. Apparently, they run wild where I’m going. If I make Munnar by sunset I’ll reward myself with a hotel for the night. Avoiding camping around wild elephants. Then tomorrow afternoon I should reach the pass and I have a long beautiful decent to look forward to. How I’ve missed the hills.