Cherai Beach to Kalpatta

Buying lunch

We gathered our things and said goodbye to our lovely little beach resort. Big Red took us north along Vypeen Island on a tour of some of India's beautiful homes. They were stunning and classy and mansions by any standard. We then crossed a bridge, under which colourful boats floated in the backwaters and before we knew it we were back on the chaotic mainland. After a couple of kilometres it was breakfast time: some delicious roadside miscellaneous snacks and chai which gave me a weird phlegmy throat.

We stopped in Ponnnani to stock up on fruit at one of the many roadside stalls and then continued our arduous journey inland. We had somehow taken a road that, while perhaps being the most direct, was not of the greatest quality. As we travelled we passed more and more mosques until there seemed to be one around every corner. Bathed in various shades of green they stood triumphant over the dirty streets around them.

Lunch break

Lunch time views

Looking for somewhere to devour our pineapple Chris took inspiration from the water beneath the bridge we were on and took a turn off the main road. After following a tiny side street that twisted and turned between people's homes we found ourselves almost under the highway bridge from which we had come with a seat, a river to wash our hands in, boats to take photos of and stunning views of the coconut lined waterways. We chopped and ate our pineapple (thanks trusty market knife) attracting a waving father and daughter as we did.

After a huge day of riding that seemed to just keep going and going and going, we were exhausted. We made it to Kalpatta around 3pm and then thought...now what. Lonely Planet provided little inspiration for accomodation ideas, our new SIM cards (and the pocket Internet they would provide) were not yet activated and there were no people coming up to us in the street asking if we needed a room, despite how hot, bothered and dirty both Big Red and we were. As we drove the streets of Kalpatta we saw, for the first but probably not the last time, a production line of people carrying big bowls of wet concrete on their heads, up stairs to the roof of a two storey building on a construction site. Wow. And, for probably not the last time, we questioned whether this was the most efficient way of doing things.

Driving around the streets of Kalpatta, eventually getting our Internet working but having no success finding accomodation, we were beginning to think we'd have to settle for a dorm in the city centre with the locals. We drove up a hill, and I jumped off to check things out. Chris was drawn up a hill because it "looked interesting" and I was drawn up the same hill because I saw a sign to, finally, a guesthouse. And boy were we glad we both went up there. We had stumbled upon Rainbow Cottage which had a 5 star rating on TripAdviser.com and they advertised that fact proudly. We talked our new mate Livingston, yes Livingston, down from 2500 INR to 1500 INR and, considering we were the only ones there and Livingston said he's turn the wifi on for us, we figured we'd have a nice quiet night.

After having a wonderfully hot shower and finally starting to feel somewhat normal again we went into town in search of a sensor cleaner for the annoying spot that was marring Chris' photos. No luck. But we did find me a big set of green and gold bangles that jingle and leave a trail of glitter wherever I go. And we did get to hear some guys giving speeches to a bored looking crowd on the main street. The speeches were being blared through stupidly loud speakers so that everybody could hear. Everybody in the whole district! It seems that you don't get a choice in India whether you hear people's speeches or crappy music. They play it loud enough for the entire town to hear.

We walked up and down the main streets three or four times looking for a dinner place we had seen earlier in the day. It had gone. India, especially the cities, change constantly and look completely different from one time of the day to the next as shops open and others close.

We thought we found a place to eat but, after sticking it to them and refusing to sit in their air conditioned room (because we now know they charge us more if we let them guide us in there) we were informed there was no vegetarian food available. And, because it was most definitely not the kind of establishment at which we would trust the meat, we moved on and found a delicious place which introduced us to a new favourite...paneer (kind of like haloumi cheese) butter masala. We left stuffed and with four litres of water and still only paid just over 200 rupees.

We stocked up on snacks on the way home, ready to go and take advantage of our wifi. Nope. No wifi. No surprise. Sleep?

Sleep was made difficult by the fact that our guesthouse seems to be smack bang in the middle of four or five mosques so, when they all play the call to prayer slightly out of synch with each other, it's not so peaceful at Rainbow Cottage. And when the speeches you heard earlier in the evening continue, along with some music, which echoes right up the hill, sleep is made near impossible.