Malpi to kannur
Long day on the road again today which ended up in malpi. The Kerala population have easily been the worst drivers in India. Pure chaos. Sides of the road are optional. Good trip on however with a solid cricket game with some random children. Jimmy decided he would get his confidence up for the season, as he hit the 12 year olds around the park ... what a hero! However, the funniest moment was Alun was drying his undies on the roof and had them sail off the roof into the path of some poor locals. Alun is on fire!!!
In other news chris managed to get crabs on the GoPro. Take that how you will.
Peace and love
Malpi
What a tough day. Longest day on tour... at the beach. After about 50 mile we pulled into malpi and stayed at a beach resort. Highlights of the day were coconut island and watching Alun get his Essex on. He was so determined to work on his tan, as an Aussie I was concerned. Johnathon and Katie have obviously influence Alun on the Essex way of life, as Alun spent 5 minutes trying to decide which way to set up his towel for the
North goa to Bhatkal
After a lovely day off we decided to drive miles and miles and miles. Finally we arrived at Bhatkal. Don booked a Beautiful hotel by the beach... or 4 miles. Don said it had a historical lighthouse. Smallest, most modern lighthouses i have seen. Overall not a great day for tourist leader don. Day over.
Goan rest day
When your staying in a £750 per night villa for free, you try and for as long as possible. Sonee outstayed our welcome and spend the dad by the pool. However, liam having ADHD or just worms decided to head on 'old goa'. World heritage site, must be amazing right?? Beautiful yes, amazing no. Two churches and a few trees. If I wasn't on TripAdvisor I would give it 1 star. Very overrated. So liam has now lost his tourist guide status and is now just I passenger.
Kolhapur to goa
Finally we went off a motorway. THe western ghatis were the challenger and chigford cc and lauren page made them look like the Highgate Hill. After conquering the western ghatis we went to the idyllic Goa. Driving in we were impressed palm trees, beaches and large villas. Perfect. Don has finally offered more then then just noise and used his goan connection to get us into £750 per night villa. Perfect! I love goa.
Pune to Kolhapur
Tried and hungover we smashed out a long day of driving. Nothing special to write about except Don said I (Liam) couldn't fit through a small gap. After attacking the gap with speed I came to an abrupt jolt wedged between a concert block and another's concret block. Tough day overall. Peace and love
Pune, IPL and the police
A day to remember! After a solid night out in Mumbai, chris and I struggled to the rickshaw. After a lethargic start, suddenly we were braking the law. Alun and chris decided on a turn that proved fatal... but didn't save us about an hour in driving. After about 20km on the motorway we were escorted off the motorways with the police.
After some stick waving and a few angry faces we paid the fine (200 rupees). To celebrate we went to the world famous lonavala wax museum... apparently Putin wasn't a midget. Off we went driving into Pune Andy welcomed with the coldest beer we have had on tour.
Then came the IPL, crazy crowds and a great game, with the Australian players dominating, standard really. However the night had a crazy turn. Alun had to leave his camera with security but not suprisingly it was gone. In persuit of a police reference we ending up seeing the otherside of the police has they somehow managed to find the camera and get the culprit and we witnessed police punishment first hand. This was a bazaar end of a very strange day
Mehsana to Navsari
With the target of Mumbai by tomorrow and Pune for the IPL on Thursday, we were up, out and on the road again by 6:30. Usual breakfast of crisps and coke and by lunch we'd done over 100 miles.
Found another good restaurant where we had a curry in an air conditioned room.
Back on the road all the way to Navsari by 6:00pm - a 225 mile day with under 160 miles remaining tomorrow to get to Mumbai.
Sounds like an ordinary day on the road... But no day on the road in India can be described as ordinary, especially if you are five Westerners travelling in two brightly coloured Tuk Tuks. We passed cars, motorbikes and Tuk Tuks who drew back up alongside us to wave, shout, laugh and take photos. In addition the slow lane of a three lane highway seems to be used as much for vehicles coming in the opposite direction. If we drove like that in London, it would be mayhem; but their chaotic system seems to work and it certainly makes for an interesting day out.
Day 2
Made some hay today and manages to crack on and get somewhere!! Holed up in hotel tonight where there was cricket tournament going on. We went round and being part of a cricket club joined in and had some great fun!! Ate well and all in all a spiffing day!! Liam a pest but what's new!!!
Training day
What can I say
It was a difficult day
Alun fimmaly stepped up. His glory days riding a 2 stroke motorbike have finally become beneficial. As a result he has become our tuk tuk engineer. Serious promotion. The highlight being his recognition that the chingford cc rickshaw needed a new carbarator. Sadly we also fell into the renouned Indian tourist trap. "I can get you everything you need" said Lucky (our tuk tuk assistant). Two hours later Lucky admitted we could get everything at the palace and didn't need to see all his cousins. Highlight of the day for chingford cc was The rickshawrun v India cricket game. It was a glorious victory to the rickshaw run XI. Sadly the scorer ruined the game by his lack of ability to count
