Monday 27 January

Marari Beach – Mysuru

We packed our bags after dinner last night and went to bed early ready for our early start today. Matthew decided to get up and go running on the beach at 2:30! Crazy – he’s taking his run every day (RED) January very seriously – he said that there were some people still on the beach, a couple who’d made a fire and some people fishing … they would have been quite bemused to see a White European running about on the shore. 

The reception staff came to collect our bags in a little electric buggy at 3:30am I had some coffee in our room and Vaishakh was waiting for us at 3:45.

While Matthew was settling the (quite sizeable) bill, I chatted with a couple of British women who were sat outside surrounded with their luggage and waiting for a taxi to take them to the airport in Kochi. They said that they were getting a flight to Muscat … I thought Wow! And I asked them if they were on a round the world trip … turns out that they weren’t, they were catching a flight from Muscat back to Heathrow! They were from Lancaster and I told them that we’d been there to cycle coast-to-coast from Morecambe to Bridlington (in the years before dogs!).

We set off in the dark and as expected, the roads were very quiet. As the sun rose on our right it illuminated the beautiful Western Ghat mountain range between Kochi and Madukkari on our left.

The vegan breakfast boxes from Marari Beach were beyond underwhelming – two apples, a small banana and a small carton of mango juice.

We were making good progress and stopped for breakfast at Sri Annapoorna (Veg) at Odandurai, Nagapattinam – yum! potatoes and onion dosa, an onion pancake, a savoury donut (Vaishakh will know what these were really called, so I may be able to update this later).

A short time later while we were stopped at a toll point there a tap on the front passenger side window of Vaishakh’s car – it was a traffic policeman. Uh oh. Vaishakh lowered the window and he asked if we were going to Ooty – we are. He wanted a lift there! Phew! Vaishakh seemed uncertain and asked us what we thought I was all for it, I used to hitch-hike a lot in my late teens and early twenties. Hardly anyone hitch-hikes these days but it’s always nice to be able to help someone who has to get somewhere. Plus, there had to be some advantage to having a traffic policeman in the vehicle – you never know! He was 59, smart in his uniform with two stars and some bars on his epaulettes. In India people normally retire at 60 and he was planning to farm some land when he retired.

As the road climbs up to Coonoor there are dozens of hairpin bends and some wonderful views.

Vaishakh dropped us off at Coonoor railway station and offered to wait with us until the train arrived – that would have meant that the traffic policeman would have needed to find another lift. We had booked tickets, so we were confident that we would be able to get to Ooty, so we suggested that Vaishakh carry on and meet us in Ooty.

There was over an hour to wait for the train … that gave us plenty of time to explore the station – and the adjacent marshalling yard. Just like in Ooty, the station was being renovated. There were some chalk decorations on the floor left from Republic Day.

The marshalling yard was brilliant – lots of trains, including steam trains being cleaned and serviced.

There was a neat little railway police office at the end of our platform that had a lovely small garden and a big green wall just outside the station.

Our train arrived and station staff opened every door before we could get on. Each set of seats facing each other have their own door and there was no corridor inside the carriage – this maximises seating space. We met a couple of Brits from Milton Keynes and a lovely Indian couple with their daughter. We all chatted a lot throughout our journey about work and travel and marriage and India.

Vaishakh was waiting for us on the platform in Ooty – he filmed the train coming in. 

The last part of our loooong journey today to Mysuru went back through the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve. We saw more elephants, some of them in captivity – chained and working, which I found upsetting. They’re magnificent, sensitive and sociable creatures that should never be in captivity, treated cruelly or taken away from their own. 

We also saw some baboons and some giant Indian squirrels for the first time; more monkeys, peacocks and deer. 

We’re in a homestay in Mysuru – like a bed a breakfast. Stephen is the owner and he’s a lovely, sociable person – originally from Sheffield, but here in India for 15 years now. Our friends Ann and Dave in Bristol recommended that we stay here. Stephen likes to cycle, which is a plus. I was looking forward to meeting Lucie, Stephen’s dog. When we arrived, Stephen told us that Lucie had died yesterday. That was dreadful news – I don’t know how he was holding things together – I guess he was working and trying to get on. Lucie was old and had been struggling a bit recently, so her death wasn’t unexpected. 

We went out for something to eat – our first auto rickshaw ride! And then back to bed and a good nights sleep.