Finally we were ready to depart early doors, lead to the boat by Prem (chief of the homestay). Looking at getting some miles under our belt we prepared for the long haul, heading roughly north with the help of a compass we had acquired. (This has proved very useful with the lack of any road signs!) 
The first few hours were basic familiarisation, especially for Shippers who had never even been on a scooter! Anyhow we were off, making good progress all the way up to Kannur (somewhere on the west coast - 320km north of where we left off) So not so bad in a skip on wheels, 14 hours later. Seeing it in shop windows is hilarious and does remind you how actually crap this thing is. 395cc, with 8 fine horses under the boot!
En route we managed two boat rides, a bit of night driving (which is not recommended due to the drunk lorry drivers, bad enough in the day let alone night with no lights and crap road discipline, but we made it after a lot of perspiration and nervy moments in the cab of love. First nights accom was pretty shit but did the job and in the morning after finding that the chef hadn't turned up by 0830 to cook breakfast we made off like a donkeys dick and hit the road!
Day two was eventful to say the least, Chico didn't see a speed bump which would cripple the Crow if hit hard (imagine a pissed Indian trying to build Everest with crap tar old bits of road and anything else he can find, and put it randomly in the road, unmarked of course) and so we all shouted, at this point, poor lad, was a tad maxed out, went for the brake, forgot the clutch, belted the speed bump and rolled very quitely into the town in a stalled rickshaw, all of us in fits of laughter with the town in silence and disbelief at what they were seeing. The India flag was also still paying off, bringing with it muchos encouragement and waves along the way, all very friendly! The only other thing to note on the road was an attempt by Shippers to embrace the Indian driving methods and try and overtake uphill on a blind corner doing 29km/h with the truck in front doing a mere 27km/h! Apart from that all was going well! The day ended at Maventhe in our second state Karnataka, along an idillic stretch of beach that only locals go to, stopped off and went for a swim much to their amusement as most of them can't swim and generally count putting their feet in the water as an aquatic adventure! We then stumbled upon a government approved hotel, which was bascially paradise with its own private beach for about 7 quid each, after several beers and a curry we hit the beach with a bottle of brandy (marked for Indian Defence Personnel Only) that Prem had got for us somehow and lay under the stars talking shit, it was brilliant!
The first few hours were basic familiarisation, especially for Shippers who had never even been on a scooter! Anyhow we were off, making good progress all the way up to Kannur (somewhere on the west coast - 320km north of where we left off) So not so bad in a skip on wheels, 14 hours later. Seeing it in shop windows is hilarious and does remind you how actually crap this thing is. 395cc, with 8 fine horses under the boot!
En route we managed two boat rides, a bit of night driving (which is not recommended due to the drunk lorry drivers, bad enough in the day let alone night with no lights and crap road discipline, but we made it after a lot of perspiration and nervy moments in the cab of love. First nights accom was pretty shit but did the job and in the morning after finding that the chef hadn't turned up by 0830 to cook breakfast we made off like a donkeys dick and hit the road!
Day two was eventful to say the least, Chico didn't see a speed bump which would cripple the Crow if hit hard (imagine a pissed Indian trying to build Everest with crap tar old bits of road and anything else he can find, and put it randomly in the road, unmarked of course) and so we all shouted, at this point, poor lad, was a tad maxed out, went for the brake, forgot the clutch, belted the speed bump and rolled very quitely into the town in a stalled rickshaw, all of us in fits of laughter with the town in silence and disbelief at what they were seeing. The India flag was also still paying off, bringing with it muchos encouragement and waves along the way, all very friendly! The only other thing to note on the road was an attempt by Shippers to embrace the Indian driving methods and try and overtake uphill on a blind corner doing 29km/h with the truck in front doing a mere 27km/h! Apart from that all was going well! The day ended at Maventhe in our second state Karnataka, along an idillic stretch of beach that only locals go to, stopped off and went for a swim much to their amusement as most of them can't swim and generally count putting their feet in the water as an aquatic adventure! We then stumbled upon a government approved hotel, which was bascially paradise with its own private beach for about 7 quid each, after several beers and a curry we hit the beach with a bottle of brandy (marked for Indian Defence Personnel Only) that Prem had got for us somehow and lay under the stars talking shit, it was brilliant!
Next day up again early but Chico had lost his wallet (or so he thought), the place was torn apart, steps re-traced, 2 and half hours later he realised that he had put it somewhere 'safe', 2 minutes after all the cards had been cancelled, we now look after it for him, not that it is much use now! We set off again soon after that towards our third state, Goa, looking for a bit more luxury, just one night in a five star! This was reasonably un-eventful, of course the roaming cows and cheering bystanders were still present and generally crap driving, but the roads were good and we were just eating up the kilometres, oh we also bought a branch of bananas for the Crow which we mounted to the roof inside the cab which is basically a mobile boudoir!
We entered Goa, the first night we stayed at Palolem beach, quiet tranquille place for some sheesh and a chillax, the second, 30km up the coast in a booming 5 star. We did stop off on the way for 24 bottles of water, and 3 big bottles of brandy at a costly sum of about 8 beans (pound sterling). Initially after ringing the manager explaining they had a banged up rickshaw with 3 lads in it looking to stay at their hotel the response was, we're sorry we are full, after getting dressed, and vaguley presentable we were allowed to walk in only and have a word. 10mins later we were given a presidential suite and allowed to use the facilities for the whole next day, with a slightly stunned manager who didn't believe that what we had done was even possible. Another night on the beach with a bottle of brandy had to be done!
After a chilled day in the sun which was ridiculous, about 40 degrees we whizzed a bit further up to package-holiday-centrale to see what the crack is via the tourist office in the capital to see if we can change our visas, but it seems this can only be done in Kathmandu, a small risk may have to be taken... wrtiting this just before another night on the sauce..
Chow
Matt, this is amazing!
ReplyDeleteYou reminded me of the time Seacow maxed out on the wrong side of the road in Croatia, haha.
u lot are mental!...it also made me laugh brother that u comment on other people's lack of ability to swim!haha!
ReplyDeleteAlright, alright I understand I'm not quite Eric the eel, although we did have a 'Who can do the best butterfly' contest, and guess what, my warm water training paid off!
ReplyDelete