In a fury of packing and giddiness we left Calicut. Onward and upward, up to the mountains, spiralling and winding up towards Waynard Wildlife Sanctuary. Passing small busy Indian towns along the way. Piloted by a young Indian James Dean, our tourist taxi ripped and tore the roads for a couple thousand feet. He drove like a sixteen year-old in a Ferrari, trying to impress his older friends, high on speed. He actually pulled the classic horror move: Tiny two-lane road winding up a mountain, he decides to pass a truck that’s already passing a bus. Three vehicles thick are we’re all facing a blind corner. But don’t worry, every one was honking.

I’ve got to stop hoping for some pristine jungle paradise. There’s no escaping the air, you see, pollution rises. The morning mist is laced and any far-off view was corrupted.

The young Indian James Dean unexpectedly stopped at a view point for us to take a picture. Putting his foot up on the short rock wall he leaned on his knee looking out proudly like a farmer looks out over his fields. He was either blind or the heavy smog or its significance was lost on him.

This entire India experience has left me with a strong feeling of connection. I can relate so closely to many things about this place, they just need a little translation. Though this is not my country, I feel it is my planet. I know that the sound of trees in the wind, the ocean waves, a cool breeze and the dappling of shade and afternoon sunlight has the same effect on all people.

I can see that what happens here matters to us. There are no borders when it comes to pollution and ignorance. Ignoring this now will bite us in the butt later. There are 1 billion people here. 1 billion, and all the air and oceans are connected.

Escaping from the big city we situated ourselves in one of the many small bustling towns near Waynard Wildlife Sanctuary, which was almost as loud and busy in its main street. Just when we had accepted our fate of loud towns and sore lungs, our shallow breathing began to deepen as the smog cleared and we were treated to some very clear days and finally started to feel like the nature paradise that we were seeking. We took day trips into the park. Our only option on day 1 was a jeep tour, having somewhat recovered from the serious jostling we received the day before we headed out. With a good driver and ranger hanging out the back window. Our first wildlife encounter were 3 huge tusked elephants tied to trees, perhaps this wasn’t the type nature reserve we had expected. The driver sensing our sadness pushed on slowly into the park, after some amazing termite hills and clear signs of elephants, there they were… wild elephants, walking amongst the trees, well and free. Lisa cried.















The next day we haphazardly were able to arrange a 14km day trek. We bought some food for ourselves and our guide and headed into to forest and grasslands of Waynard. We walked briskly up hill for half a day, our guide armed with flip-flops could have left us in the dust, he eventually persuaded us that he should carry our day pack. We saw 3 different types of monkeys, blond, black and a rare red monkey.


We stopped for lunch on some large rocks. After eating some deathly spicy curry, he started making us climb through, over and under the large boulders. There was no explanation as to why since there was no common language between us. Eventually Lisa communicated that she would go no further for fear of heights and claustrophobia. I descended into a dark hole with this kind and quiet man, climbing over fissures and lifting ourselves over boulders in the dark. He helped me with a flashlight, presumably words of encouragement, mimicking rock climbing techniques and the occasional poke in the bum. He was so purposeful in our decent and I was beginning to wish I knew what that purpose was.
The result was even better because I didn’t know it what was coming. We started to hear the squeaks and shrieks of bats. Oh my God! We had precariously descended into a bat cave! There were thousands of them, and they were big. All a flurry with activity as I looked up they showered me with their guano (bat poo). Inside the cave, for fear of falling and exhaustion I actually had to give a firm ‘no’to the final rock he wanted me to climb over. Shaking with excitement and adrenaline I was happy to be where is was.
We rejoined Lisa and happily descended the second half of the day, in the heat of the sun we were over exposed and relieved for the intermittent oasis of trees and rivers.
Burnt, tired and satisfied we had found what we had sought, the natural history of India, intact and protected in a small pocket of earth.









Down from the park that evening, back to our hotel, we enjoyed our first pubic bus ride, with separate sections for women and men. Commroding with the women at the front is always a good time.

The next day we descended into Kannur, again by car, as the mountain roads were too periless for bikes. There the and spent some hours at the train station arranging a train to Karwar, past Mangalore. We decided to skip Mangalore which in recent days has seen some scary events aimed at non-traditional women. Further, certain groups promised to deal aggressively towards couples celebrating Valentines day, so we decided to take our love and liberty elsewhere. One particularly non-progressive news heading went something like: ‘drinking in pubs leads to rape, violence, alcoholism and mental-illness’ after the event where said group beat the men and assaulted the women in a Mangalore bar. Hum. A clear case of creating ones own reality.
‘For this train ride we opted for the A/C class train car, but this one was surprisingly more infested with multi-generations of cockroach. I was able to nap, Lisa choose to watch over me. We arrived at 9pm and cycled into town in the dark, in search of a hotel. After asking around and visiting every probable hole-in-the-wall we found one that had space and looked OK and we were promised there were no cockroaches.
Being mosquito free we slept without bug nets. You can surely guess what happened next. I awoke with a humdinger of a cockroach on my foot and pillow. It was 5am. So we packed up to leave. We took the beast in a glass to the front desk to aid in our argument for a discount at this overpriced haven of dirt. With no success we released the culprit on the desk hoping for some reaction, and cycled off into the night. Avoiding the silhouettes of cows on the road we made Goa, the tourist province, by 9am.
Cheap beach destinations can attract interesting characters of people. From arrogant jerks that think they are better than everyone to the earnest health seeker here to spend time practicing yoga, cleansing and going to ashrams. We enjoyed one amazing conversation with an ex-crew member from the Mont python series. He was full of astonishing anecdotes of John Cleese and co. This is were he is spending most of his retirement.
We spent 3 loud restless nights in a beach hut surrounded by European party seekers. This was no longer India. One 18 year-old in the body of a 47 year old man was our neighbour. By the time we left, Lisa was embarrassed to say he was from her home town Aberdeen, Scotland. It was however, good for a piss-up after months of dry travelling, even if it did involve discussing the joys of watching tele and scratching ones balls.

V-day on the beach, the perfect picnic:
(Valentine’s day in Palolem)

We cycled on to the next beach, Agonda. We knew it would be perfect because all of the partiers in Palolem said Agonda was boring. Here we stayed for a week in a beach hut to swim, take short bike rides into town and hang out in the hammock. This beach is undeveloped enough to support a few sea turtle nests. A night watchmen sleeps beside them in a hut to guard this endangered animal, while we slept one night about 140 eggs hatched out of one. The watchmen helped them to sea in baskets and away from the confusing lights of the restaurants and small resorts.

It was the perfect end to an amazing time in India.



So that’s it soon we head back to the deliriously amazing city of Mumbai. We’ve done a good amount of cycling and a lot of exploring. We’ve met some cyclists who were undaunted by the traffic and many people who thought we were insane to even try. It takes all kinds!

We will miss India, it was too short, we’ve only scratched the surface.

Next to Vietnam!


Some great extras:













































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