Tuskers, Monks and an egg

We left Mark and Henry in Goa to head back to Gokarna and pick up the bikes, rubbish. Very strange to see our link with back home disappearing in the back of a taxi. Our odyssey together the last couple of weeks had been awesome, there's nothing quite like catching up with old mates, from a standing start it is always good times and easy going. Now it's just Marty and I, the bikes and a few thousand kilometers (oh, and a thousand million Indians)Having said good bye to our bullet comrades Denis and Sarah the week before who were heading off to Germany, Gokarna was feeling pretty empty. But no time to dwell on absent friends, we packed our bags ready to head further south towards Mangalore, after a couple off weeks off the bikes we were both keen to saddle up and get going again.

The best thing that has happened to me so far in India happened on the way to Mangalore. Riding through the beautiful backwaters of Karnataka and Kerala I got stuck behind a truck that was full to the hilt with eggs. There were a couple of chaps sat on the back of the truck looking pretty miserable, so I have them my biggest brightest smile, which when you have a big black helmet that covers half your mouth can make you look a bit retarded, anyway big smiles right back at me and the chap nearest the side of the truck waved me forward. Just as I was about to overtake the truck he leant right out and handed me, still with a smile bigger than the moon, an
egg. I laughed for about 30 kilometer, every time I caught Marty's attention in his wing mirror I kept waving the egg around. Happy me : )

Mangalore is the friendliest place I've ever been, apart from getting there in the middle of the day and slogging around in 35 degree heat for 3 hours to find a guesthouse (it seems all Magaloreans live in hotels) we met some of the friendliest, charming, helpful people, which goes a little way to explaining the egg episode. We met a chap called Ashoka who owned the best bookshop in the world (in my opinion) he had travelled all over India on a motorbike, unusual least of all because his wife had accompanied him - he was also incredibly environmentally aware having bought 15 acres of local rainforest in order to preserve it from loggers. Later that night at his invitation Marty and I went to his house for some food and a gander at their travel photos. A very nice man.

Next stop the treehouse. I can't really do justice to this other than to say it was 3000 feet + up in the Western Ghat mountains and the treeshouse itself was 100 meters above ground level. A birthday present from Marty's brother and and sister-in-law (hi Wid and Em!) was absolutely phenomenal. 360degree panorama of the surrounding westwern ghats among tea and coffee plantations. I will post photos because I can't begin to describe how high up we were and how amazing it was. As a result I think I have developed a mild form of vertigo.

Onwards to Wyanad wildife sanctuary. On the way there about 20 feet from the road was a wild elephant, locally known as a tusker or tusked male elephant, chowing down on some undergrowth. As you do when you see a wild elephant for the first time we stopped to gawp at it and take photos for a few minutes. On arrival at our guesthouse feeling pretty pleased with ourselves we told everyone what we'd seen. Apparently this is unbelievably dangerous - lone male elephants like this are incredibly aggresive, on top of this they hate the sound of motorbikes (which we had left running while taking photos) we were lucky to still be standing - a German dude on an Enfield had been attacked the year before and had not been so lucky. So, we live and learn! A 6 hour trek through the rainforest the next day and although wildlife was a bit thin on the ground we did see a leopard and a tiger, notoriously elusive animals. Oh, and a dead cow that had been hunted - maybe the aforementioned tiger?!

Last night, we stayed in a Buddhist monastery in a Tibetan settlement out in the countryside. A surreal but wonderful experience. I looked out the window at about 5 o'clock and the grass parkland outside the rooms was full with maroon robed trainee monks running amok in the grounds spinning tyres with a stick and being generally pretty cheeky I could have been in any decade between 2000BC and 2008 AD.

In the next week or so we are planning to catch a train to Bangalore with the bikes and then onward to the great Himalayas.

ps not sure if anyone is reading this, but if you are please leave a comment so we know you're out there! Big love holly and marty xxx.