Jan. 16 : Kolliyam, India

Monday, January 16 :: Kolliyam, India :: 149km today / 2598km total

Rolled out of Cochin full of energy. The morning was coolish, and I moved quickly along the very flat, fast road. For some reason the further South I get the more attention I'm drawing from the locals; I'm guessing its either because there are fewer tourists down here, or that my skin colour contrast with the locals is greater in the South than in the North (the Northern Indians are much fairer, so on the road, especially from a distance, I am less visibly foreign up North). Either way, its getting quite annoying, since sometimes the South Indians go to extreme measures to get me to stop and talk to them, like running onto the road, making me swerve to avoid hitting them. I'm very happy to have conversations with people on scooters, tuk-tuks, etc. who drive beside me for a few minutes, but the yelling out of "What Is Your Name?", "Where are you Going?" as I roll by idle men at speeds too fast to allow me to answer is starting to drive me crazy. There certainly is some sort of satisfaction garnered by the locals in having spoken a few sentences with me, even if the conversation was meaningless, which they are 95% of the time. I have come to realize that I may be more of a "tourist attraction" to the Indians than India is to me.

Rolling past the 120km mark I was thinking of a 200km+ day, but a minor twang in my knee put an end to that idea. I stopped in Kolliyam, which looked decent enough on the roll-through, but on closer inspection by foot was quite spartan in the necessities. I had the worst meal I've had in India, a ghee-laden chicken biryani with chicken that I wouldn't touch... I had to buy tangerines and a package of Arrowroots to get through the night.

It rained for 10 minutes today, my first bit of rain in India! This is the cool, dry, season, hence the best for cycling. "Cool" is all relative, however... even though January is the coolest month I'm still sweating from the heat. I cannot imagine being here during the hot season, or monsoon.