Windmills, Windmills & Windmills
22-02-2010
After the Karnataka theft incident we made a bee-line for the border into Tamil Nadu up into the mountainous Western Ghats, a range which stretches all the way from the north of Mumbai to the southernmost tip of India, sporting a broad spectrum of flora and fauna. The hills being the source of all the major rivers in South India, they support tribal groups, medicinal plants and the odd hill station, with street names such as Charing Cross and Commercial Road, established by the Brits back in the early 1800s. The climate up here is surprisingly cool and allows comfortable travel even at midday so we managed to cover distances spread throughout the day. 
Many pleasant hours were text/javascript"> spent riding through wildlife sanctuaries dodging different varieties of monkey (or mongeese as they call them here) and climbing up twisty mountain roads dodging thundering tourist buses whilst soaking up the views. The coast came nex t and some chilled out days on the cliffs in Varkala were a welcome respite.
Many pleasant hours were text/javascript"> spent riding through wildlife sanctuaries dodging different varieties of monkey (or mongeese as they call them here) and climbing up twisty mountain roads dodging thundering tourist buses whilst soaking up the views. The coast came nex t and some chilled out days on the cliffs in Varkala were a welcome respite. On leaving we were rewarded by the sight of a humungous working elephant ambling along carrying a giant bamboo pole like a dog with a bone, only to get completely lost in the hundreds of surrounding winding roads and then clogged up in the manic National Highway 47 coastal road. 
By the time we’d reached Cape Comorin both of us were drained, considering it was a mere 100 miles, it was pretty pathetic going really. The cape, otherwise known as Kanyakumari, is the most southestest you can go in India where the Bay of Bengal meets the Indian Ocean meets the Arabian Sea.
We watched the sun rise in the east over the water in the morning then watched it set in the west over the same bit of water, “ooooh!” I hear you cry.
We watched the sun rise in the east over the water in the morning then watched it set in the west over the same bit of water, “ooooh!” I hear you cry.There’s a whopping great ‘Statue of Liberty” on an offshore rock honouring a poet,
next to a memorial for an important religious crusader also on a rock out to sea,
along with the usual temple and bathing ghats, Ghandi memorial
and water theme park called Baywatch. 
We decided on a different route back up north to avoid the atrocious congestion of the NH47 in order to view a wind farm, situated on the eastern half of the cape, which the Lonely Planet had described as surreal, this is an understatement, the place could be labelled magical, it went on and on and on and...
...anyway, 
with tall, nobbley rocky outcrops as a backdrop and a bed of coconut palms, banana plants and rice paddies below, this sea of white, swooshing monoliths poking above the vegetation had us jaws-a-gaping for miles. Trying to get our bearings back, we stumbled across a very pretty lane that ran alongside a canal (could have been Milton Keynes!) that led to a rural village that led to a bus stop that led absolutely nowhere so we stopped for tea. We may have been the highlight of the locals’ year and spent a few moments shooting breeze while reckers hauled reversing 17 ton flat bed trucks to
with tall, nobbley rocky outcrops as a backdrop and a bed of coconut palms, banana plants and rice paddies below, this sea of white, swooshing monoliths poking above the vegetation had us jaws-a-gaping for miles. Trying to get our bearings back, we stumbled across a very pretty lane that ran alongside a canal (could have been Milton Keynes!) that led to a rural village that led to a bus stop that led absolutely nowhere so we stopped for tea. We may have been the highlight of the locals’ year and spent a few moments shooting breeze while reckers hauled reversing 17 ton flat bed trucks toI know not where. 
On the road again, after receiving a medley of directions, we attempted to find a lake with attached dam, this, you may think, sounds a cinch. One overheated bike and a packet of cashews later we gave up and decided to limp back to the coast in preparation for Auntie Mary’s arrival at Kerala Trivandrum Airport.
The route we took in Iran caused us to come across a great deal of building works and the remains of a distinct lack of it. The war between Iran and Iraq had certainly left it's mark along the Persian Gulf, but the people we met seem to be moving on and taking advantage of the economic success the country is experiencing at present (in some cities by charging us rates we would have expected in a reasonable hotel in central London.)
Bit of a disappointment really, UNESCO had got their hands on it 
These images are better than reality 
but we had a good picnic 
with a nice view
Landslip on the Black Sea Coastal Highway 
Feels like we're on a 2 week holiday still