We had to leave , in order to make our way back to Goa in a leisurely manner. We left at 8am and it was a bit cold, the sun had not yet broken thru- the first time ever since we stayed there. About half way down it started to warm up, the ride was great- you could have freewheeled down the 80 km but using the engine spiced things up a little. When we reached the level ground at the bottom, a digger was taking up the whole road surface, there was no road at all- just sheets of upturned tarmac. Hels had to get off and I had to stand on the footpegs to get over the disaster that was in front of us. Luckily this didnt last for too long, only about 400yds, then we had to ride on recently rollered rocks for about 1km which was terrifying as the bike felt like the front wheel wasnt attatched.
We were heading for Coimbatore, as it looked like a big enough town to have a decent hotel, when we arrived we decided against staying as it was a noisy dump. We carried on, got lost, got found and ended up in Satyamangalam for the night. A nice name for a town but unfortunately it was a dump also-still it was only for one night.
Next morning, up and away at 8 - the ride up over the mountains is really exciting-- 27 hairpin bends on the climb up onto the Deccan plain! It started off warm but it got colder the more we climbed, we ended up right in the clouds-- losing the view, not that I had time to look much as I was having to dodge spilt diesel, potholes and monkeys. A coach had broken down just out of a hairpin , blocking the road to all but motorbikes - a great ride up!
When we hit level ground again, it was onward to Mysore, riding thru forest and jungle for 40km untill we reached civilisation-which meant people, vehicles, towns and sleeping policemen the size of small hills which catapult you skywards if you dont see them [ not signposted of course! ]There were great signs in the jungle, beware of crossing elephant--unfortunately we didnt see any.
So here we are again in Mysore, just having it large in the luxury that we would like to become accustomed to. Next stop Hassan - - again more luxury Im afraid--- you just dont believe how much we suffer out here!!
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hi guys, its peppi! sounds and looks like you're all having a fab time! we're having a great time too. slightly disapointed that last week when the whole country shut down with 7inches of snow, we here in norfolk got NONE. not even a little bit. boo! james and i are moving in with sam and tal next week which should be good. the green man has got new owners tho which means its now over run with all the chavvy twats who used to go to the club coz they couldnt get served in the green. its a bit weird... we're working hard and looking forward 2 warmer times. i took my theory test a couple of weeks ago and passed, got 1 question wrong. and i've been having lots of driving lessons. i'm insured on james' car as well so now i'm des and he's drunk. fun fun fun. when are you back? after my birthday right? i'm having a party at sams house, a masked ball. should be good. anyway, love ya lots, peppi. xxx
Well glad you are having such a hard time!!!!!
All my news have mailed you already!
Looks like we'll be over at easter
Does Joe have his own blog can you send me his address
Love Vicky
Guys - you might find this interesting:
Sand Shivalinga draws crowds
CUTTACK : A 12-foot-high Shivalinga depicting the `Dwadash Jyotirlingam' of famous shrines in the country was the centre of attraction in the city on the day of `Maha Sivaratri', which is being observed across the State with religious fervour and gaiety.
People in large numbers are thronging to the Gadagadia Temple, the famous shrine of Lord Shiva of the city on the bank of River Mahanadi here since Friday morning to see a massive Shivalinga built of sand by Pramod Patnaik, elder brother of famous sand artiste Sudarshan Patanaik.
Pramod, a fine art professional and a student of Brahmakumari Iswariya Viswavidyalaya, made his maiden attempt of sand art for public display here on the appropriate theme befitting to the occasion. "He has picked up an idea that was appropriate to the place and time for which he has straightway became popular as yet another sand artiste of the State," observed some devotees .
"Sudarshan and I together practiced sand art at a very young age at Puri. While I preferred the fine art, Sudarshan went on to hog the limelight worldwide for sand art. Now that Sudarshan has switched over to ice art, I plan to concentrate more on sand art now," says Pramod.
Although, Pramod has won several awards in fine arts, he has however, inked his name in the Limca Book of Records for making the biggest art in sand. In 1998, Pramod had used over 4,000 tonnes of sand to make a massive structure depicting symbols of different religions on the theme `Universal Brotherhood' in Mangalore.
The Dwadash Jyotirlingam made of sand is a combination of 12 famous Shiva shrines of the country such as Somnath of Sourashtra, Mallikarjuna of Andhra Pradesh, Mahakaleswar of Ujjain, Mamleswar of Madhya Pradesh, Baidyanath, Bhimaswar, Traymbakeswar and Grushneswar of Maharashtra, Rameswar of Tamil Nadu, Nageswar of Gujrat, Visweswar of Varanasi and Kedareswar of Himalaya.
He took less than 48 hours to complete the Shivalinga using 1,000 tonnes of sand brought from the nearby Mahanadi riverbed. The devotees had a field day as they had an opportunity to see 12 famous `Shiva Jyotilingas' at one place and offered prayers and puja at the spot.
this is also good:
Gupteswar `Bat caves' a crowd-puller
KORAPUT: It was more than a Siva Ratri festival at the `bat caves' on Friday. Locally known as "Badudi Pahad" near Gupteswar, it has attracted many devotees visiting Gupteswar. People from Orissa and Chattisgarh walked more than 12 km in the forest from Ramagiri to reach the place. They had to cross many springs and small rivers to reach the place which is filled with shining stones and dark caves. The journey was eternal as the trekking went with a perfect silence in the absence of any habitation on the way.
The team could see only one village at a distance during the entire journey. The caves in the mountain were filled with small bats sticking to the walls of the dark caves. However, the highlight of the entire expedition was the sight of some shining soft stones hanging from the roof of some caves. Even though no one could know the nature of the stones, they looked precious. There might be many more lingas than that in Gupteswar hidden in the unexplored dark caves, people said. The place should immediately be taken over by the Government to prevent any loss to these precious stones and the scenic flora and fauna of the serene region as more expeditions are expected in the near future in to these forests, Priyabrata Patra, a trekker from Koraput, said.
THANKS for your comments James, we had a great time in Chattisgargh and Orrissa last year-- dont know about getting the Govt involved in protecting the caves, - they usually stuff things up!
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