just joining back in under my new persona. [don't ask].

cornish, Just let us know if you need your Asian pals to do some lobbying.

Yes, Ann, let us know if we can help. I expect this is one of those odd things that gets flagged by the computer.

Ann, don't worry, we here in the U.S. are familiar with 'don't ask, don't tell"! Glad to have you among us again.

Julie, don't leave us in suspense too long! I'm dying to hear about the rest of the bike trip!

There must be some sort of penalty for making us wait in suspense so long!

Yes, Ann, let us know if we can help. I expect this is one of those odd things that gets flagged by the computer.>>

@kathie - I think you're right. I was being "too" public spirited trying to place a link on each forum to a "master thread" for the Rugby World Cup and I think that the algorithms got me.

@crosscheck - thank you. I'm hoping that when they get into work tomorrow the mods will see sense and relent.

@ann - there have been some spam attacks recently with links to rugby or football TV, so that's almost certainly what got you.

thanks, thursdaysd - I didn't know that.

I'm back. My computer time has been devoted to trying to plan an upcoming trip. But, I figure I had better finish this report before I set off again to new horizons.

And, I want to tell everyone about a really good weather website I found while working on planning our next trip. weatherspark.com It not only gives the highs and lows for the area but also tells how much time and when in a month the temperatures (taking into account the humidity and dew point) will be cool, comfortable, oppressive etc. And, it tells whether the precipitation is usually light, thunderstorms, heavy etc.

Bike trip Day 1 Feb. 20

By the time we finally started cycling it was probably around 10:00 or so. Definitely too late of a start for the conditions. We were cycling through some smaller towns and did fine though we definitely got some strange looks from the residents as two white people cycled through on their own. Cycling here was what we had anticipated, mostly flat with a few rolling hills. The scenery outside of the towns was interesting, but we are very happy just observing every day life and local conditions. And, I love to look at houses anywhere I am in the world.

It was early afternoon, and the peak heat of the day, by the time we rode into Soma Birds Lagoon in Thattekad, near the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary. This is a small resort with lovely grounds next to the Periyar River. It attracts lots of bird watchers (that is what most of our fellow guests were).We were impressed and thought it looked like a very nice place to spend two nights.

As a welcome we were given very large hollowed-out coconuts with a straw inserted so we could have some refreshing and rehydrating coconut water. We did the typical India check-in routine in the open air lobby, and then it was time to be led to our room. I walked outside with the desk person and our bike guide but all of a sudden discovered that my husband wasn’t with us. He’d stayed sitting down in the lobby. In a weak voice he said, “I fell really woozy.” He has to be extremely careful about the sun, and was probably overdressed (he had on a long sleeve Coolibar tee shirt and knee length trousers) and under hydrated for the conditions.

Right away I knew he had heat exhaustion. We got his sweat-saturated shirt off and applied cool cloths and then ice in a towel until he was feeling better. The desk clerk then told us that even some of the local people (who I would assume were accustomed to the heat) had been suffering from the hot and humid conditions and were having similar reactions. At that point we went to our air conditioned room and just rested in the cool for a couple hours.

While in our room we had a discussion about whether, because of the heat and humidity, we should just can the idea of a cycling trip. My husband insisted he could handle the heat and promised to drink more water both prior to bike riding and while riding than he had that day. And, we took a look at the clothes he had and found some other lighter-weight things he could wear and still be protected from the sun.

Also, right away, as soon as he saw the effects of the heat on my husband, the guide had told us that to avoid the worst of the heat we’d have to get a really early start every day—around 7:00—not exactly my idea of a relaxing bike vacation. As the heat continued during our trip, the guide also was realizing that this was heat that could sap your strength and told us that he was planning to notify everyone on his next trip (a group of Germans who were undertaking a very long, three week trip starting in Goa two days after our trip ended) that they would need to leave every day at 7:00.

By late in the afternoon, my husband felt well enough that we ventured outside into the heat to walk around the grounds a bit. They are nice. No swimming pool though, and that would have been really appreciated during our stay. There is an area where there are some caged farm animals for guests to enjoy, and we stopped to see those. We also ventured a ways off the property to walk around the local houses. After dinner at the on-site restaurant, we went to bed knowing that we would have an early morning.

Bike trip Day 2 Feb. 21

Today was the ONE day of the entire trip when the guide would actually ride with us. Our destination was the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary where we would visit the park. It is a lovely area for cycling, and we enjoyed the scenery. As we were cycling down the road through a rubber plantation, the guide had us stop so we could get a demonstration from the man who was tapping the rubber trees. This was interesting to hear about and was the type of opportunity we’d assumed we would have had through our cycling trip. After all, there is a difference between a self-guided trip (where you are given the instructions on where to ride) and a guided where the guide helps to interpret things for you. If we look at the trip on the spectrum from self-guided to guided, I’d place this trip about 3/4 down the way towards self-guided.

When we arrived at the very edge of the Bird Sanctuary, the guide’s bike had a flat tire. And, unbelievably, he didn’t have a repair kit with him. It was in his car. Incredible! A bike guide who doesn’t come equipped and prepared. So, we walked our bikes the block to a local B&B where he is friends with the owners. Here he intended to see if they had anything he could use to fix his tire. We had some tea and chatted with a few people (owners and guests). Come to find out, we weren’t going to be able to go into the sanctuary to walk around anyway. That morning a wild elephant had been spotted, and some of the guests were excitedly telling about their fairly close encounter with the elephant. Apparently it had been five years since a wild elephant had been spotted in the sanctuary, so this was an unusual occurrence.

So, the morning had been a bust. The return to our resort was the same way we’d ridden there, so we agreed with the guide we’d start out on our own (we didn’t think we could get lost) and meet him there after he had fixed his tire. As we were riding back, I spotted a minor road that had a sign for Camp Hornbill, and we decided to ride down there to explore a bit since I knew many tours to the area use that as lodging and I was curious. We rode on to the grounds, and from what we saw, we much preferred the place we were staying. So, score one point for our guide and his selection of lodging. We continued on what was now a dirt path riding through some fields and plantings until we ran out of a path and reluctantly turned back because we had been enjoying this peaceful and remote area. The guide was very nervous when we got back because he couldn’t figure out what had had happened to us or if we’d gotten lost. I figure I was paying him for the day, and if I wanted to do some exploring on my own, I could rather than feeling obligated to make a bee line back to the resort to meet the guide.

It was now around lunch time and was hot, hot, hot. After lunch in the open air restaurant which overlooks a lagoon, we retreated to the air conditioning in our room. We’d thought that this would be the usual India heat and by 5:00 or so we would be comfortable outside. Not so. It was oppressively hot and muggy until about 9:00. The air was thick. Too hot to even walk around the area. We just sat and read and had a beer and quick snack for dinner since we didn’t feel the need for another big meal. The next day the real cycling would begin.

The background music is becoming increasingly ominous! This is a case of the guide who couldn't lead straight. So sorry to read about your frustrations with the guide and the challenges of the heat - an unfortunate adventure, despite all your planning.

Looking forward to the rest.

Julie - Where are you planning to go next? Thanks for taking the time to write up this report. We are getting more excited about our trip to India, the more we read and plan.

As clear as you were about what you wanted, the guide still didn't get it. So sorry you ran into this. And the heat really made it an ordeal.

I do appreciate you writing about your experience.

This is making me want to go to Antarctica.

Kathie and progol--One of the reasons I decided to elaborate on the details of this cycling trip was as a caution to other people who may be considering the idea of cycling in Kerala, with or without this agency.

Yes, crosscheck, you can now understand why I prefaced this trip report by telling people to take this trip in a different time of year than we did or to be prepared for the heat and humidity. And, you now get why at the end of this trip we vowed never to take another trip to the tropics in anything but the coolest season there.

dgunbug--We are doing last minute planning for a trip to Sicily (our first time there).

Have you all seen the BBC series The Story of India? We should have watched it prior to our first trip to India but are finally watching it now. We just saw episode 3 which has many scenes from Kerala where we visited. Highly recommended if you haven't seen it.

Bike trip Day 3 and 4

Today the real cycling challenge began. We left good and early, hoping to miss the worst heat of the day. Our destination was a two night stay at Dewalokam Farm in Thodupuzha, but first we had to get there. Once again the area we were cycling through was very picturesque, through a lovely area with rubber plantations and small farms. Normally when cycling in a nice area we would stop to take lots of photos. On this trip we didn’t because we felt we mainly just had to cycle, cycle, cycle in order to keep going and to beat the heat. On the horizon there were hills. Little did we know that we would have to cycle up and over them (a set every day)—a long slog even if there hadn’t been any heat.

Occasionally we stopped to rest, and we stopped in a small town once with the guide for some fresh orange juice. Water and fruits during our cycling to keep up our strength was a part of the deal. The strange thing though that we could not figure out was that even though the guide was to supply water, and we definitely needed a lot of water while cycling in this type of condition, he didn’t stock up ahead of time. And, twice we ran out of water. His intention always was to purchase a couple more bottles in the next village. To us this seemed like another example of lack of foresight and planning. After all, he knew we’d need water. Why not just purchase several bottles at a time? And, this was in real contrast with our guided (and cheaper) cycling trip in Vietnam where there was a constant supply of ice cold water right from the cooler.

We started to climb and climb, getting more annoyed and hot and tired by the minute. Here was another problem. We thought there would be a sag wagon if we wanted to hop in for a while and forego cycling up the worst of the hills. A sag wagon means that you can throw your bike in the van and hop in for a ride yourself. With this set up if we had wanted to ride to the top of the hill, it entailed mounting the bikes on the rear rack of the car (probably a 10 to 15 minute process). Hardly worth it, and that option was not offered to us. So, we kept slogging along but did complain to the guide. His response to us was the kind of encouragement one would give children who were attempting something extremely difficult. And, when we finally arrived exhausted at the top of this hill, he asked us if we didn’t feel a sense of accomplishment. No, we felt a sense of exhaustion!

We arrived at Dewalokam in time for lunch (this is one of those all-inclusive places). The guide’s original trip proposal had been for a one night stay here, but as I read the reviews of the place and all of the glowing comments we decided to have a two night stay here.

It is a nice place, a working farm, in a lovely setting on a river. Lodging is in rather sparsely furnished rooms in a U-shaped building that was purpose-built for guests. Communal set-menu meals are very good, but there is way too much food. One of our lunches was a Keralan feast meal of thirteen different courses served on a banana leaf. We don’t need that many large meals a day. There is a pool, and the river is swimmable (I went in both and preferred the river).

Every day there is an activity planned for around 4:00 in the afternoon and another in the morning. The first day one of the owners took interested guests on an afternoon walking tour of the gardens in the plantation, showing off different types of crops and spices. It was nice, but we’d seen spices before and it wasn’t really anything that new and exciting for us. And, by the end of the trip we’d pretty much had our fill of learning about every place’s spice garden.

Our second day the guide had asked us if we wanted to cycle in the area, and we declined preferring to just partake of Dewalokam’s offers for guests. That day we went on the morning excursion to the other side of the river. You are rowed on a small raft platform across about 100 feet of water and then taken on a guided walk of the plantation. And, you also are taken to see an incredibly large colony of fruit bats. Unlike the bats we are familiar with that are nocturnal, these were all swooping around in the middle of the day. There was some sort of excursion to the local village in the later afternoon, but we didn’t join in since we had already cycled through the village. I did join in the cooking demonstration the chef gave as he prepared the evening meal. It was definitely interesting, and participants were each given a cookbook

We enjoyed our stay at Dewalokam but probably would not give it Trip Advisor’s
ubiquitous 5 star reviews. The hosts were great, the food was good, there were interesting activities, and the location was nice. So, why wouldn’t we give it a five star review?

The emphasis here is on interacting with fellow guests. You eat all meals at common tables, and there is almost an enforced happy hour prior to dinner. Normally, this is us, and we just love to participate in such situations. The problem we had, and maybe we just hit an off group, was that nearly all of the guests were the same—Brits who were looking for a rather sheltered experience in India and who had had their custom trips completely arranged by a very well-known (and pretty pricey) agency. Yet, despite the fact this was customized, they were all taking pretty much the identical trip. We are much more adventuresome and looking for different types of experiences than nearly all of the guests we met here. The apparently provincial-minded group were all chatting about things at home that just did not interest us at all, and we didn’t find any stimulating conversation. We much prefer meeting people from diverse backgrounds and talking about their unique trips and their ideas and their countries. As I said, maybe it was just luck of the draw. But, maybe this really is who the typical clientele is here, and I am inclined to think that.

While we are at Dewalokam, another group of cyclists came riding in. These people we could chat with and did have interesting conversations with on the one night our stays overlapped. They were on what we’d consider a real tour, and with an agency we should have probably used. Except, these people were real dedicated cyclists who were on a standard trip and were cycling up to Munnar; we knew that was definitely way more than we were interested in. The cyclists had a van, a driver and a guide—just what we thought we were getting.

Yikes...sounds like hell to me! All that biking up hill would be way too strenuous for me...especially living in the flat lands of southern Florida. What a shame that your guide was so poor.

Yet, despite the fact this was customized, they were all taking pretty much the identical trip>>

mm - I've come across that recently, particularly when I've been researching our Cuba trip. Trouble is you don't necessarily know until you get there that everyone else is on the same treadmill. Easier for them, less good for the customer.

I really appreciate all of the details. I'm so sorry the bike trip wasn't what you had asked for. Are you going to tell us the name of the company that set this up for you?

You may remember that we had an all-inclusive stay at Glenburn outside of Darjeeling. While there were things we didn't like about our stay, most of the other guests were very interesting people who had designed their own trips. Had we had a group like yours, I now realize that stay would have been even worse!

annhig - So happy to have you back :)

julies - Yeah, names please. We met up with a Brit package tour in Orccha. Sort of low class, but not annoying enough to mess with our travel high. I wouldn't put all tours down though. We had a blast with a fun group on our Galapagos boat.

We used Cycling South India to do our bike trip. The owner was our guide.

To clarify about the people who were at Dewalokam. They were all traveling independently and had their own drivers, but it just seemed that they were all going to basically the same areas and staying at basically the same lodgings. I think it suited most of them to a T, but when we were in Marari Beach we ran into a couple who had also been at Dewalokam. Audley had put them at a beach resort that probably cost about four times what we were paying at our small guesthouse. And, these people commented they'd have been more happy in the type of place we were staying.

Kathie--Interesting to hear you agree that in some places fellow guests can sometimes make or break an experience. I think perhaps our experience at Dewalokam was because we most frequently choose slightly different types of places. And, it just occurred to me that our experience there was very similar to another place on a Rajasthan trip we stayed that really was not us--Dungapur. Dungapur was very similar in the almost forced cocktail hour with the other guests, and there was communal dining at a large table. There we also didn't find anyone to mingle with who we felt we wanted to spend much time chatting with. It was basically a different type of clientele from us.