Two nights in Kannur

December 29, 2010 to December 30, 2010

more NH17

Maybe I should get a haircut. It's not long, but it's getting to that stage where it just looks odd and it's hard to get looking right.

Not long after I start cycling, a lane looks interesting, so that's where my bikes gets directed and as the sun is low the light is nice at this time -just gone nine.

The few commercial buildings are obviously old with the paint cracked and peeling and down a side alley is a 200-year-old wooden mosque the few guys sat around a glass workshop tell me, but it looks a bit like a Victorian railway station to me with its deep soffit, fretwork bargeboard and fancy details.

The alley leads to a fish market and it's smelly but nice and the guys working there say Hi as I push my bike along and take some photos before returning to route 17 to resume making my way north.

Where are those juice makers?... it's almost an hour since breakfast.

This white shirt looks grubby after just one day.

It's getting quite hilly and I'm in my little ring on this slope.

Here's something you didn't know... I call everyone 'sir' now as that's what they call me and I've no idea what else to say. Sometimes I say it to women in error without thinking.

The Indian head wobble is something I think I've got the hang of, as before it was more of a shake like I was saying no, but now it bobs up and down a bit, meaning - I think - yes, I agree or something like that.

I bought a can of insect killer a couple of days ago in Ponnapali.

A place looks like a juice stall and I stop and the man wobbles his head when I say juice and says grape and I say orange and he says he only has grape so I think why not as that's one I haven't had yet. I end up drinking five of them at only 12 rupees each. My immune system must improve.

The temperature is around 30 and this tarmac is smooth and it feels like I've been here before.

Maybe a photo of how monotonous the NH 17 should be included in the journal, yet it's hard to stop and take a self-timed photo when the traffic is so manic. A section of dual carriageway is a bit quieter, so I set the tripod up on that verge - just off the tarmac - but the photo isn't worth a thousand words.

I need a day off as when was the last time?... it was going to be in Ooty and then Cochin and I was tempted at Chenai Beach, but here I am still moving on each morning.

There's a weavers' workshop along here somewhere, which could be interesting. I made a note on the map after reading about it in Lonely Planet. Is this really the the road less travelled?

Today's going to be a short day, just a ride to Kannur or whatever it's called and find a bed and stay two nights. There is just 10 km to go and about six to the weavers' coop.

It's hot on a long hill, but then there's a sea view again.

I stop and the police officers who just waved down a motorcycle that didn't bother to stop consult each other and confer and one tells me the workshop is about a kilometre away. There's a hill and a temple and it'll be on my left.

It's more than a kilometer and it's 1:30 and the workers are having lunch still. That's okay as I will pop and buy some cold water first as I'm still thirsty even though I drank a litre not long ago. It's hot and sweat is pouring out of me.

The woman who seems to be in charge escorts me around the old lofty warehouse, which houses perhaps five or more wooden looms that are who knows how old, but the coop is now 55 it says on a sign. She tells me there are 20 women and around 30 men and I see many women working so wonder what the men do.

Loknath Weavers' Workshop, about 2km south of Kannur

The looms click nicely as the women work and I see them making bathmat material, plaid longyi cloth and see toweling on a roll. It seems a long process.

An old bike wheel rim on the spinning machine

It would be nice to buy something from the factory shop but all I can find is a short-sleeved shirt for me and a bag for Debbie and a small face towel that I can use as a sweat rag while riding.

The woman seems pleased to take my cash, then I'm off.

Kannur is busy and I ride through and head to the old fort hoping I'll see a hotel en route, but I don't. I become a reluctant tourist and traipse around the red-rock walls, then ride back to find a couple of hotels that are full and then spot a lodge which is fine. It's tucked down a side street and a room is 450 rupees. My bike gets put in a garage.

Dating to 1505, St. Angelo Fort was built by the first Portuguese Viceroy of India

Day 2

The French voice on my alarm says it's eight and this is one of the rare times I'm still dozing when it says so, but I lay still for a while feeling rested and know that today by backside will get a break - one which it needs.

I put on the plaid cotton shirt I bought yesterday and which I washed last night and it's dry and it'se good to wear something different.

Breakfast is carrot juice. I really wanted jam on toast, but I can't be bothered to search around and it's hard to believe the guy feeds around 10 baby carrots into the blender to make each glassful. I've consumed 20 baby carrots already and I've only walked to the end of the block. That's got to be good.

I need a haircut, so that's today's goal.

My lodge is central, but the narrow alley is quiet. However, walking around the city streets after sitting under the whirring fan in my room feels like hard work with vehicles using their horns. It's so noisy.

A spacious cafe catches my eye and I decide to have another drink and opt for pineapple and order two to go with the chappattis, veg rice and curry for my lunch. After I have an apple juice and something that looks like an orange, but is slightly bitter.

I laze in my room most of the time, editing photos and re-wash the plaid shirt as it feels itchy after having my haircut. Yes, I found a place and the barber made a decent job for which I paid him 100 rupees as he clearly didn't want to say the fee, but that was what the hotel receptionist said I should expect to pay here.

The South India Lonely Planet gets thumbed through as my plans are in a state of flux - my loose plans always are - but my general direction is going to be north and Mangalore is the next big place on my map, but the book mentions some remote beaches and it seems not a bad idea to spend New Year's Eve somewhere quite nice and palm-fringed.

It's likely the 3-2-1 countdown will pass me by as I'll be fast asleep when the clock strikes midnight on the 31st, just like last year at home.

Today's ride: 30 km (19 miles)
Total: 2,583 km (1,604 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0