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Published: February 7th 2010
Guesthouse Balcony
Skyline Guesthouse, Varkala"Will my bike be OK if I leave it outside the gate for the night" I asked.
"Maybe" the shriveled old night watchman said with a calm confident smile.
"Well ... do you think its safe enough outside at night for the bike"?
"Maybe sir" said the watchman with the same calm smile.
I had arrived back at the Guesthouse just after sunset two nights ago to find that no one had the key to lock up the scooter I rented, a rickety old Indian made 125cc Kinetic Nova. Granted I had the key to the ignition, but I was still uneasy about leaving the bike outside at night. But lo and behold, the sun rose the next morning to find my scooter still sitting there against the gate.
Let me back up a bit. Those of you who know about my Cambodia travels will probably know that I don't have the best track record when it comes to riding motorbikes in developing countries. It was because of this that I was planning to spend the last few days learning Yoga here in Varkala. However, I wanted to explore the surrounding countryside and renting a motorbike seemed like the
best way to accomplish this. So I have ridden close to 200 miles (300km) in the past two days at breakneck speeds approaching 40km (25 mph).
The morning that my bike was still there I woke up early, just after sunrise, and decided to head down to Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital to explore. Indian driving definitely seems counter-intuitive to us Westerners, but I actually have found the drivers to be much better and slower here than in some other Asian countries I have traveled to - cough cough Cambodia. The most important thing to remember driving here is to think in terms of space rather than lanes. A motorbike is maybe half a meter wide so I have a lane about half a meter wide to drive in. Beyond that the horn can be used to communicate with the other drivers on the road. If I need to get to the right I simply give my horn two short honks. If I get a couple short honks back its safe to get over, if I hear a single long honk I know I need to get further to the side to allow a larger vehicle to pass.
So
Cliffs of Varkala
Buildings are built on cliffs. There is a path down to the beach below. I stopped to use the bathroom along the side of the road perhaps a little bit too proud of myself for negotiating Indian traffic, and strangely enough my bike wouldn't re-start. Shit, I thought. I am now 60 kilometers from where I'm staying, my bike won't start, and I don't even have a phone number for the rental place or for anyone who could possibly come and pick me up. After about half an hour of frustratedly turning the ignition, I looked and just off to the side of the road was none other than a Kinetic bike repair shop. Amazed at how I hadn't seen that before and at my good luck I wheeled the bike into the shop, and the mechanics spent a good hour checking everything and making repairs. They seemed to be absolutely fascinated to have me in their shop, and ended up replacing the spark plugs, which had burned out and tightening a lot of nuts and bolts that had come loose. When I was finished the bill for all the repairs came to 30 Rp, about 70 cents US.
So I have spent the last couple days touring the coast and the countryside
by bike. I returned safely last night and am done with my bike adventures for the time being. The only accident of the last couple days was forgetting to put sunscreen on the backs of my hands, which makes it look like I am now wearing red mittens. Last night some of the Indians threw a big party near my guesthouse that went well into the wee hours of the morning. I will probably spend another day or two here in Varkala before setting off to a new destination. Most of these pics are of Varkala itself.
Stay tuned ...
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Alexa
non-member comment
Sounds awesome, Steve!! I love the fateful bike brakedown and repair shop adventure ... and though I'm sorry your hands are sunburned, it does sound pretty silly to picture you with red mitten hands. :) The countryside looks gorgeous!! I was hoping for a Steve/bike picture ... sounds like you guys bonded ... more Steve pictures!! And the honking and sights and sounds ... so exciting! Glad you're having fun!!