Monday, March 15, 2010

Grand Tour 2009/10, Stage Six - Kerala and Tamil Nadu

On New Year's Day my friends and I took an autorickshaw from our guest house at Cherai Beach to the My Gothuruth festival in a nearby community. There was a museum-type display of cultural and historical items, and some local food specialties on offer. There was a cultural festival scheduled for 7pm; but first, a few words from our local dignitaries and guests of honour ...


Indian public figures, a microphone and a captive audience are a deadly combination. By 8:30, with the festival performers still waiting in the wings, the speeches showed no sign of being done, so my friends and I summoned our auto driver and headed back to our guest house. Pity, I'm sure the cultural festival would have been interesting, if only the visiting big shots could have been persuaded to shut up. Organizers of next year's event please take note of this sure-fire way to drive visitors away in dismay.


After a couple more days relaxing at Cherai, I rode to Muvattapuzha to visit some friends, then headed via Munnar to Maraiyoor for an overnight stop. With the electrical system still jury-rigged, RedWing had been running Ok up to this point; but wouldn't start when I was ready to leave next morning, and I had to get a push start. It konked out a couple of times en route to Namakkal in Tamil Nadu, my next stop, but at least I was able to kick-start once the engine was warm. (The electric start was completely dead. I think the battery wasn't charging properly.)


After a week visiting friends in Namakkal, I pushed on to a friend's small village near Mayiladuthurai, another of my favourite visiting spots, to spend Pongal with my friend's family.  Then a brief stop in Mamallapuram, and the final leg home. As I rode up Rajiv Gandhi Salai into Chennai, RedWing started cutting out frequently, and I probably should have headed directly to the Royal Enfield service shop in Thiruvanmiyur. But it would have been a real hassle to take my bike bags home on the bus and train, so I managed to limp the last few kilometres to Minjur, arriving home after my three-month, 5000 km adventure.


I took RedWing for the 6000-km service as soon as I could book an appointment; it took them two weeks to replace the wiring harness and set things right again. Cross my fingers, RedWing now seems to be running fine. All part of the challenge of being a proud Royal Enfield rider.