It only gets better.

I was so stuffed last night that I slept badly and the muezzin’s call to prayer was way after I was awake.

Packed and ready to go, I most definitely was not leaving before breakfast. Luke joined me. They served some of the weakest coffee I have ever tasted, well I didn’t taste the coffee I think they just waved the jar over the cup.

I decided to cruise over to the Dolphins Nose View Point, I thought it was downhill all day but up for a good few Kms out of Ooty. Then a lovely route cut out of the rock, tea plantations either side of the road, views to a heaven, on to the dolphins Nose set over a waterfall and a gorge. I sigh with my inability to muster up enough superlatives. Unfortunately it was a little hazy.

Then back to the real route. As I hit the main road the road took a definate turn down. The road twisted and turned like a writhing snake, devastatingly steep gradients, and if that was not enough, I joined behind a truck stuffed with furniture and household goods, he was slow which allowed truck, busses, cars, motorbikes, all steaming and hissing hooting their horns, overtaking on blind corners. I would say if there is a gap just wide enough they would overtake, but over and over again the gaps it thought were not wide enough seemed to get filled by trucks so big. My hands were aching from gripping the brakes. There were times I could have overtaken something but fear from the end of my ties to the top of my head gripped me because coming up the slope were trucks and busses and motorbikes and cars all trying to overtakethe slowest. The amount of times I heard the screech of brakes as a truck driver rammed his foot down and pulled in behind me to avoid oncoming traffic. I can still feel the fear in my belly as I write this.

30kms and nearly 2000meters of fearful descent.

Then it’s flat all the way to the FabHotel Thejas Paaradise, Coimbatore. The staff have been great and the room is perfectly adequate.

I got in showered and discovered I don’t have enough time for my original plan so I have adapted the next few days. (You’ll never know the difference 😉)

In resturants I have become a complete imbecile at ordering. So I was trying to order a girl sitting with her boyfriend on the next table asked if I needed help (obviously I did) then they invited me to join them. They helped me order and we proceeded to have a spectacularly fun evening.