Today was the day that we biked out of the mountains toward the coast. Going downhill is always more appealing initally than going uphill, but then again, it can depend on the conditions. When you descend for 20k, your hands get tired of gripping the brakes to the point where you actually wish there was a hill to climb. Its even worse when you’re dodging potholes the whole way. Another problem during downhills is traffic — when you are slowing climbing uphill the cars/buses/etc easily and quickly pass you. When you’re headed down, the game is a little more complicated, as some of the bigger ones tend to descend at about the same speed that you do. Sometimes you feel like you have a bus just over your shoulder.
We jumped off our bikes at the base of the hill and threw them in the vans in an effort to get to the houseboats as soon as possible. I was surprised by the size and comfort of the boats. There were two of them, each with three bedrooms. I’m told that the typical houseboat here has been converted from boats originally used to move massive amounts of rice. After cruising and getting settled for the night we visited a Totty-shop to sample the local brew. Totty is a liquid harvested daily from the coconut palm trees (a palm oil) that is slightly alcoholic. Raj said that the local men here work all day and retire to the totty shop before returning home to beat their wives. Literally he said this. You can tell that he isn’t too fond of the practice but he understands that its part of the local culture and he followed with “but the people here are happy”.
