We visited a tea factory and learned how they process the tea. The tea is first withered for 24 hours, so it looses some of its moisture. Then it’s shredded and compressed. At this point it looks like soil. Then it’s oxidized, which makes it smell like tea. Next it’s heated for an hour to remove all the remaining moisture. Then it’s sorted by size: the smaller the grains, the higher the quality. The last step is packaging it into tea bags. It takes about 26 hours to complete the process. 94% of Indians drink chai daily, and the powered tea is ideal for this. Our preference is loose tea, which is less oxidized (like green or oolong tea), but we’ve liked the Indian black tea when it’s flavored with spices and the chai. We rode out of the beautiful hills of tea, leaving behind the cooler, drier climate.
We returned to sea level, where it’s a fruit salad and more growing in Kerala: pineapples, bananas, coconuts, rice, tapioca and rubber are the most common crops we saw. Here’s a sunrise view of coconut trees surrounded by water.
There is a gentleness in the people of Kerala that we’ve appreciated while cycling here. It’s not been uncommon for a bus or motorcycle to let us go ahead of them. This wouldn’t happen in northern India, where the largest vehicle always gets the right-of-way. During our 10 days of riding, Kristina would typically ride in front so she can set the pace for the ride (she is the slowest rider of the group). Towards the end of this 90km ride, Pete moved to the front so he could “pull”, where he blocks the wind and makes it easier for the other riders.
We enjoyed walking around the Kumarakom bird sanctuary, where there were thousands of fruit bats and many butterflies and dragonflies, in addition to birds. This is a blue tiger butterfly.
The cycling tour is very deluxe and includes a support van that follows us with our luggage and also has snacks and equipment for keeping the bikes in good working order. Here’s a picture of our van and driver, Michael. He is from Marari, a town on the coast, which we rode by.
As part of our cycling tour we enjoyed spending a day and a night cruising on a houseboat on Lake Vembanad , the second largest lake in India. Houseboats like these were originally used to transport rice. Nowadays they transport tourists! We heard there are 1,200 houseboats on the lake.
The breeze on the boat felt wonderful, as it is quite hot and humid here. We were glad they had air conditioning in the bedroom so we could sleep comfortably. We felt pampered and relaxed as we enjoyed the scenery of the lake, the birds (mostly cormorants, herons, kingfishers and snake birds), fishing and house boats, coconut trees, rice paddies, and flowering plants.
Before leaving for our trip, Kristina received a lot of good info about Kerala from her friends and colleagues at Blue Shield. Bobby, who is from Mumbai but has visited Kochi, suggested interesting things to see and do, like ayurvedic massage. Manoj gave advice and warned her that it would be hot for cycling. Thomas, who is from Kerala, blessed our cycling itinerary and told her about “toddy.” Toddy is fermented coconut water that is a favorite drink throughout Kerala. It tastes similar to komboucha, which is Kristina’s favorite beverage, so it was a treat to have it. The houseboat docked at a toddy bar so we could taste it. We bought 1.5 liters for $2.
After disembarking from the houseboat, we cruised through Alleppey (which isn't really the Venice of the East, as there are still mostly roads, but it is still scenic and was fun to ride through). We took a back road north to Fort Kochi, and enjoyed stopping at St Antony's Basilica, walking along the beach to look at fishing boats, and seeing how coconut fibers are woven into jute and mats. It was hot and flat, so the shade and breeze from riding made it pleasant.
We have finished our cycling tour, where we rode about 375 miles and climbed over 14,000 feet. It was a first-rate tour, and we are really glad that we were able to do it!
We want to give a special shout out to three of our nephews Erich, Julian and Emilio, who each have accomplished a great goal. Erich won second place in the county-wide science fair. Julian earned his yellow belt in mixed martial arts. And Emilio tried out for and made the Clippers soccer team. Way to go, guys! We send a thumbs up, heartfelt joy and a high five for your awesome accomplishments!
