Dressed in her hospital uniform, Sonam insisted on calling in an autorickshaw for us, arguing with the driver (who wanted to keep his price open — to anything, apparently), riding us all the way to the bus station, and seeing us safely onto the Mangalore bus before bidding us farewell… we were not outside of anyone's arms for our whole stay in Bylakuppe.
The road west climbed up into the mountains, where the ruts and curves increased in step with the altitude; beautiful heights, wild and wide vistas high above the local eagle's lofts, and cool temperatures were payment for our travel. We began among coffee plantation on the eastern slopes, where drier weather presumably makes for better flavor and yield. Small villages and houses tucked along the roadside doubtless fed the labor required for these expanses of cultivated land, and estate villas swelled where the best lands were found.
We rose and fell with the ridges west, crawled along switchbacks on single-lane roads (used, by the way, as two or more lanes), then tipped over to the other side, finally heading gradually downward toward the Arabian Sea and Mangalore. On these western slopes, coffee gave way to coconut and date palm (?) groves, and then kilometers of rubber plantations, interspersed with the same villages and huts… But the climate had shifted, the winds came warm and humid almost at once, and the road ran rough and smooth as industry paid for (or did not pay for) repairs.
All in all, a beautiful if bone-jarring and tooth-grinding ride, with a few bruises and aching muscles to show for the trip. It would be nice to hang out on these mountain tops some time — there are a few eco-friendly plantation retreats which would welcome a quiet and cool sojourn, a few days' meditation and rest above and beyond the pollution and clamor of the cities… so long as you could make peace with what is probably a feudal plantation mentality.
Today, then, we have an "off day", after arriving late yesterday to Mangalore and a splendid Indian meal at a local hotel (really, one of the best I have eaten… of course for less than $1.50 each). We are spending time at the Internet Cafe while it is cool and quiet — good planning, eh? — and will venture out into what appears to be a searing south-Indian day to sit exposed at the old fort ramparts. Hmm. Plenty of water, and we can return whenever we wish, to a good yoga practice in air-conditioned splendor, another fantastic meal, and sleep if we wish…
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