Day 25: Thrissur – Cochin

May 29 was a day off. We visited Palakkad and Guruvayur by bus, and returned really late to Krishnan’s granduncle’s place. I directly went to sleep while the others had dinner.

Today we woke up late and planned to leave in the afternoon. But amazing weather – nice and cloudy – made us think of departure in the morning itself. There was a little tension as Shyam searched for his keys (he had lost his other set last night at the police station). Then some drama as we broke the lock. We finally left at eleven.

Ten km from Thrissur, we met NH47 which was a pleasant surprise – wide, flat stretch with treeshade. We made good speed to Chalakudy (30km) by 1:30pm, where we had lunch. Then a few km on to Koratty, where we relaxed in the shade of the trees in the Govt printing press. Nice place.

In the evening, we went on effortlessly, stopping by Aluva (Alwaye) for juice. Here there were mile-long traffic jams, but our cycles ensured we were not trapped in them.

The mango jam I was carrying decided to join its brothers in the traffic. The bottle tore its plastic bag, fell and opened. As it rolled, it spread jam all over the crowded road. I said goodbye to what was becoming a headache and cycled on. We never got to taste the jam.

Cochin and Ernakulam are large twin cities that start after Aluva itself. Shyam knew the address of Srihari Sukumaran, a classmate of his, and we found the way there without any difficulty. It must have been about eight pm. The Sukumarans seemed not in the least put off by this unintimated intrusion and warmly welcomed us into their large house.

After a good dinner, Mr Sukumaran took us for a spin in his car. He showed us around this great port city. Willingdon Island, the docks, the harbour, the Navy all looked very tranquil in the city that had gone to sleep. Mr Sukumaran pointed out the innumerable islands the city is made of and each could be individually discerned, thanks to the large number of lights throughout the area. It was a beautiful and peaceful sight, but we were told the city becomes a crowded, bustling hub in the daytime.

Later, Mr Sukumaran took us to a fancy restaurant and treated us to butterscotch icecream. It turned out he works in a private electronics company that manufactures connectors. We returned to his place after a good ride and must have slept at 12:30am.

Estimate of distance covered today: 84km