Day one report a bit late

Day one Airlink hotel

Having had high jinks and dramas at the airport I was not really ready for more dramas so getting to the Airlink hotel was a doddle rooms sorting sleeping patents arranged bobs your uncle.

I had a fair bit of work to sort I wanted every bike to have a power lead especially as I had spent the previous weeks soldering them up. This meant I could fix a camera (more about them later) to each bike. 

Sams  tail end Charlie light, a series of flashing led lights at the top of a flexible pole had gone missing but a few anxious phone calls soon recovered it and with a little help and ingenuity as well as. A pounds worth of jubilee clips it was fitted to the rear of Sams bike.

Ram mounts were also the order of the day, I am just so  mesmerised by these wonderful fixing. I have used them for many years now and just can't think of a better way of fixing things on to things, I even sleep with them. Well not actually sleep but I have an I PAD RAM mount fixed next to my bed, and it saves dropping the thing everywhere, in fact I wish I had that now typing with one hand in the dark and falling asleep. 

In Indian as on other tours I use two Garmin zumo 660 GPS units, it's hard to explain why but it's more than twice as good as using one. I find I play them almost like a musical instrument. One is set shortest route one quickest time, one has a close up view and the other much further out, and between the two I decide on the route I want rarely especially in Europe following either dogmatically. The beauty of using GPS is it gives me more freedom. 

Recently on a ferry crossing to France I had a heated discussion with someone who was so much against GPS. I couldn't fathom his argument, he liked to wonder and find his own way, "how do you do that I asked" I follow the road signs" 

Is that not the same as following a GPS, I punch in my destination and I follow my roads as I want only reverting to following the GPS when my time of arrival is roughly the time I need. I don't think I would go very far in either car or bike without a good up to date GPS  

  I think I fell asleep writing the last bit. 

Just to update you we are in Rameswarmen if you look at a map of India it's the bit that's sticks out looking as if it connects to Siri Lanka on day one we left the west coast and road up and up into the mountains before stopping at a disused tea plantation, The factory adjacent to the bungalows where we stayed were abandoned a few years ago and it looks as if they just walked out and locked the doors. Someone in the group suggested that it looked like a cartoon  haunted house.

Let's just say that it was an experience. And as someone said if we had had hot water at the beginning much more enjoyable. Indian hygiene is different some religions wash one a day in the morning and some morning and night many only wash in cold water but to have to wash as soon as you get to a hotel is frankly unheard of. 

The bungalows did grow on people and despite my first thoughts I would use it again mainly because it gives access to so many roads