300k to Thekkady

The longest ride ever but filled with so much beauty. Another early start meant that we were on the road for 7am heading back down the mountain range that we spent 2 hours climbing the night before.
After a 2000 m decent it was time to strip a few layers off to get cool. This coincided with us finding a roadside stand that was making Doza; a rice pancake with spiced ghee and green tomato chutney made by man and wife in a back yard where they and their children lived underneath corrugated sheets. After swallowing precationary Imodium we set off through a cardomum scented valley for the Tea plantations.
Nothing can ever pepare you for the beauty of this area. Its as if Capability Brown designed mile upon mile of mountainous landscape. This is an ornamental garden of epic proportions. As we slalomed down through the mountains on smooth windy roads it was just like skiing on tarmac, with every corner giving jaw dropping beauty complete with the clean smell of drying tea leaves.
A long day meant driving the last hour in the dark. Not to be recommend given that half the vehicles don't have headlights and the ones that do (usually genocidal bus drivers) have them on full beam.
By the and of today I feel absolutely exhausted and the thought of another sore arse day makes me want to throw Harry off a cliff the way 2 fellow riders did on a hair pin bend earlier.Riders are fine, apart from one broken collar bone.