FROM TRIVANDRUM TO NAGERCOIL...OUR STARTING POINT

POST #2

ALL ARRIVED SAFELY TOGETHER IN TRIVANDRUM. We and our bikes arrived safely in Trivandrum (this is the traditional name of the city; it has officially been changed to Thiruvananthapuram). Our flight from Mumbai followed the Indian Ocean coast into a lush south land. As we approached the southern tip of India, we noted many salt mines. Trivandrum itself is a beach haven; a high percentage of passengers on our Jet Airways flight were non-Indian tourists. Here the Indian Ocean’s hue is light and inviting.

FROM TRIVANDRUM TO NAGERCOIL. We were met at the airport by Sanje Sumadre, the professional driver from Yavatmal, near Umri, who will be our primary support during the trek north to New Delhi. Nicknamed “Gope,” he is an essential part of our Bicycle India 2007 team. With Gope was Sathi Sam, the Umri Christian Hospital administrator who is from Nagercoil. After greetings and hoisting the bike boxes on top of Gope’s SUV, we drove from Trivandrum to Nagercoil, a city further south in the state of Tamil Nadu. Nagercoil is less than 45 miles from Trivandrum, but it took over three hours due to pace and traffic. It was a two-lane road which is shared by cars, trucks, motorbikes, three-wheeled motorized rickshaws, bicycles, pedestrians, goats, dogs, cattle…you name it. This, we are told, is typical of the highways and roads on which we will pedal 2,000 miles.

OUR FIRST TWO RIDING COMPANIONS: ANAND AND JOCE. We met our first two Indian riding companions when we arrived in Nagercoil. Anand and Joce are two young men who, without us knowing them, have been anticipating our trek together for some time. We look forward to building friendship with them. They will be riding 6-speed bicycles which our project purchased for this purpose. Anand and Joce helped us unload and reassemble our bikes, which survived the air travel and drive from Trivandrum quite well. We can’t wait to start riding. After so much time sitting on airplanes, we are a bit stir crazy.

OUR NAGERCOIL HOST: DR. LYSANDER. But first things first: our gracious host in Nagercoil, a distinguished Free Methodist physician Dr. Nesamoni Lysander, took us on an after-dusk drive to one of his new hostels for young women. Joe James offered prayer in dedication of the facility, which houses 20 of the more than 90 young women who are involved in Dr. and Mrs. Lysander’s ministry. We returned to Nagercoil late and exhausted and looking forward to a good rest in anticipation of beginning our trek in earnest on Saturday, December 30.

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