Sabrimalla

All going swimmingly here as new bikes, new arrivals and the the trainees absorb all time that could have been spent watching the Australia-India test series.
New Year was quiet. No foreigners for hundreds of kilometres as I spent the evening in Kuttikanam at the hotel with 4 young families from Kanjirappalli waiting for the arrival of a booked group of 50 revellers before the evening buffet and music could start. 8 p.m was delayed till 9 p.m, an hour greeted with anxious phone calls to the revellers who promised to arrive soon. 10 p.m came and went, byrianies became cold and kitchen staff became suicidal at the prospect of working through the night to feed the hordes. By 10.30 I was starving and managed to shovel down a plate of tapioca and fiery fish curry in the kitchen just before an announcement that the revellers had cancelled and the food for 60 was to be shared between us. Too full to eat any more I retired early for 2008 with burning lips and a belly full of syrupy ales and expanding tapioca.
Running around like a madman today and have made the 1st half of a 10 hour round trip to pick up an extra bike for the new trainee Sinoj. Crappy looking Trek 4500 but should be O.K for the lanky 17 year old who after 5 rides on the Kona's already looks a better prospect then me. Trainee "number 1" Rakesh from Khatamandu is making his way down on a three day journey by bus and train to arrive on the 9th after 10 days intensive training in Pokhara, under the tutelage of the masterly French downhiller Rebours Tangi. Expect to be reduced to the sweepers role on the tour starting tomorrow and further expect to be put out of business by the pair of them soon after.
Sabrimalli season in full flow at the moment which means medieval scenes at railway stations, picnic spots and almost everywhere else. Millions of pilgrims dressed in black lungis (men skirts)
walk the streets barefooted with bundles of clothes and offerings strapped to the their heads as they make their way to the the forested temple complex of Sabrimalla.
Only men are allowed into the temple complex as women who are capable of menstruating are scene as polluting and could defile the temple complex's purity. Three of us including one lady tried to cycle down a superb downhill trail through the forest last year, but were ambushed by local forest guards unwilling to let the lass pass despite the fact we would by pass the complex by miles.
The men most undergo 41 days of abstinence from sex, wash only with water, not shave and walk around barefooted on their way to the temple complex. Many walk hundreds of miles from the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh visible as shuffling black skinned bodies on the side of the road.
In about a weeks time the pilgrim season reaches its climax as the celestial lights appear over the temple to signify the pilgrims darshan with the god Ayappa. The mysterious lights appear like flickering stars and ignite uproarious scenes amongst the frenzied devotees. Non believers claim that the light has a far less godly source and can be tracked down to two men hidden in the thick forest with a powerful torch.