Cycling the south coast of India (January 24th - February 4th)(continued)
This was some kind of a lizard that slowly crossed the road in front of me. I helped him across by shielding him from the on-coming cars, a very strange creature.
(Palolem - Karwar - Gokarna - Bhatkal - Mangalore)
Distance biked so far: 7,022 km
Here is another reason not to camp. It looks like he got caught in the wires. I wanted to see if he was just sleeping so threw some small pebbles at him but can confirm that he is indeed dead.
As I bike during the day I have to stop every hour or so to find something cold to drink. In the heat it doesn't take long before any water you carry turns hot. They have small stalls everywhere and I will often stop for a drink and then move on.
I am slowly getting more comfortable as I acclimatize to the heat and humidity. I was asked why I am struggling since I lived in similar hot and humid conditions of Bermuda. The answer is that to acclimatize you have to exercise in the heat. In Bermuda, I worked in an air conditioned office for 8 hours per day. Then I would ride my motor bike to a home with a fan or more AC. I would often do long walks but if you want to get used to biking a fully loaded touring bike in hot conditions, you have to ride a fully loaded touring bike in hot conditions, simply living in a warm climate does not really prepare you for it. When I lived there, the thought of going out in August and riding a loaded bike around the island for 5 hours at a time wasn't high on my priority list, not sure why.
The scenery here is very lush with green palm trees and rice fields dotting the road as I head south.
