Day 59, Calicut [Thursday 31st January 2008]
Previous day: Day 58, Calicut, Kerala [Wednesday 30th January]
Next day: Day 60, Coonor [Friday 1st February 2008]
We go to Calicut train station, where they have a wooden glass-fronted cabinet housing snapshots of repentant-looking and/or dastardly 'Railway Criminals', along with the sombre warning 'Beware'. We get the train to Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. It takes 6 hours, snaking through mile after mile of paddy fields, coconut palms and silvery shining rivers. The train is surprisinqly quiet. We talk to a man who is a 'personal trainer'. He asks me if I work out.
Coimbatore is a remarkable busy place. It's a transport hub, with a train station and 3 bus stands all located confusingly near each other. It's also a popular place for business conferences. The first 4 hotels we try are full of conferencees. Eventually we get a room in Legends Inn, a pricey but comfortable, modern hotel. After a meal on a tray at the restaurant at the end of the road — meat downstairs, veg upstairs — we watch the rather good Jennifer Aniston starrer The Breakup on HBO.
Next day: Day 60, Coonor [Friday 1st February 2008]
Previous day: Day 58, Calicut, Kerala [Wednesday 30th January]