Another good day, with great scenery, but a hard day.

Our first 30 miles were mostly on pleasant smaller roads, with the same mix of tea, grapes, bananas, coconuts and other crops as we made our way from village to village. All of this time we were gently ascending, in a way that made everything slightly harder, but not too tricky.

The main event came after 30 miles. Today was dominated by a big climb, snaking our way up a steep slope as we headed for the border between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Thankfully we weren't on the main highway so traffic wasn't too heavy, but we still had to share the narrow road with trucks, cars and mopeds making their way up and down. Officially there were 18 hairpin bends, but it felt like a lot more.

My undertraining certainly showed today, with Ewan being noticeably stronger at climbing. I was taking it very slow and needed to stop for a little break every couple of turns. We made it to the top eventually and celebrated with an egg puff each. Sadly there’s ao much haze around at the moment (presumably due to air polution) we didn't get much of a view from the top, just the satisfaction of the climb.

My climbing legs were pretty gone by that point, and I got off and pushed for a fair number of the remaining climbs of the day.

Now that we're higher up everything feels greener and cooler. The smell of cardamom is in the air everywhere, and every other shop seems to be selling spices.

Our characterful hotel this evening gave us a lovely place to rest, and we enjoyed watching langur monkeys eating berries from the trees opposite our balcony. Mostly though, I just needed to collapse into bed!