Kerala
Next.
We made attempts to leave Goa but all was thwarted
by the fog in Delhi. We were at the airport in plenty of time and had to go to
Cochin via Mumbai as there were no direct flights or available train seats on
the day we wanted to travel. We waited for hours for the plane to escape the
fog wondering if we would have to spend the night in Mumbai because we had
missed the connection. It was an unnecessary worry as the connecting flight was
delayed even longer so instead of having our evening meal in the booked hotel
we had a KFC at Mumbai instead. We finally arrived at our hotel just after
midnight and everything was all right in the end. The next day was not as good as
we found you could only get anywhere by taxi. The hotel was on a main road that
was being improved so it was a building site!
The view from the hotel bar on the roof was much better!
There was a bonus in that
within walking distance was a Bajaj showroom and just a few more yards was a
Honda showroom. Both said that there was a Triumph dealer just around the
corner. I left there in search of Triumph showroom with no success and as it
was getting dark I went back to the hotel. I would try again in the morning
before we left for Allepy by train. As you can imagine I did my PR bit and left
a flier at the Bajaj shop. I didn’t have one for the Honda shop but no one
seemed to understand me anyway. In the morning I flagged down a passing Tuc-tuc
and went in search of Triumph. I found a KTM/Kawasaki showroom and from them found
out there where Triumph was. The building was across the main road and in
sight. There was no easy access from where I was standing. There was an
elevated dual carriageway in the way and there was a bit of a detour to get
around it. I left a few fliers and then went across the road by Tuc-tuc to the
Triumph showroom. It was not long before I was explaining who I was to the team
there and I appreciated their patience.
The manager at the showroom is Shyamakrishna
Ghosh. I left a flier there and downloaded the pictures I had on my laptop of
Bruce Anstey’s 2003 TT winning Super Sports bike and some photos of the Museum.
Today I had it with me as we had checked out of the hotel and were carrying some
of our luggage. I enjoyed every minute of my time with them discussing my test
rides and their impressions of the bikes they sell. Would you believe there are
only 2 Street Triples in India! This particular shop was the third one set up
in India and they seem to sell bikes all over the country. I asked about a
factory visit from Shyam and he said he would support me in trying to see the
people at the factory. I didn’t need to see what they did only to talk to them,
so I’ll see how this turns out. My visit to Cochin was quite short but I still
had the most fun going down to the beach and around the town in the Tuc-tuc
going down some back streets that cars could never go and seeing another side
of India.
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