Cycle touring south India - buy bike in UK and ship or buy then sell in India?

Hi there,

Yeah defo worth the effort to get up into the ghats, we had a great time the Nilirgi & Palani hills in the ghats. Mudumalai NP was great, we saw bears, deers, mongoose, peacocks, wild boar and a huge tusker. Although we didn't get to see any tigers,I would suggest that elephants would pose a bigger threat, people constanly warned us about elephants.
Having said that the drivers are much more likely to get you then any of the above.

Maybe the article below is of interest:
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-01-20/news/58267674_1_tiger-reserve-tiger-population-tiger-numbers

Enjoy your trip, South India will be a wellcomed suprise from the North.

K

Haha, thats exactly what scares the bejebus out of me - it has the most tigers out of anywhere! And yes the prospect of an angry elephant also frightens me a lot too. Don't get me wrong, the wildlife sounds amazing and seeing those kind of animals in their natural habitat would be awesome but then thats probably what divers think before something comes and bites them in half!

I have also cycled through the Western Ghats and it is amazing cycling country. I did pass a couple of elephants but they were better behaved than some of the motorists although an Indian on a motorbike stopped me and said he had narrowly missed an elephant that had charged across the road in front of him. Little risk of being eaten by a tiger, they are very elusive. Your plan to buy and start cycling in Bangalore is a good one.

I suggest that you get a bicycle from Firefox http://www.firefoxbikes.com/, which has many shops in India. These will be geared imported cycles at moderate cost. That way you avoid the cost and hassle of sending a bike from the UK and avoid the clunky poor-quality one-speed cycles normally sold in India.

You can get touring accessories as well from Firefox.

I wouldn't worry about tigers or elephants. Local people will warn you of dangerous areas. But do heed signs in wildlife areas closed to cyclists!

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