Tea for Two in Munnar

We spent quite some time deliberating over how to reach our next destination, Munnar: a hill station around 6 hours’ drive away. The options were either to hire a car (which actually means hiring a driver with a car, as no-one rents cars here!), which was the easy option but quite expensive, or to go by bus, which was very cheap but neither of us had taken a bus in India before, and weren't sure what to expect!

Finally we decided to test the water by taking a bus for the first leg to Ernakulum, (a mere 1.5 hours) and then seeing if we were prepared to continue by bus for the next ~5 hours or just give in and take a car!

At the bus station a kind young girl helped us pick out the right bus (the signs were all in Tamil script) and we jumped aboard. As soon as we set off I decided I loved it. Yes it was hot and bumpy and we were squashed in, but fortunately I was squashed in to the window, which was open-air, and so I had the wind blowing in my face the whole way cooling me down, AND I got to see some wonderful sights including two elephants plodding down the side of the road!

After a bit more indecisiveness at Ernakulum we finally decided to go the whole way by bus. What an experience! There was so much to take in... both inside and outside of the bus! And of course it proceeded to get busier and busier until it seemed that SURELY we couldn't fit anyone else on board?! Towards the end 15-20 young schoolchildren jumped on and filled up the aisle. They heaved off their heavy school-bags and handed them to the people sitting nearest to them, who then held them on their laps for the rest of the journey which I thought was really nice (you wouldn't see this at home!).

As we approached our destination we found ourselves in a bit of a predicament: our huge, heavy rucksacks were at the front of the bus, we were in the middle and the exit was at the back. And you could hardly squeeze a person along the aisle let alone two people carrying two huge bags! Thankfully the conductor held the bus while we edged our way out and then two fellow backpackers threw our bags out of the front window while we waited below!

Children called and waved to us from a minivan across the road

The town of Munnar is a hill station on the Western Ghats: a huge mountain range which divides the Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The area is stunningly beautiful and green, and is home to some of the world's highest tea-growing estates. 

Here we had another lovely home-stay, down in the valley around 8km from town. We even had separate rooms, with adjoining bathroom, air con, TV, hot water and a beautiful view over the valley and all for just $15 a night. We were given a lovely meal in the evening and the next morning the owner, Santhosh, showed us around his huge garden, where he was growing coffee, mangoes, jack-fruit, cardamom and tamarind amongst other things.

The view from our room

A cashew nut: I had no idea they grew like this!

That day we headed up to "Top Point", the highest point in the area, with beautiful views over the surrounding valley. Although actually I thought the views of the miles and miles of tea plantations on the drive up were a much lovelier sight. This place is the opposite of what you expect from India: lush green valleys, rolling hills, fresh cool air, a gentle breeze, a clean sparkling lake... it was lovely. It was also much cooler (a "mere" 25ºc) which was a welcome relief. 

The view from Top Point

Tea Pickers

Tea plantation

After another delicious Thali lunch, we paid a quick visit to the tea museum where they had a small working factory, and then back home for another relaxing evening. 

Becky checks out the tea

I check out some more Thali!