On arrival at the bus station in Munnar we jumped off and gained our bearings via the trusty (or not so trusty in some cases) Lonely Planet. We phoned one of the highly recommended guesthouses (Zina Cottages) to see if they had anything for us. After a none too clear conversation where we ultimately gathered that they had rooms, we headed off on foot towards our intended sanctuary hoping that a rickshaw would pass by sooner rather than later. On hearing the unmistakable whirr of a rickshaw engine I turned around to find it empty, which triggered the mad, please stop hand waving. We clambered in and off we trundled, bouncing around in the back as we headed off the road and up a steep side track. What with Munnar being a popular back packer stop we of course got the sales pitch from the rickshaw driver, who offered to drive us round the sights in the area for X amount of rupees. We took his card on our departure and wobbled into the guest house grounds.
We had to poke our heads round a couple of doors to find someone and when we did it turned out that we had not followed their phone instructions. We were actually meant to be at the bottom of the hill at their overflow place as the guesthouse was full. The directions given on the phone were obviously clear as mud. Anyway, whilst we waited for the manager of the other place to come and get us, we had a cup of tea (of course) and a quick chat with the owner who was also ran a tourist information office in the town. He was a very helpful and nice chap who had a tendency to repeat himself. Especially the ‘largest tea plantations in all the world’ fact and also the one about the tea plant actually being a tree that grows to over 3m in height. Anyway, the manager turned up within about 10 minutes or so and we had to wobble back down the track to the bottom of the hill. The place had very little character (unlike the hill top house, which had great views and a cottage feel to it). What it did have though was a good-sized room (large in fact), a hot shower, a thick double mattress on the bed (very rare!) and a TV! That’ll do!
We got settled and sorted (i.e. showered) and headed out to find some grub. There were a few touristy restaurants around, but we wanted to go cheap (as per usual) and headed along the road where a couple of busy roadside places were serving up local Indian food. It was at this point that we started to feel slightly underdressed as everyone was in jumpers and hats. We were of course in hot weather gear freezing our bits off! (we got caught out because during the day it’s pretty toasty here). Not only that but we left our money back at the ranch, so we had to negotiate a meal and some fags on tick! After all that we sat down, shivered, ate quickly and scuttled back to the warmth and comfort of our room swearing to be better dressed the following night!
We only planned on staying in Munnar for a couple of days. The plan was to do the sight seeing thing and then move on to the east coast as we were now counting down to the Andaman islands. So there was no time for lounging and relaxing, we had to get into town and find out what’s what from one of the tourist information offices. After a brief trip to the guesthouse on top of the hill (to see if they had vacancies for the rest of our time there, which they did, so we checked in) we walked the K or so into town. We found the tourist info place that was run by the owner of Zina Cottages and had a good chat with him regarding our options on what to do and when. Mr Iype was very helpful, and again told us all his favourite facts, more than once regarding tea trees and plantations. He is a very proud man!
With a clear plan now in mind we found somewhere to eat. As it turned out, the restaurant we picked served up probably the best value, and dare I say the best Thali we have had!
All you can eat for 30p and it was cracking!
Anyway, with our bellies full we set out to for our afternoons’ entertainment, which consisted of a walk through the countryside taking in some of the sights and sounds. We jumped in a rickshaw and got dumped off at the start of our route.
I’m sure most of you remember the PG tips packets that used to have the Indian women on the front in their colourful saris picking tea. I have always wanted to see and walk through tea plantations and see the women working in the fields picking tea. Strange I know but I have always wanted to see this. Anyway, the illusion was shattered when we soon came across some real women picking tea.
Not a sari in sight!! I didn’t really expect to see the saris of course and yet again it was great to see something that I thought I would never see.
After lots of smiles and Namastes’ we were of along the road. We spent around 3 or 4hours walking along the road and back again. The weather was cracking and the views were stunning.
We returned to the guest house and had a shower and got sorted for the evening. It was starting to dawn on us though that the guest house at the bottom of the hill, although it lacked character, was far the better value as the room was way more comfortable. We thought we would give it until the morning to make a final decision on it but we suspected that we would be moving down the hill in the morning!
Morning broke and a relatively poor nights sleep sealed the guest house decision. Off we set down the hill once more and straight back into the large, comfortable room.
We headed into town to organise a bus for the next day to take us to Pondicherry, the next stop on list. At the same time we talked to the guy about a rickshaw for the day. We negotiated one for 400 rupees. It started at 450, but it was then agreed at 400, plus 50 if we were happy with him at the end of the trip. This always makes me laugh! So we clambered onboard with our goofy rickshaw driver and headed for the hills.
Some of you will know that rickshaw drivers like to jazz their little chariots up with all sorts of cheesy and garish things. From little pictures of Ganesh and garlands of flowers, cheesy sickly sweet photos of babies or landscapes with some proverbial pearl of wisdom inscribed next to them to booming stereo and light show systems. It’s like someone has been reading MAX power for the deaf dumb and blind. This particular rickshaw was no exception to the rule, but it has to be said that this guy took great pride in his motor, and it was in top condition. So we raced around the road with the stereo blasting out some great Hindi tunes. Awesome!
The plan was to go to somewhere called Top station and take in the sights on the way and back again. The Top Station is right on the Kerala/ Tamil Nadu Boarder and offers fantastic views over the Western Ghats.
Firstly we pulled up at huge dammed reservoir which was cool.
Then we stopped further up the reservoir. There was a tame elephant along the route at some point, but can't remember where so he is shown here!
Rounding the end of the lake and heading up hill again we caught sight of a wild elephant, so took a couple of snaps of him. He was a big old boy!
We stopped at various other picturesque places along the way……
Aparently part of Ohm Shanti Ohm was filmed on the above mound!
We kept stopping and starting all the way to the Top Station. Which was beautiful!
On the way up the air cooled quite a bit. We mentioned this to our rickshaw driver and on our return he had put up a screen across the side of his wagon, which would cut out some of the breeze.
Love the camo look!
On our way back, our driver really came into his own. He knew what he was doing with his stops and the places he decided to take photos for us had obviously been done before. We gave him the camera and he managed to get a couple of shots where we were not actually posing, which we think is a first for our trip!
There were a few posed shots....
En route back we came across the wild elephant again. This time he looked to be attempting to cross the road and go up the hill. Only problem was that there were a hundred odd Indians tormenting, yelling, waving and goading the bloody thing. They were all gathered right in its’ path. The elephant was obviously showing aggression towards the hecklers in the form of mini lunges/ charges and throwing its’ head around. It made for interesting viewing!
Here you can see the elephant rearing up at a passing car.
We stopped and watched for a bit and then decided to risk the road past the elephant. We whizzed past and came within a few meters of the angry beast!! We stopped a safe distance the other side and decided to watch some more as the elephant made its way up onto the road…
It was still in a bit of a temper and even threw some boulders around! It was also rearing up at any vehicles that passed. We got a little bit of video footage on our camera, and as I was filming it made a bit of a lunge towards the crowd. Everyone made a bit of a dash for it and I can safely say that I crapped my pants! My hands were shaking after that, much to Dipi’s amusement. Eventually, once everyone got right out of its intended path, it made it across the road and started to head off up the hill.
We got back after dark and as you can imagine, we paid our man the full 450, plus a bit actually. He was a top fella. He took some great snaps for us and he was a good laugh. Dipi had wanted to copy some of his music for her mum, so we nicked some of his CD’s and copied them before handing them back to him with our thanks. We had a great day out!
That evening we tried to play back the CD’s, but they had not copied properly! So, in the morning we got in touch with the bus ticket man who then put us onto the rickshaw driver. We got him to come and pick us up so there so we could copy the music properly! We had been carrying around a whole bunch of CD’s with LOTS of music, so we did an exchange. He was well happy with that!
He then took us into town where we gorged ourselves, yet again, on ‘the best Thali in India’ before heading off to the bus station.
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