Anyone for a cuppa?

Trip Start Dec 05, 2004

Trip End Jan 17, 2005

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Where I stayed

Issacs Residency Munnar

(Munnar hotels)

Flag of India Munnar, India
Monday, January 3, 2005

We spent most of the day travelling to Munnar, partly because the road is so winding and uphill and partly because Hari is a very careful driver! As we approached what is Kerala's main tea industry centre, climbing to around 1,520m altitude, the landscape changed dramatically. The terrain was a vast mountainous expanse of tea estates (nearly all owned by Tata - Mr Tata owns most of the Indian car, truck and steel industries too - a very rich man!). These are among the highest in the world and Munnar surrounded also by forest and lakes is a hill station (used a lot by the British during their rule). We stopped a few times to watch tea pickers perched on the side of hillsides manicuring the abundant and very symmetrically planted tea bushes. Each tea plantation was interspersed with eucalyptus trees. The whole area was breathtaking - almost on a par with the views in the Andean mountains!

With nowhere reserved, we stopped at a few of the very posh ranch type resorts nestled in the heart of the tea estates - finding of course that they were way out of our budget range

Matupatty lake

! So we made our way into Munnar itself, nothing more than two high streets, lots of buses and tea pickers hostels. We located quite an upmarket hotel (Isaac's Residency) and splurged out on that, just so we had TV and hot showers for a change. We left Hari to change into his lungi (sarong thing) and chill out cleaning his car! There was not a lot to do for the rest of the evening, so we had a disappointing dinner in a posher hotel opposite and went back to watch a film with Richard Gere in it!

The next day, Hari took us up through more tea estates to Matupatty Lake and dam at 1,700 m. The lake is set in a beautiful semi-Alpine forested area and on the far side of the lake we tested out Echo Point, shouting Hari's name, much to his embarrassment. After a quick lunch, we started our journey to Cochin (Kochi), which was rather long and a little tedious. The temperature soon increased from the cool of the hill station to the humid lowlands of the coast. The pollution was also a bit overpowering, especially as we drove through Enarkalum (the main modern part of Cochin). We passed over a few bridges from one island to another (there are several islands that make up the Cochin area). Eventually we reached the old part of one of South India's most pituresque towns. As Hari had only been a few times to this neck of the woods, he had to keep asking for directions (in English as he didn't speak Malayan, the language of Kerala)

Picking tea

.

Eventually we found Walton's Homestay right in the heart of the touristy area of the village-type town. Mr and Mrs Walton were waiting for us, along with Jude who organises trips and stuff. It's funny to see these very self-effacing Indians speaking very proper and fluent English, dressed in Indian garb, but actually devout Christians, like a high percentage of the inhabitants of Cochin (and Kerala generally). All the names of streets and the people were either English, Portuguese (as Cochin was a former Portuguese colony) or Jewish. Our room was basic (cold showers) and extremely hot and humid but clean and airy.

We went out for some dinner down totally deserted streets at Addy's Restaurant, delicious Keralan cooking and then back to Princess Street to seek shelter in the freezing air-conditioned Internet cafe, where I could have stayed for the entire night - sheer bliss!