Picture Perfect Munnar

From Kerala to Tamil Nadu and back again. We left coastal Cochin and its colonial influences for mountainous Munnar in the Western Ghats. Getting up at 4.30am to catch our 6am bus on the mainland was no barrel of laughs but we made it, bleary-eyed and disorientated.

4 ½ hours later we arrived in Munnar after a semi-perilous journey racing up very narrow winding roads with lots of blind corners. I absolutely loved the journey though, the views out of the window were spectacular; breathtaking mountain scenery and hills covered in tea-trees growing in impossibly neat rows.

The second we stepped off the bus in Munnar town we met David, an auto rickshaw driver who offered to take us around a few different guesthouses until we found one we liked. I liked David instantly. He was funny, humble and genuine; traits which I soon discovered most people in Munnar have. We arranged to go on a day's tour of Munnar with him. One of the first things I noticed (and appreciated) about Munnar when I got there is how cold it is! Refreshing after the sweltering heat and humidity of Cochin.

After a lunch of masala dosa from the street corner we hopped in our jeep and set off up the winding roads of the mountains. The 6 hour tour consisted of visiting amazing view points, a couple of Dams, a beautiful flower garden, the Indo-Swiss project and Top Station. We even saw jungle bee nests on the way! The highlights of the day were exploring the tea plantations and crossing the border into Tamil Nadu to get to Top Station which has views over both Kerala and Tamil Nadu. After heading back into Kerala, we ended the tour with a visit to a beautiful lake where we hired a boat and went rowing around. We then went to a shack next to the lake and had the best ginger chai ever!

Through our conversations I found out that David is originally from Tamil Nadu. As Munnar is on the border with Tamil Nadu, apparently 85% of the people living in Munnar are Tamil and speaking in Tamil is just as common, if not more popular than speaking in Malayalam. Most of the people in Munnar are Roman Catholic and there are churches all over the hills.

Walking around scruffy little Munnar town was great! Nobody tried to sell us anything and we could just stroll around unnoticed. Bliss. Anticipating a very chilly night in Munnar. I'm sad to leave but I'm really looking forward to continuing our journey through the Western Ghats to visit Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. Maybe I'll spot a tiger or two (but an elephant will do)!