Tea for Two and Paratha for Ten

KB had recommended the hill station called Munnar that is 5 hours east of Kochi. She had used the word 'amazing' when noting it down in our guide book and she was very accurate. It is the principal area for tea plantations and the beauty of the tea trees covering the hills like a moss is 'amazing'! The area enjoys a refreshing climate with crisp mornings and delightfully cool evenings. Not all the mountains in the area are used for tea plantations and they form a wild backdrop to the perfectly manicured tea trees.

The town itself is rugged and run down but has all the amenities you need. For us it houses one of the best restaurants we have been to in India, just thinking about the parathas now makes my mouth drool. It was another gem told to us by KB and we went there for every meal, mainly for the paratha where we must have eaten our body weight of these delicious, fluffy unleavened breads.

We walked to the tea museum and learnt how the tea plantations came to start here and the history of the huge corporations Tata and the lives of the tea workers. We could also see how tea is produced from the trees. We found it all very interesting but most of the Indians were in and out of the 30 minute video and left after a few minutes from the talk by one of the workers! James and I were laughing at how rude they seemed but nobody else battered an eyelid!

We took a local bus to the 'Top Station' and by the time we got to the top the clouds had come in. Luckily for us the trip up the mountain was beautiful with views as far as you could see; we didn't mind at all that we missed the view from the top. We saw some more views and got up close and personal with the tea plantations when went for a few walks away from the town. We needed to do a lot of walking after the paratha and the homemade chocolates we just had to have after each meal!