7/2/10 Munnar Sunday

We woke up at 5.30 to be ready to meet our driver for the next few days. Rajul and Mr Wilson arrived to meet us with the big Ambassador car one of Indias staple tourists cars which feels like an old classic but is actually a modern car. Once we loaded the car up we left waved off by Mr Wilson and Jackson which was really lovely and unexpected. We drove off through Fort Cochin back over the bridge and through Ernakulam towards Munnar. It was only about 6.30 but alot of the churches we passed were packed with people and there were lots of people up and about the place. Rajul stopped the car in a small place called Kodanad as there were two elephants regularly bathed in the river there, We went down to the waters edge and saw two elephants being washed, an older mother and a six year old youngster. The mahouts invited us in to give the elephants a scrub. Phil got bare footed and picked up a piece of coconut shell and gave the adult elephant a good scrub until another load of tourists arrived when he got out to give them all a turn. The elephants were really relaxed in the water and seemed to enjoy the attention. We had the elephants to ourselves for about five minutes so got some nice photos before the other tourists arrived. After the elephant bathing Rajul took us along to a very nice homestay for a traditional Keralan breakfast. We had veg stew, rice pancakes called appams, chckpea broth and then coconut and fruits with a rice loaf . It was all really light and tasty and much better than we had imagined. We had tea and ate the food with our right hand like the locals do and chatted to the owner, a very well spoken Indian man. We carried on driving, as it was another four hours till Munnar, at a really gentle pace, the opposite of our other driver thankfully. Rajul pulled over a few times to show us rice fields, pineapple crops, rubber trees and black pepper corns all being grown. Rajul stopped at a market to get vegetables for the homestay we were staying at over the next two nights and we made another stop at a river. There was a stunning view across the Periyar river and the tropical forest beyond which Phil took a few shots of. We started to gain a bit of altitide and were winding up the roads when we stoped at a viewpoint over Vallara waterfall. We were the star attraction wih the Indian tourists again who all wanted pictures with us. After that stop we wound our way further up towards the tea plantations and pased eucalyptus trees which were once used to fuel the processing plants. The views were really something across the valley and the air had cooled so it was nice and comfortable. We pulled into a view point cafe and had tea and a few nibbles, which we shared with an Indian family, eight of whom had got out of a micra sized car. Phil mistakenly bought himself some Indian music on Cd but when we put it into the car stereo it got stuck and wouldn't play. That was actually a God send as when it finally did play it was pretty awful. Munnar is one of the worlds highest tea producing areas and was once known a the High Plains of Travancore. The landsape and colour is fabulous with bright green tea plants which are perfectly manicured and tended. We drove through the tea plantations and it was one of the most stunning places we had seen here. We drove down a small lane into the gates of our homestay, Jiss Dale (much to Phil's amusement). We popped our bags into our room and then Rajul excitedly took us up to the terrace which had really stunning open views of the valley below. He left us there for a few hours to relax after the long drive and then at about 4 we decided to go and explore the area on foot for a while. Rajul told us which way to go but we managed to go into a small village called Pothamadu instead. The people in the village were very friendly with ready smiles and hellos fo us. We stopped to chat to a couple of girls and they invited us to have tea in their home. They lived as a family of six in two rooms. We sat in the one with a bed and the kitchen and were given tea and chatted to the three girls. Two were sisters and one was a cousin and they had pretty good English so we managed to talk quite well. We asked them to guess our ages and they guessed Phil was 59 and Liz was 58 !!! We must have been having an off day. We stayed a while and the girls showed us some necklaces they had made. We bought a couple from them and handed over about a pound and their eyes nearly popped out. We walked back towards Jiss Dale passing a bit of a domestic argument which most of the villagers were outside nosing at. We watched the sunset on the terrace and went to the room and rediscovered our music and MP3 players. We haven't really listened to much music so it was a real treat to blast our tunes out for a while. Liz read a magazine and Phil sorted out his video discs while we listened to the music and then we were called for dinner. Ther were two Spanish girls, an American and a French couple staying too and we shared a veggie stew, rice, chapatis and fruit. We all chatted away about our various travels and exchanged thoughts and opinions. The Spanish girls went to bed but the rest of us stayed up chatting on the terrace for a while. There were bats flying in and out above our heads too. It was a nice evening and we went off to bed not too late.

8/2/10 Munnar Monday

Got up at am and had breakfast of eggs, tea and toast then got picked up by Rajul for a tour of the Munnar area,. We stopped in Munnar town first after stopping en route to see the lovely tea plants. Munnar town is a bustling town within the stunning surroundings of rocky crags and rolling fields of tea plants which are really vivid green in the bright sunshine. There are sixteen tea estates that grow tea in the area and the fresh tips are hand picked every seven days and sheared off every 15 days so there is plenty of work for the local people as its very labour intensive. Most of the pickers are female as their hands are more adept at picking than mens. ( Their hands are only good for nose and bum picking!!) The area for cultivating tea was discovered and develped by the British in the 19th century. Rajuv stopped us at the Mayura Ayuverdic Center to book a amssage for that night. Ayurverdic treatment is widely used in India and is a medicine that uses massage and holistic herbal therapies. We booked in for a face, head and body massage with a steam bath which would take an hour and a half. Phil missed the bit that mentioned he would have a male masseuse though!! After booking that for 8pm we drove to see a good view over the tea plantations where we could take a few shots and there were stalls selling all the locally grown cashews, tea, coffee as well as hand made chocolate. We drove on to see Muttupetty Dam Indias 1st arched dam. Rajul dropped us off one one side and we walked across the dam to meet him on the other. We stopped to buy some tea, chocolate and Indian spices from one of the stalls there too. It was really beautiful with the water reflecting the mountians and it reminded us alot of New Zealand. Next we stopped at Echo Point, again on a lovely lake and there was a brilliant echo across to the monutains opposite which the Indians were really enjoying themselves trying. We gto all of us some freshly roasted cashews to munch on although Rajul was having a dose of dehli Belly so wasn't feeling too great. We then drove to see the top station viewpoint on the border between Kerala and Tamil Nadu provinces. The old hill station building isn't there anymore but we cvould see remnants of its foundations. There was a good view from there of the Western Ghats but unfortunately a mist had come in so it wasn't too clear. We had a quick cup of tea before heading back to Munnar town for some food. We ate in a cafe recommended by Rajul but the food was dire. Liz had a really spicy and chewy beef dish and Phils chicken dish was all bones !!! Rajul felt bad but he said the veggie stuff was pretty good there so it might just be the meat options. While we ate he went off to buy a chicken for our dinner and some medicine for his belly. We arrived back at Jiss Dale at about 4 and spent a few hours just relaxing until Rajul took us for our massages. Phil has explained his in his own words and so has Liz so enjoy.

Phils massage: " On entering the Mayura Ayavurdic Centre I was looking forward to my Sagandhitha Abhyangaswedam massage until I realised the masseuse was a male! In for a penny and in for a pound I thought and I entered the treatment room. The masseuse spoke very little English but instructed me to remove my clothes...ALL MY CLOTHES!!! The masseuse then proceeded to get onto his knees to attach a paper g-string around my private parts. On looking down all I could see was his head quite close to my groin. When I say paper g-string it was more like a Rizla paper with string. Although I'm not intending to brag my winky is slightly bigger than a cocktail sausage -ask Liz if you don't believe me. Once I had my paper pants attached I was told to lie on the couch on my back. The masseuse poured on warm oil which was quite pleasant and began to massage my chest and shoulders. He pressed quite hard onto my chest and I thought if Liz is having the same it will rip the pacemaker wires out. The oil smelt more like cooking oil than essential oil and more like wooden sandals than sandalwood. However the front massage was quite pleasant and I tried to make small talk with the masseuse. After half an hour I was instucted to roll onto my front. This is where things started to get interesting. Full body massage really does mean full body massage as I was about to find out. The masseuse started by pouring warm oil onto my lower back . This feels nice I thought until he began to rub the oil in whilst stood at the head end of the couch. As he rocked backwards and forwards I could feel a bulge touching my forehead. I daren't look up in case it ended up in my face. As the massage continued the movements became faster and I had to keep telling myself the bulge was his wallet. It was a relief when he stopped massaging my back until his hands then wandered onto my buttocks !! He seemed to take forever massaging this part of my body so to take my mind off the fact a man was touching my arse, I closed my eyes and imagined an attractive woman. However this had too much of the desired effect as I was having stirrings..if you know what I mean. To top it off the curry I had earlier was making its way through my digetive system and I was dying to fart. To prevent breaking wind in the masseuses face I clenched my butt cheeks which just made him massage them even harder. Once the trauma of the body massage was over (incidently the lower body part was 20 minutes and I am now mentally scarred) the face massage began. Basically he played with my double chins, which have increased in size admittedly since taking the malaria tablets not the excessive amount of puddings Liz has been feeding me. The final stage of the massage was the head which felt like a beating more than a treatment and I am sure I saw Liz slip the masseuse some money before we entered the room. With the massage complete it was now time for the 'steam bath' which was a wooden box with a hole in it connected by a pipe to a pressure cooker!!! Once inside the curry induced gas leaked out and I sat stewing in curry scented steam for twenty minutes...nice!! I asked the masseuse to take a picture of me in the steamer as it was quite a funny contraption. He tried to take a shot but hadn't removed the lens cap and when he did the lens immediately fogged up with oily steam !! Once I'd finished cooking the masseuse proceeded to dry my upper body with a sheet. The rizla paper had fallen off and I was butt naked in the room with an Indian man drying me!! The drying didn't stop at the waist !! The whole treatment was finished when he rubbed what can only be desribed as curry powder on my head. All said and done it was a good experience, worth the money and I would have it done again but with a female masseuse . Also I definately know where my sexual preferences are !!!"

Liz's massage: " After Phil had left with his male masseuse looking terrified I was sent upstairs and was met by a young female masseuse. We went into the treatment room and she said to take off my clothes. I asked how many clothes and she replied "leave panties" so I undressed down to my very sexy bright yellow Merritt pants I'd bought in Varanasi. She told me to lie down on my front first which I did and she poured hot oil over my back and shoulders. She really didn't speak any English so there wasn't much conversation so I just closed my eyes and enjoyed the back and shoulder massage. After about ten relaxing minutes she moved onto my lower legs, fett, which I could hardly bare and my arms. She was really thorough and it all felt quite nice. There was some soft Indian music plating but it was a bit cold in the room and the oil got cold quite quickly. She asked me to roll over onto my back and she began the face massage. It was a pretty horrible experiance really because she used cold water and some sort of runny cream which was running into my eyes. It certainly wasn't like any facial treatments I've had before. Next she moved onto my shoulders, love handles and belly. bless her, she nearly had a heart attack when she touched my pacemaker and yelled "madam what is that?" i tried to explain with her looking very worried but she was ok in the end and carried on. She carried on gently massaging my upper body and to my suprise started to massage my boobs aswell. That was a bit weird but also quite nice to be honest. Once my entire frame had been greased up to within an inch of its life I had to sit up and get off the table. This was not an easy task covered in warm oil. She then sat me on a stool and started to massage my head which like Phils felt more like a head bashing ansd scratching than anything therapeutic. She then started to comb my by now very greasy head and put my hair up for me ( I assume its all part of the ladies treatment). I havent had anyone putting my hair up since mum used to do my plaits as a little girl. After that I climbed into the pressure cooker attached steam chair and proceeded to doze while I cooked. It was quite nice to have the head sticking out as your body sweated but your face stayed cool. Once I was cooked I climbed out of the box and she dried me down with a sheet too. She then seemed to be looking at my sweat and oil covered pants and said something which I assumed was take them off whichI diud...wrong. The masseuse looked very confused and said "no panties on" It was too late by then so I just walked over to my clothes in the buff and got myself dressed commando style. The whole time I was in there I kept thimnking of Phil in the buff looking worried about the man touching him and then him sitting in the sdteamer with his head poking out of the top. I had to stop myself from laughing out loud a few times. It was quite nice and my skin felt fab but I had been quite cold and the face bit was nasty but it was an experience thats for sure."

We met back up in the reception area and on the drive back to the homestay we were in stitches comparing notes . Phils descriptions of the rizla etc made us laugh loads and we were both crying by the time we got back...hilarious. When we arrived back our by now cold meal was served up but it was pretty yummy. The whole place was dark and quiet so everyone else must have already gone to bed so thats where we went too.