Munnar (3 nights)

We rose early and, following breakfast, took a rickshaw to the bus station. I asked when the next bus was an he pointed at a white one and said 10.30. It was about 10.00, so we sat down on a bench and I grabbed a few snacks. Then the bus left! I spoke to another girl who was waiting for the same bus and we consulted the man at the enquiry desk again. I think he shrugged and still said 10.30. Sure enough another bus turned up and everything was fine, if confusing.

The journey was about 5 and a half hours and a lot of that was winding uphill. The views near the top were amazing. Munnar is a little town built to support the vast sprawling tea plantations that grow around and above it. The landscape of rolling hills carpeted in lush green tea was really quite stunning.

When we arrived we had a little bit of an argument. Tired after the long bus journey Angela was keen to get straight to a hotel, but I hadnt really decided where to go. She was not best pleased when I stood with the street with the book (lonely planet) open trying to figure it out. I wasnt too used to having to make decisions for more than myself and did not enjoy the pressure. Anyway, we hired a rickshaw to take us to a couple of places. The first place was full and the next place uninspiring, so we kept going. The next place was a bit further out of town and turned out to be up a ridiculously rough and bumpy dirt track. I jumped out and spoke to the owner, an old man, who was already serving tea to some of the other people who had been on our bus. He welcomed us in, so I ran and got Angela.

The old man was lovely, and very helpful, but more than a little bit senile! He was having some trouble trying to work out if he actually had enough rooms for everyone and we hung around for over an hour before being sent down the hill to a little guesthouse at the bottom, which was pleasant enough.

Over the next few days we made use of the info that the old man provided combined with the notes in the book.

To be continued...