From High Tea to Delhi

Paul and Carolyn had a fantastic time when they headed in to the mountains of Kerala to a place called Munnar which produces a vast quantity of the world's tea.The temperature dropped on the way up the mountain in the local bus driven by a wannabe F1 driver, who seemed constantly attached to his horn and would stop for nothing even on hair-pin bends. A taxi driver way back in Mumbai had told us the taxi mantra; Good horn. Good brakes. Good luck.... this driver was pushing this saying to its limits!

The weather was a pleasant change from the constant sauna of the humid Indian summer to a climate similar to a pleasant UK summer day. They hired an auto-rickshaw to take them up the mountain to see the tea plantations up close. Things were a little worrying when the tuk tuk driver seemed to drive slower than we could walk, but they assumed he was just being cautious and thanked their lucky stars they didn't have the standard maniac driver. On their journey they witnessed amazing sights from massive dams, endless lush green tea plantation fields, filled with women who work 8 hours a day for £1 to clip the best tips off the tea bushes. It puts a totally different perspective on enjoying a nice cuppa. They were even invited to go and visit a 'plantation tribe village' to learn a bit about how the plantation workers live.

Not surprisingly the auto-rickshaw broke down before it reached the Top Station (the summit) and Paul and Carolyn were really not happy! They had a driver who could speak no English and they had no mobile signal to call for help. They were stranded with a broken tuk tuk! They managed to flag down a passing minibus containing an Indian family enjoying a luxury tour to see if they could hitch a ride, but the family did one better and invited Paul and Carolyn to join them for the rest of their trip. Once at the top, they hiked with their adopted Indian family through the tea bushes on the steep mountainside. Grandfather got them a bit lost on the path and the 5 minute meander took them totally off piste until the minibus driver located them, then it was a slog up the hill that Granny really struggled with! After the tour, the Indian family invited Carolyn and Paul to join them for lunch; a really spicy Thali feast in a hotel restaurant, costing a whole £1.50 each! They were such a lovely family and, as every other Indian they'd met, were keen to help and make their experience in Munnar as enjoyable as possible.

India won the cricket World Cup that night, so Paul and Carolyn struggled to get a minute sleep with all the celebrations going on around them. If the noise made from this little sleepy mountain town was any indication what the rest of India was like, it was a hell of a party going on that night! Cricket is almost a religion in this country, so it is so good that they won.

Paul and Carolyn really enjoyed their respite from the heat in the mountains, but braced themselves for the heat and made their way down the bumpy roads in the rickety local bus to the historical town Kochi for a couple of days. They stayed in an area called Fort Cochin, which is a relatively sleepy fishing village, where they spent a couple of days chilling, drinking chai (a favourite pastime of theirs) and eating really good Keralan fish curry.

Having spent a fantastic month in South India, it was now time to head North and a flight to India's capital; Delhi.

This is a crazy city. At first glance from the airport it looks really clean and vibrant and relatively calm; mainly due to a massive clean up for the Commonwealth Games last year. This is all a fantastic facade, because after an hour in the taxi driving 15 miles through the carnage, Paul and Carolyn finally got to their hotel off the Main Bazaar - a hotel wonderfully called Cottage Yes Please! This hotel had the first comfy beds they had come across in India. Most beds are as hard as concrete. They spent a couple of days in the Capital; looking around the impressive Red Fort and the funky observatory called Junter Munter, which Carolyn and Paul used as a playground! They also spent some time in the tranquil memorial to Mahatma Ghandi; the exact place where his funeral and cremation pyre occurred after he was assassinated. Near to the memorial is the National Ghandi Museum which contained all of Ghandi's personal possessions (which let's face it wasn't a lot!) including his glasses, sandals and even the bloodied robes he was wearing when he was shot.

They also spent some time in the very civilised area of the city called Connaught Place. This is basically an upmarket, outside circular shopping centre, built by the Brits in 1890's. Amidst the high street brand shops there are also some fantastic coffee houses and restaurants from the Victorian and glamorous 30's eras.

Delhi is exhausting. If the heat doesn't get to you, the constant hassle from rickshaw drivers, taxi drivers, shop owners, drug pushers, restaurateurs, beggars, begging kids and the leprosy sufferers, who wheel themselves around on rudimentary skateboards and cling on to your legs, really runs you down. That said, it is Paul and Carolyn's favourite city so far (as long as kept to a small dose) and the city that nearly made them Bollywood stars; a feature film was being shot in the restaurant next to the one they were eating in. There were 100's of people watching the commotion. When finished their food, Paul and Carolyn made their way through the crowd and were spotted by one of the production crew who wanted them to go the next day to audition for an Indian TV advert. They needed western talent! Unfortunately they'd already booked an early train to Agra the next day, so they had to turn down this opportunity..... they couldn't afford such talent anyway!!!

Thanks for all your messages to the blog. It's great to hear from you all. As so many of you are interested to know, I am happy to report that neither Carolyn or Paul have suffered from 'Delhi Belly' yet, which I am sure you all find astonishing if you know Carolyn's usual constitution! Touch wood this will continue past Delhi!

Wish you were here!

Love Judith, Carolyn and Paul xx