Time for a cuppa in Munnar

Waterfalls aint free

After a short stay in Fort Cochin we decided that it was time for a tasty cuppa up in the hills of Munnar. A touch further inland from Kochin and at a slightly higher altitude of 2500 meters is Munnar, the land of tea…… It took approximately 5 hours on the local deaf ride called a bus, but we managed to arrive in one piece. We were greeted with a typical new-arrivals welcome from the tuc-tuc drivers as per usual and we headed up to our pre-arranged accommodation with a sleazy tout in toe. A few words later we’d free ourselves and settled into our new home for the next couple of nights. A friendly owner with a weirdness about him who liked to sign all the time (high and girl like) and also kept animal skulls under our bed….these weren’t discovered until our last night)…..

The View over the Munnar Tea Plantations

The scenery made up for the accommodation. Beautiful green hills, clouds lapping around the tea fields with a thirst for a brew, and lovely fresh air…… the town however had beeps and fumes but luckily for us we were staying a little out-of-town. Our first mission was to get hold a cuppa….we were parched….

What I like best about arriving in a new place is discovering the shops and restaurants and laughing at the really crap stuff on sale…..(almost every shop in India is identical),

…….this time we found an excellent place to eat. It was called Rapsy Restaurant and situated in an Indian equivalent of an Arndale Centre. The owner/ waiter was the most friendliest guy we have met in India and he liked to show us his coin collection and also fill out his visitor book……we haven’t eaten yet, I said……..after though we both filled it in and said how nice the food was. After gathering up enough information about the tea plantations and waterfalls it was sleep time…..

Our Road Hog

We headed out to find ourselves a scooter and set off to find the hill station which is one of the tourist highlights. Approximately 2 hours away. On the way we passed many tea works in the fields along with road repairers and general maintenance operatives. This area of India is truly beautiful…… we finally made it to the top on our 110cc Honda scooter that barely got up the hills. We stopped for a brew…..it was hard work…….2 teas please…..the waiter brings 2 coffees……..HARD WORK.

After soaking in as much scenery and air as we could we then set off in search of a Lukkom waterfall. It was a good 2 hours on the scooter. We finally made it and was surprised to find that there were no walks around it, you can’t touch it, you also have to pay 5 rupees for the pleasure of looking at it, and also have to pay to use the toilet that you’d just paid to get into.  India really doesn’t want you to see anything for free.

After a minute or two we then set off back on our long scooter ride back up the many hills and valleys back to Munnar for some tasty curry and tea at our new found friends restaurant……