We have covered some ground since the last blog and we now find ourselves in Munnar. We spent four days chilling out in Goa and managed to leave without wearing anything tied dyed. Goa is fine but not really our style. If we wanted to hang out with that many Europeans we would have gone to the Turkish coast. Russia has just discovered this part of the world and if you closed your eyes and stepped into a fridge you could be in St Petersburgh.
After Goa we flew to Kochin. Loved this quiet town to bits. Amazing mixture of colonial Portuguese and British architecture, alongside 14th Century Chinese fishing nets. Got chatting to the locals down at the cricket ground where there are at least 10 matches taking place.....hard to spot which ball belongs to who. Attempted tot walk around for a day, but walking in the heat, the Indians think you are mad and you must constantly turn down rickshaw drivers. Eventually you just jump in one when you can't face saying no anymore (and they're right- it is too hot to walk!)
From Kochin we went to Alleppy to float through Kerala's backwaters. Think Venice, take away the buildings and replace with palm trees and banana plantations. The locals were so friendly, constantly waving and engaging you in conversation. "From"? and "Your good name"? being the usual conversation starters. Replying "Australia" launches you into the mandatory cricket conversation (A lot of Ponting supporters here) "England" gives you cricket or football. Luckily these are two topics that we like!
From Alleppy we went to find some wildlife at Periyar National Park. Unfortunately this resulted in us seeing a couple of monkeys and not the wild elephants and tigers we had read about. Last tiger sighting here was 3 years ago, but this is something you discover after you have forked out the cash (of course) Anyway there were some amusing moments like walking to the bus station to find out bus times. Three guys sitting on a verandah shout down to us and ask what we are looking for. "A bus" we reply and go on our way. 5 minutes later a bearded guy on a motorbike pulls up alongside and says "Are you by any chance looking for me" Very confused we say no. He says my friends called me and said you were. I say " No, we are just looking for a bus" Suddenly a light goes on as he replies that his name is Abas! Funny times.
So anyway, we got the hell outta there and came upon the lovely Munnar which was a terrifying 5 hour bus journey through the mountains (is he really going to take that hairpin bend at this speed........?!) where we have spent the last 2 days, and plan to spend two more. We are staying up out of the town amongst tea plantations. The houses have rusted, corrugated iron roofs and are reminiscent of Australia. Every square inch of this place on every mountain is planted with tea. It is an amazing landscape, truly inspirational. To put it into words it reminds me of a Japanese zen garden, the ones where you rake sand into patterns around boulders and stones. Instead of raked sand, picture tea plantations. They hug every countour of the land and are plucked every 15 days, keeping them as pristine and perfect as if they were clipped box hedges at Versailles. This place has definitely been a highlight so far. Kerala is a fantastic state, but we will move on and head to the neighbouring Tamil Nadu next.
There are some moments here that put such a smile on your face. This morning we got up at 6:30 to get a rickshaw up to the highest point here. Sitting in the back, the view of the driver Kumar, the obligatory shrine on the dash, sub woofer speakers in the back pumping out a dance version of "The Final Countdown" Surely this only happens in India? I guess we will find out!
Until next time, R and W
