Well hello there, we are back from our 3 day trip to Munnar and as promised here's what went on.
Not long after new year Tom and Lauren came to stay with us for a few days as part of their holiday here in India, they had had a few days in Mumbai, a few in Goa and then flew down to Kerala to spend some time with us. It was great to see them, we caught up on the "real world" and had some great meals but they had gone back and left us feeling a bit flat so we decided we also needed a holiday. We looked at the flights to Dubai, Sri Lanka and even Thailand and though cheaper than flying from the UK were still more than we wanted to pay for a short break. So, we decided to go on what my mother would call "an adventure" here in Kerala. But where? Ruth, Sarah's 2nd cousin is due to join us in four weeks time for a couple of weeks, her first trip to India, so no doubt she will want to do one or more of the usual destinations e.g. House Boat, Sleeper to Madurai etc. so where to go? Since new year the temperature has been steadily rising averaging 34 C in the shade so we decided to head for the hills to Munnar.
Munnar is a hill station, a small town 1600 m above sea level in the Western Ghats i.e at the top right hand tip of Kerala. It's famous for its tea gardens and according to the travel info set in stunning scenery, lush and green, oh and cool. Its where the Raj went when it got a bit too warm for comfort. According to Google maps its a 5-6 hour journey by car so doable. I consulted TripAdvisor and found the top rated hotel and found it to be reasonable (for a treat and couple of days holiday) at £45 per night and the taxi for three days inc. driver was £120 i.e we would be only moderately ripped off by Indian Tourist Rates. So we booked it.
We packed our bag for the frozen north as at night the temperature was predicted to crash to the mid teens i.e. 16 C at night and no higher than 28 C in the day, positively cold, and to make the most of the day were picked up at 7 a.m. by our driver. We made ourselves comfy(ish) for the drive and then were told the journey would take 10 hours and not the 6 as predicted by Google. 10 hours on good Indian roads is no joke, when half the journey is on one track mountain roads its a nightmare. I adopted a fixed grin and settled back to the joy of feeling like I was being kicked up the arse by a man with hobnail boots for the entire trip.
A little about Indian main roads, mostly they are three lanes wide, not that they are supposed to be, they just work out that way. There is one lane in each direction, sort of, and the informal bus or lorry lane which runs down the white line in the centre. This is the "Lane of Death" with traffic traveling at break neck speed simultaneously in either direction. its also where you have to go to overtake. (NB. overtaking should preferably be done on blind bends, over bridges or when the road narrows, at least that's how it feels. Apparently when Fast and Furious was shown here no one could understand what was the problem as it appeared to be about a few mates taking a Sunday drive).
Fortunately we had a good driver, but he did have one rather disturbing habit. He was a devout christian not a problem in itself but every few hundred yards there was a roadside shrine or church (some no doubt commemorating the last major accident, where someone had gone off a cliff or ploughed into oncoming traffic) and he insisted on taking his hands off the wheel to bless himself as we passed, three cars abreast at 60 mph with a sheer drop on one side and a 40 tonne truck heading straight for us on the other.
However, after 10 hours of bum numbing, white knuckle ride through some truly beautiful mountain roads with spectacular cliff views (which I saw all too close for my liking) we finally arrived at our hotel. Well not quite "at the hotel" near would be more accurate. The 1.5km drive down to the hotel, which was perched on the side of the hill, was being repaired so our taxi couldn't get us all the way there. The repairs were "interesting" at the top of the single track drive a 5m x 25m concrete slab was being laid and further down to save concrete two concrete tracks had been made one for each wheel, the center of the road being large hardcore rubble, no doubt to help with drainage in rainy season. After a long long drive walking down the hill with our bags was not going to be fun. We shouldn't have worried the hotel had arranged transport to get us from the slab to reception and were sending the vehicle up to meet us. A nice touch. Then it arrived. A tuk tuk. If you are unfamiliar with this mode of transport, there is one defining thing which describes a tuk tuk. They have 3 wheels. A two track road with hard core down the middle is not an ideal road surface for a tuk tuk and after 10 hours on death defying roads with a driver who felt the need to take is hands off the wheel everytime we passed a depiction of the Madonna or a cross whilst heading into oncoming traffic on a mountain pass we nearly ended up at the bottom of a cliff 300 meters from the hotel as the front wheel jammed into a large rock in the middle of the track.
At this point i remember shouting something like "Jesus H Christ!!!" as the tuk tuk reared up then set itself down on the road with inches to spare... Maybe the driver had got it right.
Not long after new year Tom and Lauren came to stay with us for a few days as part of their holiday here in India, they had had a few days in Mumbai, a few in Goa and then flew down to Kerala to spend some time with us. It was great to see them, we caught up on the "real world" and had some great meals but they had gone back and left us feeling a bit flat so we decided we also needed a holiday. We looked at the flights to Dubai, Sri Lanka and even Thailand and though cheaper than flying from the UK were still more than we wanted to pay for a short break. So, we decided to go on what my mother would call "an adventure" here in Kerala. But where? Ruth, Sarah's 2nd cousin is due to join us in four weeks time for a couple of weeks, her first trip to India, so no doubt she will want to do one or more of the usual destinations e.g. House Boat, Sleeper to Madurai etc. so where to go? Since new year the temperature has been steadily rising averaging 34 C in the shade so we decided to head for the hills to Munnar.
Munnar is a hill station, a small town 1600 m above sea level in the Western Ghats i.e at the top right hand tip of Kerala. It's famous for its tea gardens and according to the travel info set in stunning scenery, lush and green, oh and cool. Its where the Raj went when it got a bit too warm for comfort. According to Google maps its a 5-6 hour journey by car so doable. I consulted TripAdvisor and found the top rated hotel and found it to be reasonable (for a treat and couple of days holiday) at £45 per night and the taxi for three days inc. driver was £120 i.e we would be only moderately ripped off by Indian Tourist Rates. So we booked it.
We packed our bag for the frozen north as at night the temperature was predicted to crash to the mid teens i.e. 16 C at night and no higher than 28 C in the day, positively cold, and to make the most of the day were picked up at 7 a.m. by our driver. We made ourselves comfy(ish) for the drive and then were told the journey would take 10 hours and not the 6 as predicted by Google. 10 hours on good Indian roads is no joke, when half the journey is on one track mountain roads its a nightmare. I adopted a fixed grin and settled back to the joy of feeling like I was being kicked up the arse by a man with hobnail boots for the entire trip.
A little about Indian main roads, mostly they are three lanes wide, not that they are supposed to be, they just work out that way. There is one lane in each direction, sort of, and the informal bus or lorry lane which runs down the white line in the centre. This is the "Lane of Death" with traffic traveling at break neck speed simultaneously in either direction. its also where you have to go to overtake. (NB. overtaking should preferably be done on blind bends, over bridges or when the road narrows, at least that's how it feels. Apparently when Fast and Furious was shown here no one could understand what was the problem as it appeared to be about a few mates taking a Sunday drive).
Fortunately we had a good driver, but he did have one rather disturbing habit. He was a devout christian not a problem in itself but every few hundred yards there was a roadside shrine or church (some no doubt commemorating the last major accident, where someone had gone off a cliff or ploughed into oncoming traffic) and he insisted on taking his hands off the wheel to bless himself as we passed, three cars abreast at 60 mph with a sheer drop on one side and a 40 tonne truck heading straight for us on the other.
However, after 10 hours of bum numbing, white knuckle ride through some truly beautiful mountain roads with spectacular cliff views (which I saw all too close for my liking) we finally arrived at our hotel. Well not quite "at the hotel" near would be more accurate. The 1.5km drive down to the hotel, which was perched on the side of the hill, was being repaired so our taxi couldn't get us all the way there. The repairs were "interesting" at the top of the single track drive a 5m x 25m concrete slab was being laid and further down to save concrete two concrete tracks had been made one for each wheel, the center of the road being large hardcore rubble, no doubt to help with drainage in rainy season. After a long long drive walking down the hill with our bags was not going to be fun. We shouldn't have worried the hotel had arranged transport to get us from the slab to reception and were sending the vehicle up to meet us. A nice touch. Then it arrived. A tuk tuk. If you are unfamiliar with this mode of transport, there is one defining thing which describes a tuk tuk. They have 3 wheels. A two track road with hard core down the middle is not an ideal road surface for a tuk tuk and after 10 hours on death defying roads with a driver who felt the need to take is hands off the wheel everytime we passed a depiction of the Madonna or a cross whilst heading into oncoming traffic on a mountain pass we nearly ended up at the bottom of a cliff 300 meters from the hotel as the front wheel jammed into a large rock in the middle of the track.
At this point i remember shouting something like "Jesus H Christ!!!" as the tuk tuk reared up then set itself down on the road with inches to spare... Maybe the driver had got it right.
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