MUNNAR Sept 18 – 22
WOW what a glorious place. staying in a beautiful valley Aranyaka resort in the Tata tea plantation with an amazing Waterfall across on the other side which drops around 300-400m. Really spectacular. D says they can see it across from the lovely cottage they are all sharing, and the sound of the rushing water is really lovely. This resort is privately owned and not a multinational chain. The owner was telling us that they grow all their own fruit and vegetables by organic principles, they have lovely gardens and have four gardeners working full time on the upkeep. The whole resort (very Small) is surrounded with tea plantations. Yesterday the women pickers like bright flowers among the bushes, were all out in the hills and the Tata tractors are chugging around the gravel roads pulling mobile bins piled high with bags of leaf.
The black tea here is lovely, mellow and not heavy with tannins.
Joana PhD. is heading south to Kottayam for some kind of vet conference and is presenting a paper. Unfortunately she is ill at present, probaby flu so is aching all over. D and G are now glad they had flu shots (albeit unwilingly)before they left. G seems to be having a reaction to the shots and is possibly allergic to the town pollution, he is ill also. It's a lay day today.
On the way to Munnar the driver recommended a stop at an elephant sanctuary on the banks of the Periyar River, (the largest in India) everyone was very excited about this, until they got there and were extremely saddened to see the large female elephant chained to a tree a few hundred metres away a large bull elephant similarly chained. 3 babies aged around 5 months each (orphans from the wild – like us) all also chained. One baby was like Opal and very sooky when the handler was chivvying him along he got all upset and put his trunk into a knot across itself and looked all unhappy. Just like Opal when she sucks her grooming claw.
D felt really sad and couldn't get away fast enough.
Munnar town is chaotic with auto rickshaws, taxis, cars little trucks, buses and people sharing a narrow windy main street, with potholes, mud and slush. Shops selling handmade chocolates, D was really keen until she noticed the shop assistant using his ungloved hands to break up pieces and put them in bags. She totally lost interest after that.
Because of the amount of water falls and rivers in these mountains there are many hydro power schemes. 5 or 6 dams, two of which were british built and curving a bit like Mundaring in WA. Millions of Indian tourists everywhere not many internationals. Heaps of he Indians are school kids on excursions, they kept rushing up and asking could they have their photo taken with D and G, very curious habit indeed. Pictures with 2 old gey hairs. One even called D aunty!!
Tomorrow th crew head off for Periyar-Kummily and the wild life reserve, en route to Kotayam on Thursday and the lakes and backwaters of Kerala.
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