Today was a bit of a lower-key day… I’ll tell the story by pictures again. Hopefully I can upload it somewhere tomorrow if I can find an internet café.

The sky was clearer this morning when we woke. Diane and I took a nice walk down the tiny road to a tea plantation. On the way down we found this big guy blocking our path.

We got a view of our cottage from down on the road.

There are wild morning glories climbing on everything here. They’re a really beautiful color. It’s almost like a weed

The tea plantation was beutifully layed out over some rolling hills. There are endless bushes of tea . Each one is bout 3-4 feet tall and cut flat. The harvested tea is jus the new growth on the top. Evidently they grow to be real trees if allowed. They keep them in this ‘bonzai’ state by cutting them back several times a year. Each tree lasts between 80 and 120 years.

The scenery around the tea country is really soft green and rolling. Everything seems to be shrouded in a mist.. It’s a very peaceful effect.

Here’s a tea pickers view of the field.

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We got back to the hotel around 8:30 and went up had breakfast then woke Gabe.

The mist had cleared which allowed us to see the layout of the hotel..

We ran into this huge moth outside the breakfast room it was really amazing.

We met up with Manooj around 10 , hopped in the car and headed out on an explore. We found this small Hindu shrine in a cave right around the corner from our hotel

We were able to catch soem views from the road that were too misty to see yesterday afternoon. The scenery is really gorgeous.

We were only a few KM outside of Munnar. The center of town is nothing special.. but it’s really busy.

We soon got to Erivakulum National Park .. the highest point in the Western Ghatts. The parking area was packed .. a long line and many folks selling things.. one of the snacks being sold was fresh carrots. We and one other couple were the only westerners in sight. It was fun. The other couple were Linda and Patrick .. they’re also at our hotel. She’s from South Africa and He’s from Australia.. They live in London now.

We hopped a bus and drove up to the high parking area.. As everywhere in India.. there was much to see and many signs to read.

We saw several signs telling us about the beautiful blue blooms of the nxsauihiasgfdsarew98 flower (I don’t remember the name.. I made that one up) that blooms every 12 years.. Unfortunately they chose last year to bloom..

At the parking area we were able to walk a few KM further until we were blocked by another sign.. time to turn around and walk down.

On the way we saw some mountain goats.. that was it for wildlife.. but still cool to see.

Gabe climbed a big rock and placed a SamStone before we headed down on the bus

Again we met up with so many friendly people who wanted to talk to us and take our picture. They are all so genuinely warm.

We grabbed a snack of cashews at the bottom then drove off with Manooj.

We drove by a huge tea processing plant. This one doen’t allow tours.. but I think we’re going to see one tomorrow.

We made a breif stop back in Munnar for me to post last night’s blog.. then we headed out to lunch

The lunch place we picked was in a big hotel . They had a good Indian buffet. The dining room sat on the edge of a cliff overlooking a valley full of tea fields.. it was pretty nice.

They had soem pictures of a major flood in 1924… it reminds us of the Richmond flood of ’27.

The restaurant also had this cool pool filled with flowers that made a design.

We got back on the road and drove past several scenic temples, churches and schools.. and everywhere.. more tea.. Note the tall trees in the tea fields a re Silver Oak.. We were told that they’re there to help shade the tea and give them more oxygen.. sounds weird.. but that’s what they said.

Eventually we came to Madupetty Damn.. it’s a big hydro project that supplies water and electricity to the area. It’s a very pretty place..

We packed up again on the other end of the bridge and headed down to the water front.> As we drove we passed a guy giving kids elephant rides.. Not something you see everyday !

We got down tot eh waterfront and rented a speed boat along with our new friends Linda and Patrick.. The driver’s name was Rajesh and he was great. He even let Gabe drive for a while. It was pretty cool buzzing around the lake.

We passed one other nboat with a very unlikely name give the part of the world we were in.

After the boat ride we drove up to Echo Point and whistled across the water and listened to our echos.. Good clean fun.. W had a cup of tea and tried some local hand made candy.. .. which was really tasty

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On the way back to the hotel we saw many kids walking home from school. They all wore school uniforms.. It looked like some o them had major hikes to get home.

The tea company actually runs the school buses here.

Wild poinsettia’s were growing along the Munnar road..

We got back to the hotel around 5:30 and said goodnight to Manooj

The rest of the evening was pretty quiet. Tit had started to rain so we sat in the room for a while and played poker. Around 7 we went up and played a few rounds of ping pong waiting for the restaurant to open. When it did we were surprised to find that it wasn’t the cheery and diverse buffet that we had last night.. but was ala-carte. There were very few customers and very many wait staff. They kind of hovered around us being friendly.. but it was a little creepy. The food was good.. but we were glad to get out of there.. ..

We have to get up early now.. So I’ll end here. Tomorrow we leave for Thekaddy.. I’ve liked this place, but I’ll be glad to be moving on. More tomorrow !.

Goodnight everyone.. Max we love.. goodnight Sam !

-us