Destination Munnar

Saturday morning 4:30am the holiday began. After a very confusing airport experience I made it across to the west coast and was in a car with my personal driver Thomas. The drive, while littered with bends, monsoonal rain and poorly maintained roads, was divine. We passed countless waterfalls, tea plantations and the fog hung low, sadly obstructing views but creating a somewhat eerie beauty and stillness.

I checked into a very lovely hotel and booked an ayurvedic massage and medicated steam bath, hearing they were the go around here. Wow – such an experience – awkward, intense and so relaxing! Basically it is a case of a full strip down and a FULL body massage with the ayurvedic oils – there is one for your hair, another for your body and the last for your face. Then after a good hour of massage you sit in a box with your head sticking out and are steamed. The result is a very sweaty and greasy version of your former self and strict instructions to resist showering for an hour. Knowing there was only one way I would have the self control, I went to a restaurant overlooking the river for an early dinner – delightful!

Day 2 involved a closed tea museum, Eravikulam National Park and Mattupetti Dam. We arrived at the National Park to find a longggg line. I decided to join them and it was well worth it. I jumped on the bus that took us up the winding roads towards the Anamudi Peak. The remainder of the ascent was by foot and despite the downpour mid way up the slope and the fog, there was still some beautiful things to see; keeping water off the lens of my camera long enough to take a photo – well that was much more difficult. On the way down, whilst happy, I decided all I wanted was a nice ‘fog-less’ picture over the valley and to see just one of the famed but endangered Nilgiri tahr mountain goats. Then all of a sudden, as waiting for the bus back down, SPOTTED – mountain goat + stunning view! The experience was finished off nicely with a corn on the cob straight off the coals, cashew nut fry and mango with the newly-weds from Mumbai.

The Mattupetti Dam was another beautiful sight. A stunning view and my timing managed to score a break in the rain. It is so cold, I even purchased a second hand cardigan off the side of the road – I wonder what has got into me especially seeing as I am wearing the unwashed item right now but I figure it’s not going to kill me. Sure enough as soon as we left, it poured down rain!

On a side note: the oil from the massage will not leave my hair even after 5 goes with the shampoo – such a grease ball!

So there it is – Munnar – experienced.