From Tea to Spice Country.....

Monday, 18th January 2010

Monday morning, the group left Munnar to Thekkady. The descent was as slow as coming up from Cochin, esoecially with the many photo stops that we made at every spot with a fantastic vista of the valleys of tea plantation. We managed to stop and view some groups of tea pickers at work, some who were carrying their leaves to the weighing stations and they were quite happy to pose for us! Most of these workers came from Tamil Nadu, so they speak Tamil, instead of Malayalam, which is the language of Kerala. Most of the tea estates belong to India companies like Tata and some belong to familiar British name like the Harrison ( and Crossfields?).

Although the distance from Munnar to Thekkady is only about 120 km, we took about 4 hours to cover that distance. As we descended to about 4000 feet above sea level, the tea plantations gradually became replaced by acres and acres of spice plantations, the most noticeable from the road are the cardamom (they look like ginger plants) and pepper plants.

the sacks of tea being weighed

to determine how much the picker earned...

carrying sacks of tea on the head

from the plantation to the weighing area..

the group's driver and guide...

John, with pakdokter's partner..

The Eravikulam National Park...

Sunday, 17th January 2010

Our driver-cum-guide, John, advised the group to leave early on Sunday morning for the visit to the Eravikulam National Park. The highest point of the Nilgiri Mountain at the Western Ghat Mountain Range reached 8000 feet above sea level. This mountain range is the habitat and sanctuary of the Nilgiri goats, whose famous fine hair from under the neck used to be shaved and used for the making of expensive 'pashminas'. This practice is now banned in order to prevent these rare goats from going into extinction but careful enquiries at the many Kashmiri shops in the towns would usually persuade the shopkeepers to take out their collection of 'real' pashminas from their hidden compartments!

True to John's suspicions, there was already a long queue of domestic tourists waiting for the bus to ferry them up from the entrance to the next station from where the hiking trail began. John bought our entry tickets ( foreigners were charged 200 rupees each compared to locals who only have to pay 15 rupees each). Each camera brought into the park will be charged a fee of 50 rupees each.

The bus ride up to the higher station was in itself an exprience! The road was narrow, bumpy and the ascent was steep. In the bus, our group had the company of an extended family who came from Andhra Pradesh? - apparently about 1000 miles to the north of Kerala. They took 48 hours by train to reach this hill station!

The first half of the ride was through tea plantations ( tea is planted at altitude 4000 to 6000 feet above sea level) but as we reached further up, the vegetation was mostly of shrubs which became thinner as we went higher up to finally end up with rocky walls quite similar to Mount Kinabalu of Sabah or the Table Mountain of Capetown. Despite the bright and sunny day, the temperature was a pleasant and cool 15 degrees celcius which made you not realise how much sun was soaked up during that whole morning.

As a bonus to the hike, we were rewarded towards the end of the hike by a sighting of a Nilgiri goat ( apparently quite rare) who came out to pose for our cameras and to help himself with some of the shoots of the shrubs.

some cows being herded to their grazing plot....

tea plantation at lower levels of the park..

4 members of the group at the back of the bus..

the park was clean and litter free...

and many posters like the above....

reminding everybody to be good tourists...

the view from the top was exhilarating...

a bit like Mount Kinabalu?....

the tea plantations in the valleys..

at last... the Nilgiri goat!.....

The Streets of Munnar....

Saturday, 16th January 2010

Munnar is a small hill town about the size of Tanah Rata and Ringlet (in our own Cameron Highlands) combined. The most prominent buildings of the town are the Hindu temple, the mosque which is still under construction and the Catholic Church. About 40% of the population of Kerala is Hindu, Moslems make up about 25% and Christians another 25%. The rest are minorities, followers of other faiths like the Jains, Zoroastrians etc etc...

An interesting feature of the town is the fact that the three main places of worship, the Hindu temple, the mosque and the church are located next to each other in the centre of town, signifying the peaceful co-existence and tolerance of peoples of different faiths....

The weekend that our group was there co-incided woth a long 4-day weekend holidays. The 'Ponggal' festival fell on the previous Thursday and Friday and the town and the highlands were crowded with domestic tourists from both Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The streets of the town were bustling with street vendors and the shops were full of people bargaining for clothes and jewellery.

the 3-wheeler scooter taxicab ( bajaj).....

an affordable mode of transport....

bigger vans and taxis which brought in

domestic tourists from Tamil Nadu and Kerala..

the mosque, still under construction...

the Hindu temple perched on a hillock next to the mosque..

kacang putih?.....

flour??....

sugar cane for religious ceremony....??

garlands to match the colourful saris...

some cookie?...

or gold bangles at current high prices?.....

some spices to cook dinner for the night...

basmathi or Kerala rice?....

new pots to cook the fish masala?...

Munnar, the Tea Country....

16th January 2009

We checked out of the luxurious Ramada Resort early Saturday morning for the first leg of the tour of Kerala - destination - the tea country of Munnar on the western slopes of the Western Ghats mountains of India. This distance was just about 120 km. But getting out of Cochin easily took one hour if not more. The streets were narrow and the traffic was heavy with buses, lorries and 3-wheel bajajs fighting for space to move on. And to top it all the noise from the constant 'honking' took a while to get used to! And Kerala ( pakdokter wondered if the rest of India would be the same) still has a long way to go to keep it's city clean...

The drive up to the Western Ghats was also slow - not due to heavy traffic - but due to the steep ascent along a narrow and winding road. Some stretches were like the drive up from Tapah to Cameron Highlands and some stretches were not unlike the narrower road from Gap up to our own Fraser's Hills! However this slow 3 to 4 hours drive up was made up for the emerging fantastic sceneries of undulating tea plantations as we drew closer to Munnar city, located at 6000 feet above sea level. The temperature was a pleasant 20 degrees celsius which came down to low teens in the evening and night.

We checked-in at the Tea County Hotel, an oufit managed by the KTDC ( Kerala Tourist Development Corporation).. It is a pretty resort on a strategic location overlooking the city. It is probably the best, if not among the best, that Munnar has to offer in terms of accomodation. The chalets are comfortable and the buffet dinner and breakfast offerred a sumptous selection of Kerala cuisines. The resort also has an 'ayurvedic spa' where various forms of therapies are on offer.

We spent the afternoon visiting the 'Tea Museum', first watching a well-documented feature describing the history of Munnar and the beginnings of the tea industry in the region. Thanks to the adventurous British soldiers from Madras who trekked up the Ghats and started the tea industry in the region which provided thousands of employment for the local folks as well as workers from the neighbouring Tamil Nadu. Currently most of the plantations are owned by giant Indian companies like the Tata with part ownership by co-operatives set up by the workers.

the road up to Munnar....
tea plantations....

a bird's eye view of Munnar city...

the lobby of Tea County Hotel...

the gardens of Tea County Hotel...

it feels like in Switzerland?...

roses in bloom..

The Ramada Resort, Kochi..

15th January 2009

The AirAsia flight left the LCCT at Sepang at 250 pm and reached Kochi ( Cochin) four hours and 20 minutes later which was at about 4.30 pm Kochi time. The Kochi Airport still smells of new paint and many of the shops are still under renovation. Our tour guide and driver, John, was waiting for us at the arrival hall and we were driven in a comfortable 10 seater 'Traveller' van to our first stop for a one night break in Kochi.

Kochi, to pakdokter, is a city in a rush to develop. The highway from the airport to the city is still under construction and many highrise apartments and shopping malls are also under construction. It took at least one hour from the airport to our resort which was along the backwaters in Ernakulam ( Kochi City). Just as we left the airport, pakdokter did not fail to notice a new golf course which is nearing completion. From the looks of it, it should be ready for play in the next 6 months to a year. On enquiry, pakdokter found out that this is the only golf course in Kochi. With so many good golfers from India playing in the USPGA and the European and Asian Tours, pakdokter will not be surprised if more and more golf courses will be developed in the future.

The Ramada Resort in Kochi was indeed a pleasant surprise. It is a small outfit with about 40 rooms. The gardens and lawns are clean and beautifully turfed. The view from the balconies gave a fantastic vista of the backwaters with fishermen rowing their boats netting for their catch. The bedroom is spacious with modern decor and state-of-the-art lighting. Solar lighting is also available - an indication of its 'green' awareness....

Apart from a very long lap-pool, there is also a well-equipped gym and for the 'shopoholic' - the little shop next to the lobby had more than enough jewellery, pashminas, apparels and art and curio items to keep one tempted!

checking-in at the hotel lobby....

a warm face towel and a cool refreshing mint drink...

shopping for stones and silver jewellery and pashminas...

spacious and well-turfed courtyard...

view of the backwaters from the balcony...

modern decor and state-of-the-art lighting...

pre-dinner drinks at the balcony...

first feast of Kerala cuisines..