Munnar and Ooty

After 20 minutes of yelling it became apparent that the yelling was about us or to be more precise our pile of luggage that had accumulated on one of the seats. The bus was packed and the only place for the luggage other than the seat it was currently resting on was in the already packed aisle. The conductor lost the yelling match and told us to move our bags. "To where?" we asked. This led to another slanging match between the aisle dwellers (telling us to leave them neatly packed on the seat) and the conductor and the agitator (yelling at as to get them off the seat). Finally the decision was made to crush the aisle dwellers with a snowboard. Guess who was popular on that trip?

Other than that, the travel is getting much easier and the four hour trip flew by especially when the first gusts of mountain air burst into the open air bus. Munnar is one of the many Hill Stations where the colonials retreated to escape the coastal heat. On our journey we travelled from sea level to 6800ft and from 30 down to 5 degrees.

After finding suitable lodging we headed off into the hinterland with Mani our rickshaw driver. The scenery of tea plantations clinging to steep hills dotted with old plantation homesteads evoked a regal colonial feel. The main destination was top station. To me top station suggests a building of some sort. Luckily the view from the station (which is just a lookout) more than compensated for the lack of a building with warm cup of tea and something to eat.

Unfortunately, whilst shorts and thongs are appropriate attire for the coastal regions of southern India they most certainly are not appropriate for Munnar. This became very apparent on our 2 hour decent from top station, as the dusk temp dropped to 7. The wind chill in our open side rickshaw made the journey all the more memorable.

The next day was dedicated to Fauna. Up early we caught another chockers bus to a wildlife reserve two hours away. Chinnar park is the best park in Southern India for Elephant spotting. These odds didn't help us however as we wandered around for three hours. We think we saw a wild boar but we can't be sure. I hope it's easier than that in Africa.

Unfortunately two weeks in India has already given me a healthy scepticism of advice and information. It was this scepticism that made me reluctant to believe our host when he said "Sorry sir, it is not possible for you to get to Coimbatore tomorrow, there is a strike. You will need to stay one more night here" followed by a nice little head wobble. Undeterred and with time running out we set our alarm early to make the 7am bus. As we arrived at the main street the only people around were the local union heavies making sure no one was working and stopping every car to make sure they were on urgent business. We saw a few dodgy vans, full of people, with big Milk signs on the front.

You would think in India of all places there would be someone willing to take us, some sort of strike day black market but nope, there was nothing. I felt like a junkie trying to score a hit, quietly asking people in the street if they knew anyone who would take us for a handsome reward. The heavies had done a bloody good job of shutting up the towns folk and nobody would take us. Close to 9 we returned to our lodging, failures, our heads hung in defeat. In the early evening, under the cover of darkness, we paid top dollar for a 6 hour taxi to make up the time.

Not much to say about our night in Coimbatore. The only reason we stopped there is because we couldn't make it to Ooty that day. I was sick and somehow this hole of a city was pressing all the wrong buttons. I wanted out asap. Early the next morning we caught a bus to Ooty and left Coimbatore in our dust.

I was a little disappointed with Ooty. I think the highlight is the toy train and as we intend to take the famed Darjeeling toy train we gave the Ooty one a miss. We probably should have gone for a hike to see the surrounding plantations and colonial past but after a few big days we decided on a cruise around town.

With all the stuff that happened in between Christmas and New Years we didn't have the chance to celebrate Nat's birthday. An opulent birthday dinner was promised and with a good selection of Classic British Hotels we decided to celebrate at the ritzy Savoy. We went all out, three big courses, cocktails and a table by a roaring fire. I was starting to worry when I realised the price of the cocktails was more than our accommodation for the night! Fortunately with the exchange rate the total was a budget stretching $43.

You might notice there has been little mention of my weight. this is why. With meals like this I think I'm still at 102. I have started biting my nails in an effort to catch something soon!

Next stop Varanasi.
You had me at hello,
Ev and Nat