On tour

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March22
Hey everybody!

So the 4 of us booked to go on Mr Wilson’s tour. Our driver Ganesh picked us up at 6.30 am, our bags went on the roof & the 4 of us, including one bad tummy got settled on the big comfy AC car.

First stop, about an hour away we got to watch an adult male & 3 baby elephants get washed in the river. Due to the high quantity of tourists that visit you are no longer allowed to interact with the elephants, but it was amazing to watch the elephants looking all laid back in the water letting their mahouts scrub them with coconut shells. The larger elephant did as he was told with just verbal commands. The younger ones were obviously still learning & a few whacks with a stick guided them in the right direction. The whacks didn’t look that hard & didn’t really seem to bother the babies, as although they are babies they’d have a hard time standing in my living room! There was of course one naughty one that just kept getting up but the trainers seemed to have very good relationships with them.

Then we went onto the spice plantation where we told about lots of different spices & their uses. The healthy foursome that we are seemed to have an ailment for almost every concoction he produced.

Although Mrs Wilson had packed us a lovely breakfast it was time for lunch! After chilling out on the grass outside for a bit (kinda take grass for granted until you spend a lot of time in cities) it was back in the car. We briefly stopped at the waterfall to take a photo of the tiny trickle of water that made up the waterfall, but we expected that anyway.

After a very windy road up surrounded by tea plants & more shades of green you could imagine we reached the house we were staying at. With amazing views, comfy beds, good showers a TV & with such beautiful surroundings we were glad we decided on the 2 nights instead of 1.

Our dinner that was cooked for us at the house was so good. We got to chill out even more with a couple of beers each that we managed to get from a liquor store that Ganesh took us too. Chilling on the balcony, looking at the stars, amazing!

The one thing we have found, it doesn’t matter where you go in India, even in the greenest place you could imagine, there is still rubbish! No one seems to feel bad about just chucking their rubbish on the floor.

The next morning after breakfast at the house we made our way to the tea museum where we were hurried in to catch the rest of the video. We were then told about the tea process & then left to wander around. One employee seemed to ignore everyone else, maybe he appreciates the love the British have for tea, & left his post to show us all the different stages of the tea leaves. He then took us to where we were given a cup of chai each.

We stopped for lunch where we got to eat off of banana leaves, with our hands of course! Eating a thali which is rice & lots of different curries with your hands is a messy task. And to say watching some of the Indian men tucking in was slightly distracting is an understatement!

Walking a crazy amount of crazy steps in the heat was definately worth it! We got to the Top Station, which is a view point very high up the mountain, and the view was amazing!! When you looked closer to where you were standing of course there was the trademark rubbish that had been chucked there, bottles, chai cups & for some reason someone had felt the need to take their magazine to the viewpoint. Understandably once they got there they obviously realised the view outshone the gossip collumn. So over the fence it went!!

After spending a little bit of time in Munnar town we went back to the house (where I had a much needed nap!) Then dinner, the veg big was really good, the chicken….well I decided to leave my bit that we all decided could only be neck! Then it was time for 4 in the bed watching Step Up 3.

The tour was amazing, we all really enjoyed it & got to see a lot of things we wouldn’t have had we tried to do it on our own.

Mr Wilson had been very helpful letting us know the best ways with how to continue the rest of our journey further down South. The next post will tell you how we got on

“Speak soon

Laura

Loladayonholiday

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