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Munnar (or more accurately, the area around Munnar) was great, at least when it wasn't raining. It rained every afternoon and evening. When it wasn't raining, it was overcast and cloudy, though the clouds were more or less at ground level. While the town itself didn't have much going for it, the area around it was quite picturesque. Rolling fields covered with carefully manicured tea plants extend for dozens of miles, and behind them are the fairly rugged peaks of the Western Ghats. The nephew (I think) of the woman who ran the guesthouse where I stayed drove me around in his autorickshaw, and he was very eager to be as helpful as possible. We went about 35km east, to the edge of the mountains where you can look down at the plains of Tamil Nadu below, and walked through some of the tea fields. In the other direction was Eravikulam National Park, which is home to the last remaining Nilgiri tahr, a rare mountain goat that was nearly wiped out due to it's extremely trusting nature. I walked within 10 feet of one and it never flinched. The British slaughtered them to the brink of extinction, but they apparently
never developed a fear of humans.
Unfortunately the park itself was quite disappointing. After paying the entrance fee, I waited quite awhile for a bus to ferry me up a four mile or so paved road, to where the park actually started (they wouldn't allow the rickshaw to go up there). The only thing there is to do in the park itself is walk about a mile or so along a paved path, and then turn around and come back the same way. There aren't any trails, and it's apparently the high season. Lots and lots of Indian tourists.
I then took a bus to Kumily/Thekkady, which is just outside Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, one of the largest in India at around 300 square miles. The elevation here wasn't as high as Munnar, so it was considerably hotter and there were plenty of mosquitoes. Again, the town itself had very little of interest. I visited a tea factory and a spice (cardamom) plantation, which was fairly interesting. Most of the equipment in the tea factory looked like it was 40 or more years old, and the furnace that dried the leaves was fueled by wood that local village women
Near Munnar
An artificial lake near Munnar - in the foreground, women are hauling sand. carried in from the surrounding hills.
Periyar ended up being an even bigger disappointment than Eravikulam. The entrance fee was $8, and I paid another $3 to take a 1.5 hour long boat ride. Unsurprisingly, I only saw two elephants and a few deer and birds (I think they were cormorants). After getting off the boat, I tried to get ahold of a trail map, but was told there was no such thing. Independent walking is completely disallowed. You're forced to pay again for "guided" tours, but no guides were working (it was a Saturday and there were hundreds of visitors milling around). There wasn't anything to do in the entire park except take that one short boat trip. I spent the rest of the day trying to get the mosquito net over my bed just so - at least one somehow got inside during my first night in Kumily, as I awoke covered in new bites. Fortunately I met an interesting German girl my last day, so I had something to do during the trip to Varkala other than listen to my ipod.
I'm still in Varkala now. There's a very nice beach here, though the water
Elephant
An elephant in Periyar Tiger Reserve. has some of the strangest and strongest currents I've encountered on my few visits to the ocean. After struggling to get back to shore a lifeguard helpfully pointed out that it wasn't safe to swim there. Early tomorrow I'm taking a train to Kottayam, and then immediately getting on a bus to visit a nearby village that's famous for its production of a rare, all-metal style of mirror production. After that it's another train to Kochi, from where I have an express train to Mumbai. I didn't feel like enduring the 2 day train ride back to Delhi all in one go, and one of my friends from the mountaineering course offered to let me sleep on his couch, which will be especially nice given the cost of hotels there. After a few days I'll finish the journey back to Delhi just in time to catch my flight to Leh, Ladakh, where I'll likely remain for the last month or so of my trip.
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