Munnar Tea plantations, Kerala

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We traveled to Munnar on a local government bus. It had no door or windows and the 6 hour journey was like being on a ride at Alton towers, fast, bumpy and you needed to hold on.

The Indians have no regulations for capacity when filling a bus and they cram as many people in for maximum profit which makes the journey horrific.

As I sat on the back seat, I became clausaphobic as more people rammed in. I had the misfortune of experiencing a armpit sandwich as locals squashed on the bus using their arms above my head to steady their positions as the bus took off at fast speeds.

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Arriving in Munnar we were greeted by a hoard of Indian touts wanting our business in Rickshaw's and to show us the accommodation.

The following morning we woke early and walked down to the town for breakfast. The spectacular view took my breath away. The early morning mist was beginning to clear with the sun light beaming through, and all around us were huge mountains covered in a patchwork of tea plantations.

We took a rickshaw's up into the tea plantations and across to a waterfall that was jetting out of the mountain side, we stood on a bridge underneath and gasped at the powerful jet of water that gushed down towards us.

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We only had half a day to visit the plantations as we needed to get to Periyar wildlife sanctuary, so we headed from the waterfall into the fields of tea leaves.

The local women were working in the rows of tea, pulling the leafs off to fill big bags. There are some astonishing views from the top of the mountain and if we had time a trekking adventure would have been fun.