Munnar, the place for tea

hiking through the cardamom plantation.
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After our four rain-soaked days in Kochi, Jenny arranged for one of her drivers to take us up to Munnar, our next stop. Avani was sad to leave the triplets but went with the flow as usual. Our driver Sulfi was great. He had a little baby of his own and was very sweet with Avani. She grew attached to him too and would always wave and smile when she saw him, yelling, "Hi, Soofi!". We soon learned that he was a great go-to guy and we could always count on him to go searching for wild elephants or figure out the best way to post a package for us. We had a great car too with lots of room for our bags, unlike the tiny Tata Indicas we rode around in Rajasthan, with our feet on our bags and our knees to our chins.

Beautiful view of Munnar from our mountain hike.
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We wound our way up the small winding road to the mountains of South India, the Western Ghats. The drive was mildly hair-raising for Indira, who was sitting in the passenger seat trying to avoid getting carsick (didn't work). Although it's perfectly normal in India for everyone to pass slower cars on blind curves of tiny mountain roads, she wasn't used to it and kept gasping and grabbing the dashboard and reapplying her ayurvedic cure for motion sickness, Dragon Liquid. The scenery started to change and we began to see an India we hadn't seen before...one full of forests and waterfalls and fresh air. It was beautiful.

The craggy mountain peaks, the beautifully-manicured tea estates and the crisp mountain air made for a very relaxing retreat.

The most amazing meals ever were made during these cooking classes.
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After a long four hour drive, we reached the village of Munnar ("three rivers") located 4500 ft. above sea level. Munnar is a hub of south India's tea-growing region. The craggy mountain peaks, the beautifully-manicured tea estates and the crisp mountain air made for a very relaxing retreat.

Upon arrival at our hotel, Olive Brook, we immediately got a taste of the great service and food that we would get for our entire stay. We were greeted at the car and within minutes had a cold drink and sandwiches on our veranda. Indira tried a tree tomato juice, which became everyone's new favorite. Sweet, tart and a beautiful shade of reddish-pink. Yum!

Sean amongst the tea plantations.
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After a rest, we took our own day hike through the cardamom-covered mountains surrounding our hotel. That's right, we took a HIKE. It was very exciting for us to be able to walk amidst plants and trees again and not take autorickshaws everywhere (although I think Avani felt just the opposite since she loves autorickshaw rides). The cardamom turned into lush rainforest, so thick we actually lost the trail and had to turn back. It was shocking how far away from civilization we felt within a short hike from our hotel.

Woman with wood.
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Over the next few days we did a number of great activities. Our hotel offered a guided full-day hike to the top of one of the mountains, which gave us stunning views of the surrounding mountains, lakes, and the village of Munnar nestled below. We toured one of the local tea plantations and received a full lesson in the growing, harvesting and processing of tea, from leaf to cup. At one point we stopped to ask for a photo of the tea-leaf-pickers (all women) who proceeded to show Indira how to cut the tops of the plants with a shearing tool, then gave her the big bag of harvested leaves to put on her head. It was fun until the manager came over and started yelling at everyone to get back to work.

A view of the tea plantations.
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Another activity Indira attended every day was the free cooking demonstration that our hotel chef gave. The lessons were great and full of camaraderie with the other hotel guests, who were a fun bunch from the UK and Australia. We watched some excellent Keralan dishes being made and explained in detail and our meals at Olive Brook were some of the best we had during our entire stay in India.

On another day, our driver Sulfi took us to a couple of popular tourist spots, Mattupatty Dam and Echo Point. This day proved to be a low point for Indira. She had had too much tea for breakfast and of course there are no restrooms on roads in India. Upon reaching Echo Point, she ran up a little mountain path to go the "natural way". Unfortunately, it proved to be a popular spot and she stepped in someone's recent poop, which also got on the back of her shorts. Lovely. It got even more mortifying when we met an American couple in Periyar and Avani, out of nowhere, said, "Mommy pooped in her shoe!".

Avani and our driver, Sulfi.
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In defense, I said, "No I didn't, it was SOMEONE ELSE'S poop in my shoe!", but that didn't sound much better.

Anyway, we had a really wonderful, relaxing, and stomach-filling four days in Munnar. Now it was time to move on to another hill station in Kerala, Periyar...