Location: Munnar, Kerala. Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Ooty, Tamil Nadu. Date: 12th May 2010

Tessa says: Munnar, Kerala.
We arrived at the hill station of Munnar (1524m above sea level LP) after a windy 5 hour local bus ride from Fort Cochin. Munnars two main industries are tourism and tea. The town was chock with Indian tourists fleeing the heat of the lower plains and the hills surrounding us were chock with vibrant green of the tea plant. Munnar has a mystical air too it, mist hovers over the craggy mountains and tea plantations during the morning and in some places the tea plantations roll into the distance as far as the eye can see. We met up with a nice rickshaw driver who offered to tour us round the sights of Munnar. During the off season he works in the tea plantations so was able to offer us interesting information about the life of a tea plantation worker. Only the women can pick tea and this can be done by hand or machine, which is kinda like a pair of scissors with a catcher on it, the newest leaves are green tea, the ones below these are brown tea, and the one below these, the older leaves make black tea. Black tea can also be a combination of all three leaf types. The resilient tea trees are pruned back every five years and have a life-span of 100 years Typically, a tea leaf picker will work five and a half days a week with the option of overtime. They live at the tea plantation and are provided with accommodation which looks like a little village of shacks. They earn 120rp ($4NZ) for every 22Kg that is collected. During the monsoon (heavy rains) they still can pick tea but a lot of the pathways between plants can become muddy, slippery and treacherous.

Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
We were a little sad to leave Munnar as the scenery was so spectacular but we comforted ourselves with the knowledge that we would be heading up into the hills again with just a brief stop in Coimbatore. Unfortunately the highly recommended toy train from Coimbatore to Ooty was fully booked for the next week so we had to go by bus.

Ooty, Tamil Nadu.
Again we wound up the crazy roads to the hill station of Ooty (2240m above sea level LP) we were expecting Ooty to be similar to Munnar but it was quite different. Again the main industries were tourism and tea, but also coffee and vegetables. It also had a population of 93,921 (LP) making it a lot bigger than little Munnar. I’m not sure if they were re-vamping the bus station or if it’s always like that but you had to cross a muddy dirt track to get across to the main road and the throngs of people with the stench made it an unpleasant place to want to walk around in. We stayed in very basic accommodation, but our host was a lovely Bahai man that really made us feel welcomed. Due to the cooler climate we decided to go for a day trek, we baulked a little when they said it was a 16-17km walk but decided to give it a go anyway. Luckily for us Indian kilometres are way shorter than NZ kilometres.
Jared says:
Munnar, Kerala.After the slow and winding 5 hour bus ride, the rolling sea of green that met us on approach to Munnar was nothing short of magical, as was the cool temperature. However, the arrival in the small shabby and awfully busy village left us wondering just how magical. Luckily our luck with rickshaw drivers is on the improve and this guy not only found us a cheap hotel room, but we also clocked up about 13 hours traveling time with him over the next two days, as he showed us many a local sight and picture taking opportunity. Definitely a spectacular place to visit and something completely unexpected for me. It is a little sad to be leaving the state of Kerala, as it has had beauty of a level to easily match the title the locals call it (the same as New Zealand) “Gods own country”.

Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
Our first experience in this state was overwhelmingly average. We were only in Coimbatore for the night to catch the train, so we were really wishing we had of continued straight to Ooty once we found it was fully booked. Admittedly it was not a tourist city so we were hoping Tamil Nadu would improve.

Ooty, Tamil Nadu.
As Tess mentioned, we were quite shocked to discover how unlike Munnar this hill station turned out to be. The magnitude of Indian tourism here was far greater, and it made it more like going out in any Indian city when we ventured onto the streets. We took the Lonely Planet’s advice and optioned for a trek to see the impressive landscape. This is something none of the Indian tourists do so we had the complete opposite of the crowded city streets, open hills. Some of the scenery wasn’t as impressive to us as what it probably is for many tourists, as it had a very New Zealand feel to it. There were rolling pastures with sheep on them (first time we had seen sheep in India), pine forests and big hills everywhere. Again this was something unexpected from India. We also walked through small Indian villages growing tea and numerous fields of vegetables, and had our lunch in one of the most local eateries you could ever encounter, where the curry was as good as it is everywhere, but the flys were far more abundant. The pinnacle of the journey found us on top of a mountain that is covered in snow during the winter, maybe 2400m above sea level and right on a big cliff. In the distance was national park, where our guide managed to point out some black bear (although we think there is a chance they were just cows). This walk made the Ooty experience far more enjoyable and for what sounded like it was gonna be a tough trek, it was a pretty easy and beautiful stroll in the end. But if I had to rate them, Munnar wins hands down for our favourite hill station so far. Maybe we will see more later in our journey, but now we are heading down from the hills and back to the city heat. At least it will be another state this time, as during our short stay we were left far from impressed with Tamil Nadu.

Munnar, Kerala.
Accommo: JJ’s Cottage, considering the level of Indian tourists we were happy enough with this small concrete box room (although the TV did stop just before the cricket was due to start) 400rp **1/2

Eats: SNR Restaurant, just down the road from our hotel and the only place we ate, as the typical Indian food was both cheap and delicious, although it was very busy. ****







Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
Accommo: Legends Inn, a proper hotel but with an expensive hotel price, 1089rp ***
Eats: Legends Inn room service, typical Indian menu but most food seemed like it had been microwaved. **

Ooty, Tamil Nadu.
Accommo: Hotel Sweekar , nice host, however very basic for the price (too be expected with how busy), first squat toilet and concrete bunkers for rooms. **1/2
Eats: Hotel Sweekar, most food delivered form different restaurant had big delicious curries, but breads and rice not so good, onsite omlettes were tasty enough but a little expensive. ***1/2