We were met at the Cochin airport by our driver; the car had been arranged by the resort. Pleasant, polite,comfortable carrying out a conversation in English and non intrusive. A welcome change from the north, that remained consistent with all we met during our stay in Munnar.
The road to Munnar was a national highway, No 49 to be precise. The only stops we made were to stock up on banana, cassava and jackfruit chips !! The Kerala experience is incomplete without these.
The vista was a lush, emerald green. A number of houses had hedges of crotons in shades of yellow, mustard, terracotta,burnt orange, burnt sienna and a few more, with leaves that had been on steroids perhaps? Boundary walls were conspicuously absent. Banana groves appeared with regularity, interspersed with rubber plantations, the trees wearing kerchiefs, apparently to collect rubber.
Quite out of the blue , or should I say green, turned up this dramatic road side waterfall. We stopped to stand in the spray and take a few pictures.
Munnar outskirts turned up quite suddenly; when I woke up after a short inadvertent nap, we were driving through manicured tea gardens. The gentle slopes, verdant with orderly rows of tea bushes, a brook flowing nearby. Soothing and relaxing.
^^^^^^^^
We had booked ourselves into the Blackberry Resort. Small cottages, looking onto the valley, abounding in “ greeniness”. Clean suites, terracotta tiles, clean loo, a balcony that, thanks to the mist, offers a changing vista every quarter of an hour. Through the day and night, the crickets had a lot to say, and very loudly. Their constant chatter served to reinforce the distance that we had traveled from city life.
We are in August right now – and how I miss bringing along wellies and a mackintosh. An umbrella does not make ergonomic sense if you wish to trek down to the valley and wet shoes are , well, wet shoes !!
^^^^^^^^^^
Gobhi machurian made an unexpected appearance at the dinner buffet ! Luckily there was delicious avial, chicken pepper fry and payasam. Meals were served in the delightfully situated Hornbill restaurant. Lunch was a la carte – freshly prepared cabbage thoran and travancore fish curry on day two and. fish moilee and morru curry on day three. The a la carte meals were freshly prepared and superlative. The buffet catered to all tastes – we tried only the Kerala part of the buffet – why travel so far to have gobhi paranthas, when appam and stew is on offer!
The Kerala ayurvedic massage at the Sisal Spa ( within the resort itself) was my first experience of the same. I had read quite a few articles about the famed kerala massages and treatments for back and joint problems , but what I remembered most was a less than complimentary travel programme on the BBC, where the anchor had complained about having to endure kneading and pummeling. My fears were unfounded; the massage was a delightfully relaxing. Later , also tried the aromatherapy massage, in which a different oil is used and the massage technique consists of smaller pressing actions. Found it to be excellent, especially for a tired back and forehead.
^^^^^^^^^^
We walked in the neighbourhood in the evening – pretty properties along the road – Hollyhocks and Olivebrook, the hillsides densely and intensely green, and decided that a nature walk was in order. The
resort arranged a guide. Stephen, our guide, turned out to be a remarkable character. In his earlier professional life, he had been a chauffeur. Here, he was employed as a horticulture specialist and guide, helping both to improve the diversity within the resort as well as to educate botany ignorants like us on the treasures in the neighbourhood rainforest. The nature walk was,indeed, the highlight of our trip. We walked on the road, past a dense canopy of trees, the hillsides laden over by a plethora of crotons, wild flowers, jackfruit trees, local berries used in ayurveda, mushrooms growing on logs. The walk was punctuated by the sound of running water, cries of bird, squirrels talking to each other, besides of course the crickets going full blast. The rain came on in as a drizzle a few times, but since the weather did not become muggy, the rain only added to the charm of the walk.
resort arranged a guide. Stephen, our guide, turned out to be a remarkable character. In his earlier professional life, he had been a chauffeur. Here, he was employed as a horticulture specialist and guide, helping both to improve the diversity within the resort as well as to educate botany ignorants like us on the treasures in the neighbourhood rainforest. The nature walk was,indeed, the highlight of our trip. We walked on the road, past a dense canopy of trees, the hillsides laden over by a plethora of crotons, wild flowers, jackfruit trees, local berries used in ayurveda, mushrooms growing on logs. The walk was punctuated by the sound of running water, cries of bird, squirrels talking to each other, besides of course the crickets going full blast. The rain came on in as a drizzle a few times, but since the weather did not become muggy, the rain only added to the charm of the walk.
This was the first time I had seen a cardamom plantation. Apparently, cardamom grows the the shade of the rainforest. The plant is about five –to six feet tall, a bunch of green stems arise from the ground and bear dark green, slender leaves, a foot to two feet long. The cardamom that we are familiar with is borne near the base of the plant. A whole expanse of these glossy dark leaves at the base of the rainforest is a sight for sore eyes.
The nature walk ends at the base of the valley, where you stand in the middle of a tea plantation, amidst an expanse of verdure ( I have run out of ways to say green !), and soak in the quietness and the indescribable beauty of the scene. The green in the trees is only punctuated, in this season, by the orange blossoms of African tulip tress and the coral tree.
The walk back is a very gentle uphill climb, and Stephen had us enthralled throughout with his knowledge of the local flora. We also managed to see the giant malabar squirrel, about a foot long, glossy black brown with a red and yellow face, scurrying up a tree to its nest. Couldn't catch it on camera though.
^^^^^^^^^^
Interestingly, the house keeping staffer who attended to our room at the resort was from Manipur. It is quite uplifting to see how tourism is opening up new opportunities for the young Indian. I remember meeting spa therapists from Kerala at Kanatal in Utarrakhand and a care taker from Bihar at Jagjitnagar in Himachal Pradesh, both much off the beaten track..
Our sendoff from Blackberry was warm indeed. We enjoyed our stay, the view, the hospitality and the wealth of plants within the Blackberry campus.
The Tata Tea wives association runs an organisation called Srishti, for differently abled persons. On the way back. We drove through Munnar town, which had nothing to commend it, on terrible roads to get to the Srishti campus. The strawberry preserves had been recommended; we also picked up some shibori and batik dupattas and stoles, and some hand made paper products. The next stop was to pick up tea from the KDHP outlet.
The drive back was more of the same, dense rainforest, leafy tall bamboo groves, crossing over the Periyar river twice, rainshowers and a pleasant breeze made the air-conditioning in the car redundant. The meal at the attractive looking Elassey Farmhouse Restaurant was passable at best. We reached Cochin airport in four hours, including the stopover for lunch.
Kearla may be God's own country, but He seems to have been particularly munificent to Munnar !
