Far over the misty mountains.
Well up at 7:30 and back packs sorted. It is one of the travellers golden rules to keep your backpack sorted and in order. I find if i pack it the same way everytime everything has a place. That way your less likely to leave anything behind. When you are in and out of rooms like a vicar in a brothel it is so easy to forget, or leave, something behind.
We are past masters in the art now. "Bag packed?". "Check". "Documents". "Check". "Room clear and tidy". "Check". "Let's go".
Made our way to the bus station for 0915 after breakfast and settling the bill.
Its been great staying with Bindi here in Thekkady. She has been a diamond and I would heartily recommend her home as a refuge if your ever up this way.
Write it down, the Charitsala home stay. Thekkady.
We wanted to get to the station early as the 09:45 is the last bus to leave for Munnar. We didn't want to miss it. Plus we wanted to secure ourselves a good seat. We like to be on the front seats right behind the driver. Its more comfortable as there is more leg room. You also get prior notice to adopt the brace position if it goes pear shaped. This bus was different in that the first few rows were reserved for "ladies only". We haven't come across this before and we were relegated to the cheap seats behind the front doors. Never mind as it was only a five hour journey.
The Thekkady to Munnar highway is the highest road in the western ghats.
It snakes and winds its way through some amazing mountain scenery. The buses have no glass other than a front and rear window. It saves on the air con and window cleaning bill. At around one hour into the journey it started to rain. This Isn't normal rain, its real RAIN. Its like going through a car wash. Within seconds all the folding shutters that replace the glass, including ours, came down. It was like sitting on that caterpillar ride as a kid when the canvas goes over. Ten minutes and the rain stopped. Shutters up. This continued for the majority of the journey. Up down up down. Another regular feature of Indian buses is that at some point during the journey you can guarantee that a kid is going to vomit. Usually right in front of us right in the central walkway. There's no windows in the bus so they could easily point the child through the opening but oh no, it has to be in the bus. Today it was a young girl who looked about 13. Crispy just got away in time. She's not an athlete by any stretch of the imagination but she can move like lightning if faced with creepy crawlies or bus vomiting.
Eventually got into munnar on time. There were two other western couples on the bus with us. The first white faces we have seen since leaving Cochin. One was a pair of student types that were doing the obligatory post grad travel thing. The other were a middle aged couple from Oxfordshire. It was their first time in India and I don't think she was to impressed. I think next year it will definitely be Tenerife for her.
The next lodging was called the heights, Munnar. An upmarket hotel with pool, restaurant and all mod cons. I asked a tuk tuk driver for a price to take us there. All tuk tuk in India have meters and are supposed to use them but it never happens. Every time you have to go through the "how much, no way" routine to secure yourself a ride. The driver looked puzzled when I told him the name of our hotel. "Not possible" he said with the obligatory shake of the head and smile.
"You better take taxi" he said. "A taxi, is it at the top of that mountain" I joked. "Yes" he said with no hint of sarcasm.
I chose this hotel to try and give Crispy a little bit of comfort and spoil her. The accommodation we have stayed in thus far has been far from grand. To make it even more special I had booked the tree house suite. Which, to no surprise, is a tree house.
Bollocks, I had cocked up here. The hotel it turns out is a hill station situated at 7000 feet above sea level in the middle of a jungle, in the middle of nowhere. Definitely not anywhere near where we want to be. Saying the hotel is in munnar is stretching the truth a tad. It took an hour in a taxi that cost four times more than the bus ride over the mountains. I am so wazzed off that I didn't research this hotel more thoroughly. How the taxi driver managed to get his car here is beyond me. You would have struggled in a tank. Well what's done is done and we shall have to make the best of it. The hotel is lovely, magnificent views, especially from the tree house which is 30 feet off the ground on the edge of a five hundred foot precipice. Not for the faint hearted or anyone with vertigo.
Crispy is not a big fan of heights and to watch her climb the ladder to the tree house is hilarious. If you have ever climbed then you will know that you should keep three points of contact at all times. Crispy managed to keep four and still make progress.
I have arranged for the car to return tomorrow, and take us to the sights. Its going to be expensive but we need to get to the tea factories and other local attractions otherwise it would have been pointless coming in the first place.
I intend to get Crispy some temporary employ in the plantations as a picker for a few hours to try and offset the cost of the taxi. She's a tough old bird and I'm sure won't mind.
In bed now as there's all kind of weird monsterous creatures creeping and flying around outside. Don't want Crispy getting bit and calling in a Sicky for tomorrow.
We could do with the money. Crispy is keeping very still in case the tree house moves and we plummet into the void. I guess rooty tooty is out of the question.
Bare and Crispy signing off, At a hill station, altitude 7000 feet, nowhere near Munnar, Kerala, India.
Well up at 7:30 and back packs sorted. It is one of the travellers golden rules to keep your backpack sorted and in order. I find if i pack it the same way everytime everything has a place. That way your less likely to leave anything behind. When you are in and out of rooms like a vicar in a brothel it is so easy to forget, or leave, something behind.
We are past masters in the art now. "Bag packed?". "Check". "Documents". "Check". "Room clear and tidy". "Check". "Let's go".
Made our way to the bus station for 0915 after breakfast and settling the bill.
Its been great staying with Bindi here in Thekkady. She has been a diamond and I would heartily recommend her home as a refuge if your ever up this way.
Write it down, the Charitsala home stay. Thekkady.
We wanted to get to the station early as the 09:45 is the last bus to leave for Munnar. We didn't want to miss it. Plus we wanted to secure ourselves a good seat. We like to be on the front seats right behind the driver. Its more comfortable as there is more leg room. You also get prior notice to adopt the brace position if it goes pear shaped. This bus was different in that the first few rows were reserved for "ladies only". We haven't come across this before and we were relegated to the cheap seats behind the front doors. Never mind as it was only a five hour journey.
The Thekkady to Munnar highway is the highest road in the western ghats.
It snakes and winds its way through some amazing mountain scenery. The buses have no glass other than a front and rear window. It saves on the air con and window cleaning bill. At around one hour into the journey it started to rain. This Isn't normal rain, its real RAIN. Its like going through a car wash. Within seconds all the folding shutters that replace the glass, including ours, came down. It was like sitting on that caterpillar ride as a kid when the canvas goes over. Ten minutes and the rain stopped. Shutters up. This continued for the majority of the journey. Up down up down. Another regular feature of Indian buses is that at some point during the journey you can guarantee that a kid is going to vomit. Usually right in front of us right in the central walkway. There's no windows in the bus so they could easily point the child through the opening but oh no, it has to be in the bus. Today it was a young girl who looked about 13. Crispy just got away in time. She's not an athlete by any stretch of the imagination but she can move like lightning if faced with creepy crawlies or bus vomiting.
Eventually got into munnar on time. There were two other western couples on the bus with us. The first white faces we have seen since leaving Cochin. One was a pair of student types that were doing the obligatory post grad travel thing. The other were a middle aged couple from Oxfordshire. It was their first time in India and I don't think she was to impressed. I think next year it will definitely be Tenerife for her.
The next lodging was called the heights, Munnar. An upmarket hotel with pool, restaurant and all mod cons. I asked a tuk tuk driver for a price to take us there. All tuk tuk in India have meters and are supposed to use them but it never happens. Every time you have to go through the "how much, no way" routine to secure yourself a ride. The driver looked puzzled when I told him the name of our hotel. "Not possible" he said with the obligatory shake of the head and smile.
"You better take taxi" he said. "A taxi, is it at the top of that mountain" I joked. "Yes" he said with no hint of sarcasm.
I chose this hotel to try and give Crispy a little bit of comfort and spoil her. The accommodation we have stayed in thus far has been far from grand. To make it even more special I had booked the tree house suite. Which, to no surprise, is a tree house.
Bollocks, I had cocked up here. The hotel it turns out is a hill station situated at 7000 feet above sea level in the middle of a jungle, in the middle of nowhere. Definitely not anywhere near where we want to be. Saying the hotel is in munnar is stretching the truth a tad. It took an hour in a taxi that cost four times more than the bus ride over the mountains. I am so wazzed off that I didn't research this hotel more thoroughly. How the taxi driver managed to get his car here is beyond me. You would have struggled in a tank. Well what's done is done and we shall have to make the best of it. The hotel is lovely, magnificent views, especially from the tree house which is 30 feet off the ground on the edge of a five hundred foot precipice. Not for the faint hearted or anyone with vertigo.
Crispy is not a big fan of heights and to watch her climb the ladder to the tree house is hilarious. If you have ever climbed then you will know that you should keep three points of contact at all times. Crispy managed to keep four and still make progress.
I have arranged for the car to return tomorrow, and take us to the sights. Its going to be expensive but we need to get to the tea factories and other local attractions otherwise it would have been pointless coming in the first place.
I intend to get Crispy some temporary employ in the plantations as a picker for a few hours to try and offset the cost of the taxi. She's a tough old bird and I'm sure won't mind.
In bed now as there's all kind of weird monsterous creatures creeping and flying around outside. Don't want Crispy getting bit and calling in a Sicky for tomorrow.
We could do with the money. Crispy is keeping very still in case the tree house moves and we plummet into the void. I guess rooty tooty is out of the question.
Bare and Crispy signing off, At a hill station, altitude 7000 feet, nowhere near Munnar, Kerala, India.
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