The spice of life

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Trip Start Jan 29, 2007 Previous
Entry Trip End Mar 13, 2007

  Western Ghats, India
Thursday, March 8, 2007

The best option to get a little bit cooler in Kerela is to head for the hills, about 4 hours east from the coast and backwaters you can meet the mountain range of the western ghats. Unlike many of the other mountainous regions in India, the land here is very fertile, when the British Raj ruled here vast spice, fruit, tea and coffee plantations were created, the land was eventually given back and the plantations and spice gardens are still thriving today.  

Our first stop was in a small hill station called Kumily, right next door to one of indias largest wildlife reserves, Periyar. We decided to visit the park on a bamboo raft trip, organised by the park wardens. Although we found it pretty tedious at first, our silent, super slow transport payed off when a couple of wild elephants joined us to cool off at the lake side! We didn't spot any tigers which was probably for the best as our armed guard seemed particularly docile.  

With the end of our trip getting closer and closer we decided to make one final stop off on our way back to our final destination of Cochin. The bus trip from Kumily to Munnar was probably one of the most spectacular journeys of all, winding through huge tea plantations via mountain lakes and precarious but breathtaking mountain passes.   Although the town of Munnar isn't the nicest, the surrounding countryside is beautiful and we found it very easy to explore independantly at our own pace which was exactly what we were wanting to do. A great way to wind down before heading down to scorching Cochin to end our trip!

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A bit of black pepper	Cantilever fishing nets, Cochin	Coffee beans	Deep in the undergrowth.....
Elephants	Periyar Lake	Tea plantation, Munnar	Tiger trail
Time for a drink	Weighing in the mornings tea pickings, Munnar

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