Experiencing Munnar

It is said that Munnar is the perfect “honeymoon” retreat. It’s natural beauty, cool climate and colonial tea gardens set the scene for an idyllic break that is set above breath taking. You have the option to set off on an early start to arrive at Dew Drops Home Stay in Munnar by lunchtime, this way you get the opportunity to make the most out of the time you’ve booked there. We opted for the two night stay, leaving at 6:45am Friday and staying till late morning Sunday, conveniently we had Friday off school due to public holiday. The journey consists of four hours of driving, if you are fortunate enough to have a good driver, which we most certainly did, then you’ll find that four hours feels more like two, this could be down to a few points but I put it down to the incredible diverse music which seemed to mainly consist of Eminem and Akon. Being early worms we got the chance to stop and watch the elephants wallow in the river where their trainers wash them with coconut husk. The rest of the voyage you will go past some waterfalls and a lot of monkeys. When you start approaching the Munnar area the scenery changes to something much more serene and refreshing.

We arrived at Dew Drops late lunchtime where we were greeted by a young man, who we later learned was the manager, and were shown to our rooms. The accommodation is incredible, only thing it was missing was hot water. I forgot to mention, before you leave for your excursion you will be warned that it is cold in Munnar and that it is advisable to take a jumper or other forms of warmth with you, if you are clever you will listen to these wise words! If not you’ll be joining our boat where you think that it’s nonsense that anywhere could be cold enough to wear a jumper in India, you’ll find your teeth chattering by early evening.

Set in the middle of the country side Dew Drops is a welcome getaway with friendly, welcoming staff and a chef who makes an incredible coconut pudding! You are minutes away from rolling hills covered in tea plantations, which really are one of the most spectacular things I think my eyes have ever seen, sheer quantity of tea and how neat the plantations are is truly remarkable. When we arrived we had lunch and set off on a little mooch about the local area, weather wasn’t amazing, infact over the course of the weekend the weather was atrocious but that didn’t change our outlook and had no bearing on our overall impression. Our walk was brief as we wanted to take a trip to some tea plantations before it would be dark. Probably not only the worst time to go because the downpour seemed to increase dramatically but more to the point that none of us knew what would be awaiting our arrival. It was just like any other day walking in the rain, we were soaked but were keen to see this waterfall that our driver Shiraz had told us was located on the other side of the plantation and that we could only get there by foot, you’d think after seeing five waterfalls already we would have fed our new found waterfall addiction, but you never know if the next one you’re going to see is going to be bigger, wider, frothier, scarier, splashier. When we approached the waterfall its sound alone answered our previous reservations, this one was going to be a monster. After standing above it getting wet, firstly from the waterfall and secondly the ridiculous amount of rain, we figured it would be best to make our way back to the car. The path we’d taken to get there had turned in to a river and there was no doubt that we were soaked through, but a little rain never hurt anyone, did it? You’d be surprised. We got in our luxury car and began our journey home. Out of know where we were attached by one of India’s most vicious animals, Ana, one of the volunteers, let out a scream that will haunt me forever, screaming “get it off me!” I turned around to see her with one of her legs hanging out the car door, Chesa, also a volunteer, also let out a shriek that could break glass. Shiraz stopped and got out of the car as quick as possible, I had no idea of the danger we were in. The assault had started and I was trapped, scared to my wits end I was frozen to my seat, only Ana remained in the car with me (still with one leg waving frantically). Chesa had tried to also make her bid for freedom but she’d failed miserable, it was like a scene from horror film, each one of them was covered in blood, the wounds we’re bleeding profusely, I looked down only to notice I too was bleeding, blood squirting from wounds like how juice squirts from an orange. I don’t know how we made it out of our first encounter with what I can only refer to as the monster, but that wasn’t the last ordeal. We arrived back at Dew Drops, still sweating with fear. We decided dinner and an early night would be the best way to deal with the trauma and shock that was still running through us.

We woke up after an incredible night’s sleep, feeling fresh and revived, we left the home stay around 6 to make our way to the wild life reserve. We stopped at the top of one of the mountains, over looking a tea plantation, a blanket of mist was covering half of the valley below us and the entire horizon, as the sun became warmer it slowly started to remove the blanket from the valley and within half an hour the blanket had gone, preparing for it’s return in the cold evening. We journeyed through the tea plantations for two hours before we reached the wildlife reserve where we’d be doing a three hour trek.

The weather seemed to have changed some what over the course of the morning and was now so hot that you are literally panting. I think maybe I was expecting a few more sightings than we got, the only thing that was pointed out to us was an elephant that, miraculously, was so far away it looked like a tree. We sat and waited for at least half an hour to wait for some wildlife to come out and entertain is, unfortunately the only wildlife we saw was monkeys, monkeys with burnt rashy faces who followed in the hope that you’d accidentally drop any food you may have. We also witnessed one monkey being fed by someone also on a guided tour, after feeding the monkey a handful of crisps it struggled to fit them all in its mouth and ended up with some peculiar bulge that replicated some sort of growth in its neck. We figured that it was probably best to make our way back to dew drops so preceded home through the maze of tea plantations.

Once we’d discussed the distinct lack of animals on our wildlife tour we decided we should fill the rest of your day light hours by going to a spice garden and visiting one of the local tribes. Spice garden is interesting, although I’ve been to one before and found that it was very similar, other than the added bonus of finishing with a cup of chai. We quickly left as the evening was starting to draw in and we hadn’t got to the tribe yet. We arrived at the tribal village while about two minutes worth of light was still available. I recommend going, the houses that these people have made themselves are awesome! You have to walk over a rickety bridge that looks like it’s home to some goblin and carry on walking for about ten minutes, but it’s well worth it! The guy we met was welcoming and friendly, as is everyone I’ve met so far on this trip. He let us walk into his home and look through it, the walls are made from banana leaves for insulation and sticks and mud on the outside to keep them sturdy, the floor is made out of elephant pooh, was lovely and soft under your feet. As by now it was pitch black and we were being eaten alive by mosquito’s we headed back. The walk to and from the tribe village was muddy with just one massive puddle, so it wasn’t as bad as the night before, the rain had ceased and we remained dry all evening.

On our return I was sure I could feel something in my trainer, but wasn’t entirely sure what it could be. Chesa reminded me what we had encountered the night before but there was no possible way that one of those things could fit in my trainer unless my foot wasn’t in there. Panic started taking over, in the heat of the moment Chesa and I stripped ourselves off from our trousers (we were in the room we were sharing), Chesa managed to shake trousers onto the floor, but it wasn’t so easy for me. After removing my leg from one of the legs of my trousers I saw one again, the fear ran through me as I hopped around our room shaking my leg at Chesa, screaming at her that she had to get it off. She ripped it off and blood went everywhere, I soon noticed the entire flood was laden with blood, my sock was hanging off my foot with blood dripping off the cotton threads that were poking out. I frantically removed my sock, I’ve never seen so much gore in all my life, it was horrific, but how had it managed to get into my trainer, into my sock and between my toes?! I couldn’t believe that we’d been attacked again. Chesa was shouting at me to kill them but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, luckily we’d left our room door open and I saw Shiraz walking past, our night in shining armor! He went quickly to grab the machinery he needed to destroy these rabid creatures. Chesa and I holding each other while stood in our underwear and shirts, sobbing profusely, Shiraz bounded towards us with his tub of salt and quickly got to work at removing us from our second leech pandemic. We can still not get over this man’s bravery, he deserves some form of medal for the help he gave us, maybe even a knighting ceremony.

If you’re thinking about going to Munnar, DO IT! Maybe give the nature reserve a miss, but for its beauty and its culture you should go, I can assure you, you won’t regret it. Just beware of the leeches.

Georgi Murray

GVI Kerala Volunteer

Experiencing Munnar