We wake at the lovely sound of christian pop music – at around 0630. After realizing that there is no-one in our room with a boomblaster we understand that we are living next to a church. Mona now remembered that the British guy had mentioned that the only con was that “there was some music – but it was played at fairly decent hours”. We guess that was non-Sundays.

We checked out in search of a more tranquil place outside of Munnar Town in the countryside. We managed to get the name Aranyaka from “Tourist Information” but picked a random Auto-Riksha guy to drive us there for 100Rs. He managed to pass a couple of his friends hotels rather than going where we asked him but finally we got the the right place and it was awesome with capital A. For those thea-enthusiasts, this in the hear of the Nilgiri district.

Since there was no commission to give to anyone we managed to get down the price from 3500 Rs to 2500Rs. Really nice cottages with beautiful views, and we decided to take a little trek in the afternoon. Long story short we walked quite a bit through some jungle-ish vegetation in addition to the tea bushes but managed to find a lovely citrus tree with tasty fruits and a nice waterfall.

This is really the most fun way to travel, and as a bonus really cheap.

Bus 1 from Sealine Resort; A 18-year old boy called Vishar introduced himself and started talking to practice his English. He enjoyed music, and his western favorites where System of a Down, Nirvana and Justin Bieber. You draw the connection there.

Bus 2 From Ernukalum; A short trip to Kaloor Bus Stand, where several helpful passengers describe that we need find a bus to Munnar. At the Bus Stand however, we get mixed messages about buses – maybe it leaves in two hours – maybe there are no buses here?

Bus 3 From the main road next to Kaloor Bus Stand;
A guy gets interested in my iPad as we browse Lonely Planet in order for clues. He explains we should “just take the next bus heading this way” and points. We approach a bus but the guy claims he is not going to Munnar. iPad-interested guy comes back – picks up our luggage and puts it (and us) on the bus after speaking with the purser. Interesting. After driving for two hours we spot the name of a town and realize with the help of Lonely Planet that we at least seem to have gotten halfway to Munnar.

We encounter a huge demonstration – probably religious but could also be political? Definitely fun watching and I snap lots of photos. As the bus stops at some unknown town a guy runs off with our luggage again and puts us on another bus which is more crowded than your regular metal concert at the front rows.

Bus 4 from Unknown destination; After some 90 minutes we end up in Munnar Town – and after six or seven hours of fun conversations, beautiful scenery and a lot of local music we see other westerners again. We ate at Spree, who served some cheap Thali food. As we are pondering where to stay we bump into a British guy who mentions that he is happy with his place and he thinks they may have available rooms.

Getting there, no manager to be found, but someone calls him – he has a shop nearby and sends his 5-6 year old kid to show us the rooms (not speaking English but charming). We choose a rather nice room for the nice price 750 Rs – with additional rebate to 600Rs if we stay more nights. A nightly stroll in Munnar town and then we fall asleep after enjoying a hot shower.

While unpacking I found that Mona had stashed away three bottles of water and soda, I accused her for causing me to sink so low as to steal for my survival in the protection of the night. The good part of the day was spent in different positions on the beach reading and swimming in the temperate sea.

I finished reading “Surface Detail” by Iain M. Banks, which was nice and very immersing. It was however not awesome to read on the iPad in beaming sunlight. At 1630 I decided that it was not possible to confirm whether our luggage was on the airport and just to be sure we went with the cabdriver. It all went well, we (Finnair) paid the taxidriver 800Rs for the two-hour trip back’n’forth. Unfortunately for him he manage to hit some concrete thingies while parking – hope he at least went plus in total.

Another nice dinner at Sealine, now enjoying our complete luggage. So far Paneer Butter Masala is the best dish.