Sunday, March 13
Udumalpet to Munnar – 120 K
Because of the potential dangers of riding through the upcoming Anamalai Tiger Reserve, the decision was made for us to bus through the reserve and into Munnar. The bus ride held some surprises, pleasant ones. Before we left, I popped my camera out the window to get a picture of our bikes loaded on the truck:
Although we weren’t on our bikes, there were still riders out there… J Here’s an early morning rider with his cargo:
And an early morning motorcyclist – there is nothing they won’t put on a motorcycle here! J
The tiger reserve was safari-like and we did see some elephants beside the road. Unfortunately my camera battery died as I was taking a picture of them…. Bummer!! I will try to get a photo from someone else on the trip. Here’s a picture of the overall look of the reserve (minus the elephants):
We were climbing most of the morning and stopped a nice spot that had a chai tea stand. One of the drivers, Ashok tried his hand at splitting open a coconut but gave up because he didn’t want to lose any fingers… smart choice!
I walked around behind the little shop and their home to find a young boy washing his hands in the small amount of water running down the creekbed:
I made another friend and getting my dog-fix too!!!
As we continued our ride in the bus, we entered the area where the tea is grown…. and boy was there A LOT of tea growing! It was a beautiful contrast of the bright green tea plants and the rugged hillsides towering above.
Mixed in with the tea were trees of all kinds and these purple trees were in full bloom – so beautiful!!
More tea:
We passed a truck carrying bags of tea – these guys were hanging on and riding the back of the truck (waving for the picture).
The town of Munnar is a small but busy place – here’s the main street as we passed thru on the bus:
After we settled ourselves in the hotel, we went to town to look around. Mika joined Jan and me. Here are Jan and Mika having coffee and masala tea in the coffee shop (not espresso coffee mind you). J
