On the way to Munnar and back

Early, I and an Italian couple were picked up and started our way to Munnar - a Hill Station in the Western Ghats. We had several stops on the way.

First, we watched how an elephant family took its bath in the river, before they returned to their home.

Then we went on to a pineapple and rubber plantation. The trees are cut every day and the white rubber milk is collected in the morning.

Next, we visited a Spice Farm and the woman there explained us all kinds of different fruits and spices - we have seen: cacao, jack fruit, spicy leafs, cardamom, lemon grass, papaya, coconut, vanilla, cinnamon, pepper, tamarind, nutmeg, ... We also tried the cacao fruit.

In the back of the farm, they were processing the rubber milk and made mats out of it that would sell for 100 Ruppies each (ca. 1.75 Euro).

Then we continued our way uphill passing several waterfalls and ate some lunch.

Finally, in the afternoon we arrived in Munnar. Unfortunately, it started to rain and went on for the rest of the day, so we just stayed inside and tried to stay warm.

The next morning, the sun woke me up and it became a really nice day. We drove through the tea plantation to Munnar Town, where we visited the Tea Museum, the local market and a spice shop (more pics to come later).

Before we returned to Kochi, we took a little ride on this elephant through the wood. Twenty minutes on the back of the elephant is more than enough to make your butt hurt.