Kerala: God’s Own Country: Day 5

Fruit Market

Fruit Market

Munnar sightseeing
DTDC (District Tourism Development Corporation) Idukki arranges a sightseeing tour of places around Munnar. Our bus had 3 couples and 2 tourists from Belguim besides the three of us. The excursion is resonably priced at Rs. 250, however we were unable to visit one destination due to bad road conditions. Also the Eravikulam National Park was overcrowded, so the authorities closed it by the time we reached. There are 23 gigantic tea estates in Munnar and one can see tea farms at various stages – fresh plantations, tender leaves and plucked stumps. The day was very wet in the morning, dry during the afternoon and it started raining heavily in the evening again!
Tea plantations

Madupatty Dam: 160ft high with a vast reservoir.

Rural areas around Munnar

Belgian friends
We met Sofie and Grete, tourists from Belguim on this DTDC trip. They are on a 2-month holiday in India since July 02. Traveling all over south India, they are totally comfortable with south Indian food, the travel. In the last leg of their journey, they will be in Mumbai. It was a pleasant experience to meet them, and incidentally, we discovered that they were staying in the room bang opposite to ours!

Tea! Everywhere!
Tea Flower

Tea plantations