Mesmerising Munnar

“Munnar is a lovely hill station. If we time it right, we might even be able to see a wild elephant or two.” More such promises by hubby followed, and I did want to see a wild elephant standing in the middle of the road blocking our way. That would be awesome, wouldn’t it?

My brother, husband, and I reached Munnar late in the evening and checked into our two-room cottage.

The next morning, I stepped out to see the surroundings and was immediately floored by the beauty. Our cottage was literally in the middle of a forest with winding roads. After breakfast, we hired a cab to take us around Munnar.

Our first stop was by a tea estate, and out came bro with his camera, and hubby with his mobile phone. They had me pose for 5 minutes or so and merrily clicked away.

Next, another stop beside a tea estate where a photographer tied a scarf around my head and hung a bamboo basket on my back, and viola, tea estate worker look was complete!

Next stop, Elephant park. I wanted to jump with joy when I saw six tame elephants all of the same size and height at one place. And, what’s more? I also got to ride on one of them. It was a thrilling experience. I could feel the elephant's muscles move under me when it walked.What a magnificent creature! Elephant ride lasted for about 15 minutes, and I fed the elephant a basket of pineapples.

Next stop, boat house at Maattupatty dam. Wearing life jackets, we stepped onto the boat for a 20-minute ride in the lake. The lake is surrounded by tall and majestic eucalyptus trees. A few minutes into the ride, just when I was getting used to the rhythm of the boat, the boat driver manoeuvred the boat to draw a figure eight, and I let out a shriek. Apparently, all boat drivers do that, and that’s the speciality of the boat ride. Later, I told myself, “Mmm…what’s the fun in travelling straight in a boat? There needs to be some sort of adventure.” We requested the boat driver to take our photographs with the eucalyptus trees in the background. He did one better and let the boat turn slowly a 360 degree and clicked away. What an idea!
One of the snaps when the boat was turning 360 degrees

Next we visited Kundala dam. It is a good place for a leisurely evening walk, except that the dropping temperature makes you yearn for a hot cup of tea. We amused ourselves by shooting balloons. Hubby successfully shot 4 balloons, while brother and I shot none. Then we returned to our cottage and the next morning we left Munnar.