Hi All

April 2006 This is my Forth blog which is split over 2 pages, here's page two:

Day 4

Traveled to the Hill station Munnar which after 5 hours drive is situated at an altitude of 5000/6000 feet. We stayed at the Sterling resort hotel. The hotel has great views from the hotel room but was in need of some serious maintenance. Several rooms were out of service. This is a common feature of many older hotels in Kerala and is being addressed.

Like the last hotel  at the lake side we found the facilities in the hotel next door better and the food was exceptionally good (Mahindra Lake View Hotel) This is often the case so economies can be made by using the posh hotel facilities while saving cash staying  cheaper hotels.

Day 5

Drove to see the town of Munnar and look at the tea plantations on the way. This was one of the most interesting days in the mountains.

We stopped by to watch tea pickers load their harvest on a truck to be transported to the TATA tea factory.

TATA Tea own nearly all the plantations, the mountains and all the accommodation of the tea workers. Munnar is a  true remnant of ‘The Company’ town

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The tea is picked by female workers mainly migrants from over the mountains in the nearby state of Tamil Nadu where work is scarce. The woman in fig 3 was cheerful and happy to talk to us and show us how she picked the leaves. The lower grade tea is picked using shears. She    let us have a go with the tea clipper and was amused at our clumsiness.

The tea looks like the privets bushes we had in our Bolton Council house garden when I was a kid. (we made crap tea) The tea pickers wore a thick plastic apron to protect their legs from the rough bushes

The women earn about a pound a day working from 5:30 am till 4 pm . The work is hard, notice the load on the lady below (fig 5) this is carried down a very steep slope to the wagon for loading.

The tea workers  live in the fields in groups of TATA Tea Company Stone and tin roofed  cottages  close to their work fields.

Another worthwhile attraction is the British built hydroelectric dam at Munnar The first to be built in India which provides a recreational lake that has become a tourist attraction.  The south part of the lake provides a picnic spot called echo point, because, well that’s what it does when you shout Bolton Wanderers across the water, like I did (must have been the heat)

There are herds of wild elephants in this area though we didn’t see any, Our driver warned us to beware of any single Elephants. Elephants naturally live in herds and the single elephant is usually an outcast from its herd and a usually rejected for it antisocial behavior and usually mad.

Never stand in front of one and it is better to run down slope to escape, because the elephant can’t run so well down hill, I felt only slightly reassured.

Many elephants are put to work in the Munnar forest region and we saw several while traveling along the mountain roads (fig 8)

Day 6

To Cochin

Cochin is  rich in the  history of  Dutch, Portuguese and British influence and there is many places where this is in evidence. Our first stop was the Bolghatty Palace hotel (fig 9&10) converted by the Keralan government from a Dutch palace. The Palace was built by the Dutch in the year 1744 and was taken over by the English for a while; it is situated on an island off the Cochin coast. It is now accessible by bridge. This was the plushest hotel we stayed.  Unlike the other   Government hotels we stayed in this was perfectly restored and well maintained.

Day 7

Visited the island, Fort Cochin.

Santa Cruz basilica

This church was initially built by the Portuguese and demolished by the British when they took over Kochi, rebuilt in 1887. Then it was proclaimed a Basilica in 1984 by Pope John Paul II. 

 The house  of Vasco da Gama, (fig 19)Brutal Portuguese explorer, famed for burning ships full of women and children .This is thought to be the oldest house on Fort Cochin island. It is now a Home stay (bed and breakfast)

Another strong influence around these islands is that of the Chinese, in the food and more visually, the ancient method of fishing in the shallow  lagoons and from the shore using ‘Chinese Nets’ (fig 20)These structures are made from basic local materials, rocks, rope and bamboo. The rocks cantilever the nets and the fish can be bought as it is caught and then cooked to your liking at the quay side café

The island of fort Cochin is also accessible by a new bridge from the main land. The original bridge built by the British is now weak and restricted to TucTucs and Bikes only

There is obviously more to see in Kerala than you can see in two weeks. I hope this gives you a taste of the diversity and uniqueness of the state of Kerala we have had the privilege to enjoy. I hope in some way this Blog will help you to share this enjoyment with us.

Terry and Anita
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