There was a “direct” bus to head south at 11:30am. Although we would only be traveling about 120 kilometres, the ride was going to take 5 hours yet only cost 168 rupees for the two of us (under $4). We packed up and headed for some breakfast at one of the hotel restaurants we had tried before with some disappointment but perhaps they can do better at frying eggs.
While we dined all alone in the Royal Retreat the man from the front desk passed through the restaurant and asked if we were staying at JJ’s Cottage. We’re not sure how he knew but I guess there aren’t that many foreigners around and the locals must talk. He said something and we had him repeat it a couple of times. “Your mother’s staying next door?” I rephrased to him. No, there was a murder next door. We were a bit stupefied as he told us that a man had killed his wife during the night in the Greenview Inn which shares a wall with JJ’s Cottage.
Breakfast at the Royal Retreat:
The last time walking by the woods where many Indian tourists loved to take their photos...so we finally had to do one:
We walked back to the guesthouse and sure enough there was a crowd of local men milling about in front of the Greenview. I asked Jay about it as the police finally showed up. We found out that it was a couple married for a view years and the guy had strangled and stabbed the woman in the neck around 3 in the morning and he was now nowhere to be found. Crazy! Definitely time to leave Dodge.
The scene of the crime, the Greenview, the second light green building:
The bus ride was well worth the price of admission. The views as we crossed from one closed valley to the next were stunning. Of course you also get to throw in the fun sights and sounds, oh and smells, of local Indian bus travel. Right from Munnar a man boarded the bus with a poor live chicken that had its wings tied up behind its back and the legs also bound together. It ended up lying under a bench seat across the aisle from us and did protest from time to time much to Naomi’s dismay. At times the bus was extremely full but that usually happened close to bigger towns where nearby locals were hopping on for short rides. We were lucky in that we had secured a bench seat for two in Munnar by boarding the standing bus early but I did give up my seat for short periods to mothers with small babies or the elderly ladies.
Our bus:
The poor chicken:
Naomi with some new seat mates:
The rolling tea plantations continued:
Nice valley views:
There was a parade of motorcycles, a few cars and many tuk-tuks all flying a yellow and white flag...some political thing I guess but a pain in the butt for the bus driver!
On the bus:
Just when we thought the bus was full:
On recommendation by Jay back in Munnar, we had made reservations at a guesthouse called the Greenview. Sound familiar? Yes, the same name as the guesthouse in Munnar where the murder had just happened! Were we tempting fate? A guy approached us at the bus station in Kumily and took us to the Greenview where we met the super happy and friendly proprietor Suresh. His smile and disposition was infectious. He profusely apologized that he didn’t have a room with a view and hot water available until the next night so if we could handle staying in one of his cheap rooms tonight we could move to a top floor room with a balcony overlooking the luscious green plants surrounding his property. Sure Suresh, no problem.
After settling in we ventured out down the street towards the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary which was about a kilometre away. We were looking for a nice place for a late afternoon snack after our bus ride. We eyed a number of restaurants and cafes before settling on one that was situated back from the road with a view into a clearing with a very small pond and surrounded by trees. There were only 2 other men in the cafe but we immediately noticed (well I did at least) that they had beer! There had been nowhere in public where you could drink beer in Munnar so I was a happy camper. Our toasted tomato, cheese and onion sandwich was quite a disappointment but we ended up talking with the two Spanish guys and had a few chuckles with them. One of them was a captain of a boat for a rich family...not a bad gig to have.
In Kumily...an interesting coffee place:
The entrance to the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary...but we're not going in there today:
Naomi checking out a fancy looking herbal shop:
That evening we went to dinner with an older Israeli man who had been on the bus ride with us from Munnar and was also staying at the Greenview. We walked to a nearby restaurant on the top two floors of a guesthouse called Chrissie’s. I was disappointed that they did not serve beer at this establishment but they did have non-Indian food...including pizza! Naomi and I split a pizza and it was a fabulous change from the meals in Munnar...yay food!
The next day was quite rainy so we opted for a quiet (or shanti as they say in India) day. We wandered around a bit in town but ended up having to rickshaw back to the guesthouse due to the precipitation. We did organize to go on a rickshaw tour to a spice garden and a viewpoint tomorrow and bamboo rafting adventure in two day’s time so hopefully the rain will let up.
Naomi chilling out on the balcony swing:
...while I blog:
That night we dined at another nearby eatery, the Spice Garden whose sign declared that “Candle Light Dinner” was their specialty. This was a place that served alcohol and while I had my usual Kingfisher beer Naomi had her first bit of wine in some time. Funnily on our bill the alcoholic beverages were labelled differently as watermelon or some kind of cake. Again we were quite pleased to have a break from Indian cuisine.
No comments:
Post a Comment