Wellaway From Home

The same taxi driver that drive us up was there at 5:30am to drive us back down to the airport at Kochi. It had taken 3.5 hours to get up there (at speed) but the taxi company thought it would only take 3 hours to get back down. We had a flight to catch a were a little dubious but we trusted there judgement. Well, they were wrong...it took just over 2.5 hours to get down.. And we were overtaken on the way so weren't even the fastest thing on the road! Got to the airport in plenty od time and boarded our flight o Mumbai. We had opted for a bit of luxury in Mumbai and booked the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel near the Gateway to India, and even treated ourselves to booking a taxi with the hotel to transfer us from the aiport. Little did we know that this was a chauffer driven SUV. We were a bit taken aback by this. It was more expensive than we thought but worth it as a one off. The journey was 5000 rupees and when we got to the hotel it was very plush.  Our room for £270 didn't have a w...

Becs was feeling a little better today and came with me to breakfast which was nice. After we spent another day at the estate just taking it easy. India is an experience, it's a beautiful country full of life, colour and sound and nothing like the UK. Even without feeling a bit poorly it's difficult to keep going non stop and every now and again you need to take some time to rest. At over 1500m altitude I started to feel a bit breathless and lethargic so it was great that we were in a place where we could just put our feet up. Again, the staff were attentive and sympathetic. We had drinks brought to our room and caring words as we passed reception during our wanders about the estate. We caught fabulous sunrises and sunsets in Munnar. It was a pity that we weren't able to venture out further and see what the region had to offer but, if we were going to need a place to rest and recuperate...this was it.

Becs wasn't feeling tip top today, we think she might have caught a big from another traveller at Munroe Island, so she spent most of the day in the room resting. If we could have chose a day for this, it would have been today...and here at Windemere as the view from our room was amazing, the room itself was amazing and the staff really thoughtful and we could order meals and drinks to the room. I did manage to get out to explore the grounds though and take a swim in the lovely pool which had an infinite view of the tea plantations. I also walked up to the granite rock viewing platforms with amazing views of the area. Breakfast was a Indian/British affair with bacon and eggs accompanying some more local cuisine. Afternoon tea was served in a lovely gazebo with some cakes too which was nice as we"d decided we weren't hungry for lunch. At 4pm I went over to reception for the hike that was offered by the hotel. It was led by the estate's own naturalist who was very inform...

Yes, it really did take all those modes.of transport to get us to our new destination. You might think that having precooked the train ticket from Kollam to Kochi and the taxi to pick us up from the station and take us to the Windemere Estate in Munnar, that all would be well. Aha! Think again! We woke up early and packed before Vijeesh brought us a goodbye coffee which ws very sweet of him. We then settled up paying on Monzo which was brilliant as the exchange rate is fabulous and there didn't seem to be any commission involved for paying in rupees. The whole 3 night trip including all the meals and activities came to £145, well worth it. I'd asked Vijeesh to book us a taxi back to Kollam station but he looked up the train route and said that it actually stopped at a much nearer station so we could get a tuktuk there. A no trainer really. So at 7:10 we shouldered oir bags and he led us down to the road...across rhe road and to the canoe and told us that the tuktuk was on the o...

Woke up and made the short 15 minute walk to a local yoga shala for our first practice since Kochi. It was easy to find and the teacher was waiting for us outside the shala which was up a metal staircase with views of the surrounding mangrove forest. 90 sweaty minutes later we felt stretched out and at peace with the world. It was Hatha yoga for those who know about these things and cost 1000 rupees each. Glowing, we headed back to the homestay for breakfast and chatted to the group about the start of the day. Vijeesh has bikes for hire, no idea how much they are but we took a couple for a spin around the island, calling in at a repair shop on the way to tighten the chain (50 rupees) and the juice shop from yesterday. This time he even turned the fan on for us. We had no route planned so just pootled about, went over our bike treads a few times and even found the local Munroturuttu train station before calling it a day due to a bit of saddle sore. Bikes were fine though and the roads p...

Woke up early (again) for a dawn cruise on the canoe punted by Vijeesh himself this time. Was well worth the early alarm as we took a different route and saw the party lights of the temple for this evenings' festival as well as a truly amazing sunrise. Otters too! Afterwards we arrived back for a lovely traditional breakfast of pancakes, banana and melon...smashing. But with nothing planned we took the opportunity to spend the rest of the mornjng relaxing a doing a fee chores like washing clothes and having a snooze. The room was lovely and cool with the aircon and fan and we could have slept.longer but woke ourselves up for lunch, more home cooked curry which was very tasty and mostly veggie but with a few small fried fish too if you fancied them. After lunch we asked Vijeesh about yoga and he gave us the number of a local shala whom we whatsapped and set up a session for the following day. He also put a couple of pins in my Google maps app for a nearby cotton weaving factory an...