Moolamattom, Kerala

Yesterday we visited Munnar, a town in the centre of the tea producing area of Kerala. We left early in order to avoid the heat and drove for about two and a half hours up into the mountains where the air was fresher and cooler. On the way we experienced, once again, Indian driving at its scariest ... passing the aftermath of a nasty head-on crash between two buses.

You know you have arrived at the tea plantations because the landscape changes and the hills are suddenly covered in a neat patchwork of bright green bushes as far as the eye can see. We stopped at the smartest hotel in town, as the woman we are staying with knows the owner, and had a buffet breakfast of curries, puris and, for the first time in a while, toast and jam. We then continued our tour and visited a dam and Echo Point where there are stalls selling tea (surprise, surprise), essential oils, cheap plastic toys, wooden trays and home-made chocolate. You could also have a ride on an elephant. On the road we had seen a working elephant dragging trees up a hillside. Mercy, our hostess, told us that in December the area is packed with tourists and the vendors do a roaring trade, but yesterday there were just a few "palid people" like us about. Back in town we tried masala tea (tea with spices) and wandered around the market. Another interesting day.

Our stay here in Moolamattom is coming to an end. On Sunday we move on and from then on will be almost constantly on the road until we get back home. Yet again we've met some lovely children whose company we really have enjoyed and yet again we have been shown enormous generosity and kindness by everybody living and working at the home.

Ahir varem visitar Munar, un poble de la zona on es produeix te a Kerala. Varem sortir aviat per evitar la calor i varem conduir durant dues hores i mitja cap a les muntanyes, on l'aire era mes fresc. Durant el viatge varem tornar a experimentar la perillosa manera de conduir de l'India i fins varem veure dos autobusos que havien tingut un greu xoc frontal.

Quan el paissatge canvia i tots els camps semblen ordenadament tapissats d'arbustos d'un verd brillant, saps que has arribat a la plantacio.Varem aturarnos al millor hotel del poble, ja que la dona que ens hi acompanyava coneix l'amo, i varem disfrutar d'un esmorzar amb curris, puris i per primera vegada en molt de temps, torrades amb mermelada. Despres varem seguri fins a "Echo Point" on hi havia paradetes venent te, olis essencials, joguines barates de plastic, plates de fusta i xocolata feta a casa. Tambe es podia pujar als elefants. Pel cami haviem vist n'haviem vist un treballant, arrossegant troncs. La nostra hosta, la Mercy, ens va dir que pel Desembre aquesta zona es plena de turistes i els venedors fan l'Agost, pero ahir nomes hi havia algunes persones "palides" com nosaltres. De tornada al poble varem provar el te massla (amb especies) i varem visitar el mercat local. Un altre dia interessant.

La nostra estada a Moolamattom ja s'acaba. El diumenge tornarem a viatjar i a partir d'aleshores, gairebe cada dia ens mourem de lloc, fins a la tornada a casa. Un altre cop hem tornat a coneixer canalla encantadora i hem disfrutat de la seva companyia, i un cop mes ens han acollit amb gran generositat i tothom que treballa i o viu a la llar ens ha tractat molt be.