Munnar Tea Safari

Feb. 28, 2010

We woke up early this morning so Murali could take us to meet our tea safari jeep about 5 miles away. It is called a tea safari because where they take you is up steep, twisty dirt roads through the tea estates and through elephant territory. There are many opportunities to see wildlife while going up through this back-country. We will see if we are lucky enough to find any elephants, guar, sambar or sloth bears. We met our jeep on a road in the middle of nowhere. One thing you can always expect here in India, is some random unexpected thing, like meeting your jeep on a road in the middle of nowhere instead of say, at the jeep safari kiosk in a town. You just have to trust that it is OK, and it always is. We met our driver Deepu and agreed on a price of 1500 rupees ($30US) for the all day safari. We weren’t sure exactly what to expect, which made the day exciting.

Deepu

As we left Murali behind, Deepu started driving into the high backcountry. He began to explain how the jeep was going to be providing us with an extra perk of a full body massage today as we would be driving over extremely crude dirt roads on the entire journey. Good thing there are extra handles for us to hang on to. He then began telling us all about the tea estates and how they operate and pointing out interesting landmarks, etc. as we went along. Deepu was such a delightful young man, very knowledgeable and funny. Also, quite the photographer as you will see. He was just delightful to hang out with all day.

The easiest way for me to explain our adventure is to start posting photos with captions. The beauty will amaze you.

This is elephant lake. Deepu said wild elephants come here to drink throughout the day and night.

As we began to enter the tea estates, the intense green was breathtaking.

This truck is loaded with bags of freshly picked tea. There are little housing villages throughout the tea estates where entire families live, usually close to the tea processing plants. Because of the areas remoteness, every plantation has its own doctor to provide medical services for the between 100 and 500 families who live and work on the estates.

This woman is carrying a bag of her tea picking on her head.

The tea bushes live for many years (over 100). Only the very young pale green leaves at the top are picked, all the others are left. When a bush has been picked, it takes about 15 days for the new pale green leaves to sprout again.

Yes, our cow friends are everywhere! Luckily, they don't like to eat tea leaves.

Deepu stopped the jeep and decided we needed a photo of us standing in the tea bushes.

As we headed up towards the mountain tops, we passed a security checkpoint. We didn't realize it was actually a border station. We were now passing into the next state, Tamil Nadu. The Kolukkumalai tea estate we are headed to is in Tamil Nadu. The roads now became rougher and narrower and more twisty. When we got to the summit (now over 7000 ft), we had spectacular views of the Kerala side to the west and the much more dramatic Tamil Nadu side to the east.

The Kerala side we just drove through to get up here.

The very dramatic Tamil Nadu side with its much more rugged peaks.

The extreme drop behind me was enough to make most people dizzy!

Deepu, being the artsy guy that he is, snapped this photo of Rowan with her finger on the peak of the mountain. We decided to just let him carry one of our cameras so he could take pictures too.

The Kolukkumalai Estate is the highest (at 8000 ft.)and oldest orthodox tea growing plantation in the world. Completely organic. We will now go on foot for the hike down to the factory.

Deepu, carrying our backpack for us, led the way down the steep path.

The tea station and factory built in 1930 by the British is still in its original state.

some of the housing for the tea workers

The first order of business was to have a cup of tea!

Getting ready to tour the factory

Tea ready for the Withering (losing its moisture) process

This video shows the machine that crushes the dried leaves. The whole factory still operates using the original machines the British brought here in 1935. They all still work and are maintained by the plantation mechanical staff. Electricity is provided by huge diesel powered generators.

And, here is Rowan using the separation machine. The small stuff falls though the mesh and the larger stuff that falls to the bucket will be the top grade tea.

Some photos of the other machines used in the process:

fermentation

More sorting by grade

How they grade the tea

The finished product

After our tour, we went back to the factory office, had another cup of tea (masala with fresh lemon. YUM!) and bought a bunch of tea to bring home.

Rowan and Deepu on our hike out of the plantation.

Temples are provided throughout the tea estates so the workers can worship.

We drove back down the mountain where we met our driver Murali, again, just in the middle of a road. What a really, really, great day we have had!

More coming........

God’s Own Country – Munnar, Kerala

Feb. 27, 2010

The Tea and Spice Region

As we exited the boat at Alleppy there was our driver Murali waiting to take us off to Munnar and the tea and spice region of Kerala. Munnar lies at a height of 5,906 ft, in a part of the Western Ghat Mountain Range know as the High Ranges. The name Munnar (which means three rivers in Tamil) is derived from its location at the meeting place of three mountain streams. Located in over 59,000 acres of sprawling tea estates, first established by the British in 1878, Munnar was once a summer resort for the British government in South India.

As we made our way to Munnar (a 5 hour drive), we passed by lots of farmland and eventually, as the elevation started to rise, Murali pointed out the rubber tree plantations. We noticed how many of the trees had been tapped (just as maple trees are for their syrup) with bags tied around them to catch the rubber juice. The road became extremely twisty as we kept climbing towards Munnar (reminded me of Hwy. 1 along the coast of California). Murali is so great as he points out interesting things for us to look at and is willing to stop absolutely anywhere we want to. It only costs us a whopping $5 US a day, including tip, to have our wonderful driver.

Our driver, Murali

Along the road we came upon something we had never seen before, an elephant being transported in an open truck. We would like to have seen how they squeezed this guy in there. Murali said we are now entering elephant country, so this is a common site.

The video: How to Pack-a-Derm

We continued our windy drive; up and up and up we went. Murali asked us if we would like to stop at a spice plantation. Spices? For me, who loves to cook? Absolutely, we said. This region is very famous for its spices as well as its tea. We stopped at the Karadippara Cinnamon, Spice and Ayurvedic plant gardens and decided to get a guide to walk us through so we could learn all about the different plants. It was really fascinating to see all the plants that provide the spices we eat every day. Here is some of what we saw:

The list of over 50 spices, fruits and medical herbs grown in the gardens

Cloves. We never realized they grow on trees.

Coffee

This bamboo like plant with the big pods is an Insulin Plant. It is the only plant that produces a natural form of insulin. The leaves are chewed to release the insulin. This plant is a treatment for diabetics.

Red bananas

Cinnamon tree. Portions of the bark are removed only twice and then the tree is left alone, otherwise it will die.

Rowan and I in front of a poinsettia. They bloom here year round.

Here is our guide picking us some seeds under a cardamom plant. The seed pods come out on shoots at the bottom of the plant.

Here are the seed pods

This amazing tree is over 150 years old. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of it. It was just stunning.

Vanilla bean orchid

Vanilla vine

Cocoa bush with beans

Peppercorn vine

Peppercorns laid out in the sun to dry

Close-up of drying peppercorns

Of course we bought a load of fresh spices in the spice shop here to bring back with us. Looks like we will definitely be buying that extra suitcase to get us home now :o)

Notes on Kerala’s agriculture:

Kerala produces 96% of the national output of pepper and 91% of natural rubber. Coconut, tea, coffee, cashew and spices – including cardamom, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg are all part of the critical agricultural sector. A key agricultural staple is rice, with more than 600 varieties grown in Kerala’s extensive paddy fields. Home gardens are also a significant portion of the agricultural landscape. Raising animals is also important, and is encouraged by supporters as a means of alleviating rural poverty and unemployment among women, the marginalized, and the landless. Feeding, milking, breeding, management, healthcare, and micro-enterprises all provide work for around 3.2 million of Kerala’s 5.5 million households. The state government promotes such activity through educational campaigns.

As we moved on up the mountains the views were getting more spectacular by the minute. Murali stopped at a vista point so we could see the beauty we were driving into.

We noticed how the humidity was now gone and the crisp light air of the mountains was upon us. The car rounded a corner and as the trees cleared, we got our first glimpses of tea bushes, which seemed to immediately take over the landscape in a sea of green for as far as you could see. Wow! It was like the grape vines in California’s Napa Valley, but even on a grander scale.

We finally reached Munnar Town, a quaint little town just full of hotels, spice shops, teashops and eateries. We kept driving through Munnar and continued up and up some more. Our resort is located about 10 miles up the mountain from Munnar. Again, in an out-of-the-way place we prefer. We entered the Great Escapes Resort and took a hair-raising turn down a VERY steep half dirt road that took us down into a very heavily wooded environment. We are nearly at 7,000 feet now. Murali let us off at the bottom of the road where are resort is built into the steep side of the mountain. The fresh, cool, unpolluted air was so refreshing. We are nearly in the clouds here.

Here are some photos of the resort and our bungalow:

Our bungalow

A treehouse bungalow

Rowan in a bird's nest overlooking the canyon

Our view

More coming................