I can still remember approaching Munnar...It had been a long nights journey from Bangalore . This had been one of those completely unplanned departures. I was in Bangalore visiting a friend and our original plan was to go to Ooty: A very famous hill station in the south. However as luck would have it, most of the buses were overbooked - what with it being prime holiday season and all that! That's when Nefi first suggested Munnar to me. I had never heard of Munnar before and I must admit I was more than a little skeptical , but I couldn't resist Nefi's quaint little Bangalorean quip "Don't worry Ma, I'm sure it will be great" ( all bangaloreans punctuate their sentences with 'MA', it's a term of endearment ). So before we knew it we were on a bus headed south to Munnar. At one point in the journey we realised we weren't even sure whether Munnar was in Kerala or Tamil Nadu! All we knew is that we were a 100 miles from Bangalore and there was no turning back.
So like I was saying, we were approaching munnar. It was around 11 in the morning. The landscape around us had turned to a blanket of green. The calming sounds of gurgling brooks and gushing waterfalls engulfed us. The air grew fresher and with every breath, so did our spirits. Munnar is a nature-lovers paradise. What I liked most about it is its rustic fee
l, unlike most other hill stations that have been commercialised/ 'civilized'. We found ourselves in a cosy little room and threw our bags down and went to explore the town.
First Stop - Find a guide or at least have him find us ( more like he followed us till we gave in :) ). I mean you can't blame the lot - they have to make a living!
Second Stop - Food. We spotted a decent looking restaurant in the city centre. Right at once our guide warned us against the restaturant - very costly he says . But what the hell - we were tourists and were determined to act the part. So despite our guide's warning we entered that restaurant, kept our fingers crossed and opened the menu card with a little apprehension . Beef Fry and Rice - 30 rupees ! I had forgotten that far away from Bombay in a little corner of india 30 rupees is a lot of money to some people. I made a mental note to value every penny I have and without wasting too much time tucked right into the beef fry! Of course, at this point any uncertainty we felt regarding which state in India we were in was laid to rest - Kerala is the only place in India that serves beef in a restaurant.
