Tea time : Munnar

Think British rule over India and a few things might come to mind: Gandhi, taxes, army, exploitation, tea and spice trades, revolution or peaceful marches. Many might think of  the East Indian Trading Company, British's exploitation machine, fueled mainly by spice, coffee and tea cultivation.  We hiked from Kodaikanal (Tamil Nadu province)  to the hub of these cultivation fields, where we became engulfed in a sea of stunning green. Lolling hills covered by a thick carpet of tea-trees stretching out as far as the eye could see. This was Munnar, a small-yet-still industrial town in the western province of Kerala.

Tea trees everywhere

Our (fatigued) hiking team.  We hiked from Kodaikanal mountains to the beautiful tea plantations of Munnar.

Tea-patch kids

Looks like carpeting

Tea trees, they're tough

We also visited a spice farm.  The breeze smelt wonderful.   They had all kinds of beautiful things growing: pepper, vanilla, cumin, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves (which are, in fact, the leaves of a cinnamon plant.  Who knew !), nutmeg as well as Ayurvedic healing herbs.  Our guide knew her plants well and could suggest a healing plant for any kind of ailment.

Coffee beans....red, white and then brown

Laughing amidst cardamom plants

Pepper and vanilla, climbing the trees for sunlight

Pepper, before it's dried

Drying pepper and then collection

Being that we were now in the province of Kerala, we decided to take in a Kathakali performance. Kathakali, a traditional Keralan dance, began around the same time that Shakespeare was writing his plays, and is a dramatized presentation of a play, usually based on Hindu's epic legends. Themes such as righteousness, evil, frailty, courage poverty, prosperity, war and peace are usually presented. Actors (usually two) tell the stories through precise movements, particularly hand movements and facial expression. Dancers start training  for Kathakali at a very young as it is such a highly disciplined dance.  Paint, fantastic costumes and ornamental headpieces transform the actors into the Gods, heroes and demons they are about to play.  Drums and cymbals are played throughout the play by two musicians.

Getting their fancy costumes ready

Smitten face

Proud face

The play we saw was about a demon who was given the task to kidnap a Gods' son.  Once she met the son she was smitten and instead decided to disguise herself as a beautiful women and seduce him.

She was rejected.

Eventually she revealed her true identity. The son was furious and cut her arms and her boobs off!

To tell you the truth, this part was a little frightening.

We thought the performance was scary. Not the kind of scary that makes you put your hands in front of your eyes. It was disturbing as well as bizarre and only later did we think (and fear) that some of the images that we saw during the performances might haunt us in our dreams later on. 

We only stayed a couple of nights in Munnar and then headed on a bus for Kumily, a small town a little lower in the hills, to check out an animal sanctuary nearby. On the way there I noticed that cardamom grows wild EVERYWHERE.  At one point, the bus stopped on the side of the road and the driver's assistant went out a grabbed a handful of cardamom pods.  I guess he needed them for tonight's curry !