Tea and Jasmine (and Israelis!)

Quick post from Munnar, a town that I am quickly falling in love with. Munnar is known for its tea plantations and tea manufacture, so we were definitely excited to try some delicious black tea, take a tour of the tea museum, and walk and hike in the mountains. We left Kochi on a 5 1/2 hour bus out of the city and up up up a winding mountain road, to arrive a bit tired and overwhelmed into Munnar at 10pm. We wandered around looking for our lodge, dodging rickshaw drivers and kids on bikes trying to sell us a room. Ran into a group of fantastically happy and drunk Israelis who led the way to the lodge we hoped to stay in. hough we had a reservation at a lodge in town, we're quickly learning that reservations over the phone mean nothing, and there were no rooms available. However, there was another hotel owner standing in the hotel in which we were denied a room, and within 5 minutes of haggling and confusion, we found ourselves crammed into another rickshaw, driving up a dark mountain road. Turns out the new hotel is cheaper and MUCH nicer- I think it's the best deal we've gotten so far. We've got clean facilities, a BEAUTIFUL mountain view, and it's quiet. Also turns out that the Israelis are staying in the same hotel so we joined them for some drinks and lots of Hebrew conversation that we could only smile and laugh at. Though they did turn on Led Zeppelin "in honor of their guests", so at least we could all sing and wail along to Robert Plant. They claim to be the last Israelis to get 6 month visas, and they told us a new story in the Israeli visa fiasco... Apparently two Israelis got drunk and were found pretty indecently in a Hindu temple. Is the story true? Either way, the Israelis were proud! Another strange note, one of the Israelis lived in the town next to Pikesville (Jake's hometown) for awhile, and another one of the Israelis worked in the Press Toast on McDougal street in NYC, which is in the same building that I lived this past summer! Small world...

Woke up this morning to gorgeous purple flowers covering the mountain, and clapping and singing from the church services. Walked down the mountain, past white flowers that look like champagne flutes, and found the bustling town so alive because it's Sunday and market day. I bought some jasmine flowers to wrap around my hair, so whenever we weren't smelling tea leaves, we were smelling jasmine. After a nice walk along the village road, we found our way to the tea museum, took an incredible tour that smelled so delicious, and then we met a man on the way back who showed us to the best tea stall in town. Drank delicious black tea, ate a special local snack of spicy fried bananas, and then wandered through the fruit and veggie market till we found tasty papaya and guava. Sounds from the mosque, the hindu temple, and the church ring around us everywhere we walk. People smile and wave and everyone's pretty happy. This is definitely a good place to spend a few days.