indian mountains

after two weeks in kerala we left the coast.. Fi prefers Tamil Nadu, it more real india, and not as rich or touristy.. therefore we get better food and not ripped off as much.. some beach resorts just drain your money..

from our arrival in chennai we had aimed to be in the hill stations for january. we headed for mannur, an interesting tea plantation town which had three hills surrounding the town, all with a religious building on - temple, mosque and church.. as you can imagine it is quite a racket at sunset > loudspeakers, bells, and other musical instruments coming from each one.

we only stayed there one night as was very busy with indian tourists, a highlight was viewing the massive nativity display in the church, we wrote our postcards on the steps, and on leaving the town by bus we got stopped by jesus, or a truck named this anyway..!

the journey further into the hills took us into lush tea plantations, and near the tamil nadu border semi arrid forest with pristine trees and waterfalls everywhere.. more like africa.. we saw our first spotted dear from the bus window, and were escorted thru the national park by eagles and kites overhead.

the bus had to reverse around the series of hairpin bends down the other side of the mountain range..

all thru the day it was a little bit daunting as fi and i neither could pronounce the towns we were trying to reach.. like 'udumulpet' and 'coimbatore' >> said with a local accent, quite tricky :) mind u Fi's pronounciations are very individual...