Published December 27, 2015

In the morning Tessa and I left the Good Karma Inn. It was nice staying here for these two days.

In the lobby of the Good Karma Inn

View from the inn to the street

It’s Christmas time! 

My intuition worked out again this day. I suspected that Tessa is a writer due to her elegant and sophisticated English language, and so she is! The book on the house in the photo above is her collection of poems, “A Wandering of Verses”. I was blessed to receive a copy of this wonderful anthology with Tessa’s signature.

“Home and Abroad” by Tessa Kate Lowe

I’ve never received a book from a poet with a personal signature.

Brevity is a site of talent. Tessa’s poems are bright and profound. The one above is one of my favourites.

We started off for the public ferry along the beach walkway.

Cute garbage bin

Steam boilers in Fort Kochi beach

Fort Kochi has many faces. Today in the morning, when leaving the place, I saw it from the artistic side thanks to Tessa’s keen eye. There are several amazing graffiti along the beach walkway.

I love street art.

Isn’t this beautiful? On the right there’s a portrait of the painter.

“God is an artist, not an engineer.”

All religions talk about the same.

Cochin Carnival

Tree art

We had a pleasant ferry ride from Fort Kochi to the mainland for the incredible 4 rupees, followed by a breakfast at an Indian cooperative store, and an auto rickshaw (tuk-tuk) ride to Ernakulam bus station.

The transfer from to Munnar took 5 hours, and it was a very enjoyable trip with a beautiful serpentine road in the second half, with many green hills, tea plantations, rivers, valleys and waterfalls. I was lucky to have Tessa with me, as she’s been to Munnar before, and shared her encyclopedic knowledge and amazing stories about the region.

This building next to the ferry station has a Dutch character.

Getting ready for the ferry

Leaving Fort Kochi behind

Indian Coffee House is a cooperative restaurant chain in India. A great, cheap and clean place with tasty food.

Only here you can get a snake for breakfast 🙂 Apparently they meant ‘snack’, not ‘snake’.

Taking tuk-tuk to the bus station

Upon arriving we had a walk in the neighborhood.

The green and pink buildings next to Munnar’s bus stand are two guest houses popular with foreigners. I’ll stay in the Green View, while Tessa will be in the pink JJ Cottage.

Kurunji gift shop

Upon arriving in Munnar one of the first things Tessa showed me was the Kurunji gift shop run by three local ladies. The shop sells gifts produced by the differently abled people. The paper gifts and clothes are of great quality there. Sadly, the shop opened by the TATA Corporation was closing down the same day after 15 years of operation, with its workers left in the darkness.

Great paperwork

Clothing of very fine quality

“Differently abled” – this is the word used.

Very old and romantic mailbox

A bridge across the river

River in Munnar

Anglican church ahead

The church was built by a wealthy British man to commemorate his 18-year-old son who was killed in a motorbike accident here. There’s a graveyard on the hill on the left where the son and local citizens are buried.

My first impressions of Munnar are: fresh, cold, green, beautiful nature, full of history. I planned to spend here for one day and a half only, but feel like staying more. From tomorrow exploration will continue.