Wedding Abroad

Other things we saw in Munnar:

• Echo Point - About 15km from Munnar (nothing compared with the car trip from hell), is a small lake set amidst rolling hills. Any shouts from a spot on the lake is returned manifold by the echo from the surrounding hills. You need to be there to understand how surreal it is.
• Water falls - Natural waterfalls that carry fresh rain water. Great for those Look where I've been! photos.
• Top Station - Really, that's the name. Home of the neelakurunji flower, this place will wow you. I have never been (sans plane trip) above the cloud level, and the view is just amazing!
• Kolukkumalai Tea Estate - Supposed to be the highest tea factory in the world (7130 ft.) Well we had tea (very tasty!) and the view of the Western Ghats is absolutely great.

Echo Point!

Weddings didn't used to be so fun. Last summer I got to spend 4 days in Munnar and I had plenty of fun. The situation was a little weird, but even though I had my reservations at first I ended up having a great mini-holiday and got to see a part of the world I didn't even knew about before. It all started when I started my winter course at a summer school Switzerland. Originally, my primary objective was to learn French in France but, to my dismay, I discovered that most French school France was currently offering (and that decided to take my application) were awfully expensive.

The course was 4 weeks long and right off the bat I made friends with a lad from the United Kingdom called Chris. One of the things he told me was that he was about to get married and had planned this fantastic wedding plus honeymoon in an unknown place in India called Munnar. Of course I congratulated him but, at the time, I didn't give it a second thought. Boy was I ever wrong. Due to an unexpected turn of events, Chris' brother got one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to become the lead software designer for a big development firm on Silicon Valley (USA) and he had to make a trip over there to talk with the CEO of the company. But he was also supposed to be the best man at Chris' wedding! The boy was really depressed, he had planned this perfect wedding and now his brother wouldn't be able to attend. I was thinking about cheering him up and I guess I didn't really think of the consequences when I offered to be a replacement, the surprise was on me when his face lit up and he cheerfully accepted my offer.

Four days and a rather uncomfortable plane travel later the four of us (Chris, soon to be wife, soon to be maid of honor and me) were travelling in what seems to be a more uncomfortable version of a Yugo... if that thing is ever possible. No sulking allowed, however, and it would be hard to be in a bad mood considering the good spirits of everyone else on that trip. As an advice for anyone going to Munnar, the trip by car will take a good 6 hours, the road is blind in some places and there are a lot of trucks and buses that seem to drive as if they own the road. Also, do yourself a favour and have something to eat, I was seriously considering chomping on someone's arm by the time we arrived.

Seems like Munnar is a popular place for honeymooners, and Chris had coordinated his wedding with the once in twelve years blooming of the strange blue neelakurinji. The wedding would be set up in a lovely little garden just hours after the flowers were supposed to bloom. A neat idea and, to be honest, it was a wonderful wedding and a great trip.