BOP Bangalore Chronicles: The Munnar Macarenas ride (Part II)

DAY 2 (Munnar to Kolukkumalai and back)

We all got up at around 10 am. Two decisions were made immediately. Firstly, we'd change the hotel. We had taken this out of compulsion, the room was livable but did not warrant the price. The second decision was to visit Kolukkumalai. Both decisions had a significant, positive impact on the whole trip.

After some research, Fagu discovered the Zina Cottage, halfway up a hill and in the middle of a tea estate. He immediately called and booked a room for the 3 of us. We checked out of this hotel and started searching for Zina Cottage. As I said, it is on a small hill and there is an off-roading patch that you have to negotiate to reach the place. It is a quaint little spot, with an old world charm to it. It overlooks a vast expanse of greenery and was surrounded by tea plantations. The caretaker, Velu, an unassuming, friendly young man showed us our rooms. We fell in love with the place immediately. But we didn't have time to muse about the beauty of this place. After dumping all our luggage, we set off towards Rapsy Restaurant for brunch.

Fagu had visited Munnar before and raved about Rapsy all the time. The place seemed to attract a healthy mix of hippy, European crowd and Indian tourists. I asked for a Spanish omelette since the ingredients looked interesting. It arrived very late, probably because the preparation of this dish takes time. It is quite a thick omelette and is filled with potatoes. It was decent and filling, but I think it could have been made better. I finished my brunch as soon as possible and we started searching for a mechanic. Both Fagu and Sheshank had minor repairs to get done: the Mach's rear left crash guard was hanging loose and the Electra's taillight assembly was on the verge of falling off. Repairs done, we immediately left post-haste for Kolukkumalai.

Kolukkumalai is the world's highest tea estate. Along with the plantations, they have a tea factory. Due to the height at which the tea leaves are picked (almost 8000 ft above sea level), the taste you get is very unique. It is around 35 kms from Munnar and the last 9-10 kms is pure off-roading. Jeeps regularly ferry tourists from Suryanelli to the factory and back, but we had other ideas. We had done a bit of research and realized that the off-roading track is difficult but doable on bikes. Without a second thought, we plunged into the track. It started drizzling slightly, so we put on our rain gear. 

The track is quite different from the off-roading I've done till date. It basically consists of small to medium sized stones that are loosely packed together. When you're on the bike, you move by jumping from one stone to the next. A whole lot of them slip underneath the tires, but we were able to finish the whole stretch without anyone falling. Initially, it is exciting, but afterwards, the continuous bone-jarring bumps irritate you. The frustration is what sees you through the last few kilometers. In the middle, the drizzle turned into rain. The jeeps stopped but we continued. Things like rain and mist are just minor irritants for BOPians, you see. 

We reached the factory finally, just as the rain was stopping. We first had some tea, before going to see the factory. I am not a tea connoisseur and I am usually clueless about the subtle differences between various types. This tea, however, had class in it. I had it black, to taste the real flavour and I found it amazing. I'll leave the rest of the details to someone more knowledgeable than me, lest I say something wrong. The factory is also very old and we got to see the workings of various machines. We realized that one type of tea is called BOP- Broken Orange Pekoe. Our club inadvertently left its mark here also!

 The rain had stopped by now, but it was an hour away from sunset and we quickly consumed another cup of the fantastic tea before starting the ride downhill. Surprisingly, the ride downhill seemed shorter. Perhaps we got used to the track. The mind can play the strangest tricks. We made short work of the remaining 25 kms to Munnar. 

Dinner was at a place recommended by Lonely Planet, called Silver Spoon. It is hidden deep inside the basement of a shopping complex. Once again, the food was fabulous. If you visit this place sometime, do try out the peas masala curry. It is a simple dish, but I've never had such delicious peas masala in any Kerala-cuisine restaurant before. 

This night's BBB session was to be a unique one. Our Delhi chapter was also riding to Deoban on the same dates. Unfortunately, a spate of last minute cancellations meant that Dips was the only Deoban Dragunov. He, however, is a one-man army. The sole Dragunov was supposed to have a video-conference BBB with the Macarenas. Dips wasn't carrying a laptop, so the video-conference part was dropped and we chatted for a while with him on the phone. We continued with our BBB afterwards, discussing in some detail about the taming of wild elephants, before turning in for the night.

(to be continued....)