Spice walk & tour of the Windermere Estate, Munnar

Posted on April 28, 2020 by Toothpicker

Tea planations in Munnar

If you love nature, you would definitely love Munnar. Aside from tea plantations, I recommend doing a spice walk to learn about local spices and plants. After an inspiring guided walk at a spice garden before the conference, I was keen to do another one. At the Blackberry nature resort, the manager organised a guided spice walk for me in the morning to explore the surrounding area.

Unlike the previous walk, which took place within a spice garden, this walk focused on wild plants and spices. On this walk, I saw coffee plants and raw coffee beans for the first time, and tasted tree tomato (Tamarillo) picked from a tree. Often we forget that tomatoes are actually fruits, partly because they don’t taste as sweet as other fruits. Yet the tamarillo I tasted was quite sweet and juicy, hence I tasted more like fruit than vegetable.

Besides wild spices and plants, Munnar is also popular for bird-watching. There are many bird-watching and photography tours that attract bird lovers from around the world. There are about 142 species of birds are reported from Shola-Grassland and 162 species from Chinnar-Marayur plateau. I don’t know much about birds, but I do love hearing them chirp and sing every morning from my room at the resort.

After learning that the nearby Windemere Estate is set up in a 60-acre of tea, coffee and cardonmon plantation, I went and asked them if I could join their daily two-hour tour of the plantation. Even though the tour is for guests only, they kindly let me to join without charge.

Inspired by the Scottish Highlands and old plantation houses, the Windemere retreat is a boutique retreat with only 18 rooms. I particularly liked the cottage-style accommodations and garden full of colourful flowers.

In the middle of the estate, there is a semi-open Chai Kada (tea shop) where guests can relax and enjoy chai or coffee. I was kindly offered some coffee brewed from the beans grown at the estate before the tour – the first Keralan coffee of my trip.

Sadly the coffee harvest season had ended and there were barely any coffee fruits to see. However, the guided tour around the estate was really interesting and I felt like I have gain a lot of new knowledge in just two days.

My extended stay in Munnar finally came to an end, and it was time for me to move on and head down to the sea. Munnar is truly a paradise for nature lovers, so I would love to return here again one day.

Blackberry Hills – a tranquil eco resort in Munnar

Posted on April 25, 2020 by Toothpicker

I was due to leave India for Hong Kong after the Aranya conference at the end of February, but at the time, COVID-19 was starting to spread in Hong Kong, hence I decided to prolong my trip at the last minute. Luckily, the airline did not charge me for the change due to the circumstances. Looking back, I guess I was extremely fortunate because there were very few cases in India then, and I managed to enjoy another 2 weeks traveling around Kerala.

Since I was feeling quite exhausted after the conference, I wanted to relax and recuperate in Munnar for an extra few days. There are a numerous resorts in Munnar and it was not easy to pick one. After a bit of research, I booked the eco-friendly Blackberry Hills nature resort and spa, which is about 20 mins’ drive from the town centre.

Built on the slope of a hill, the resort offers a magnificent views of the Western Ghats. I knew I had picked the right place when I saw the surroundings and view.

There are 16 cottages over 15 acres of land, and the hotel kindly upgraded me to a larger room with sitting area and a balcony facing a mini forest. This balcony was where I spent most of my time, and it was probably the most tranquil spot during my journey.

Every morning I would hear birds chirping and chatting to each other, which was a joy. In the afternoon, I also saw two Malabar Giant Squirrels (Ratufa indica) jumping from one tree to another. I haven’t stayed at other resorts in Munnar, but I think this resort is perfect for nature-lover and the eco-conscious travellers.

There is one restaurant at the resort, which serves Indian and international dishes. The view from the restaurant is splendid, and you can easily enjoy a long lunch here. There is also afternoon tea tasting session where guests can taste different types of tea like green tea, cardonmon tea and masala chai etc.

Besides the stunning environment, I also enjoying chatting to the friendly and hospitable staff. When I asked the manager about an odd-looking fruit growing within the resort’s grounds, he said he wasn’t sure but would find out for me. A day later, after enquiring his botanist friend, he told me that the fruit is called tropical soda apple (solanum viarum). Interestingly, it is is a perennial shrub native to Brazil and Argentina, and an invasive species. The colours of the golf-ball-sized fruit resembles a watermelon, but it is toxic. Yet no one has any idea how this South American plant end up growing in India…

The resort occupies an entire mountain side, and there is a trekking trail that leads all the way down to the nearby village cum tea plantation called Attukad. However, due to hot weather, I abandoned trekking downhill and opted for a late afternoon walk westwards recommended by the restaurant manager. He told me that there is a great sunset spot about 45 mins’ walk west of the resort, and he was right. The sun setting behind the tea plantations and mountain was truly beautiful.

After extending an extra night, I ended up spending 4 nighs at the resort, which enabled me to recuperate fully. I believe that nature has healing powers, hence being surrounded by trees and mountains worked wonders for me, and I was very energised after my stay.

Two-day natural dyeing workshops at Aranya Natural, Munnar

Posted on April 22, 2020 by Toothpicker

The first two days of “The sustainability of natural dyes” conference took place at Eastend hotel in Munnar, followed by two days of natural dyeing workshops (at an extra cost) at Aranya Natural’s HQ. Due to limited numbers, all the spaces for the workshops filled up quickly, but many conference attendees requested to stand by and watch, which subsequently overfilled the workshops on the first day.

It was hard to blame those who wanted to watch the workshops as it was a rare opportunity to learn from three leading natural dyeing experts and a group of Japanese indigo farmers and dyers. Since the process of natural dyeing involves the understanding of chemistry, many of the experts would focus more on the chemistry rather than the aesthetics. To me, this is quite valuable, as I believe it is crucial to understand the science behind it all in order to achieve the desired results.

The first workshop that I attended was conducted by Michel Garcia, a world-renowned botanist, chemist, dyer, and naturalist. He is the founder of Couleur Garance (1998) in Lauris, France, and established Le Jardin Conservatoire de Plantes Tinctoriales (Botanical Garden of Dye Plants) in 2000. I have long wanted to attend a workshop by Michel, but he doesn’t seem to conduct many regular workshops, and I can only watch his videos online. In person, he is very funny, passionate and creative, you can really feel his passion for plants and natural dyeing.

In natural dyeing, a mordant is often needed to fix the dyes onto the textiles, and the most common mordant used is alum/potassium aluminium sulfate. At the workshop, Michel demonstrated how to use old tea leaves as a natural mordant, which was very interesting. However, the workshop was extremely packed, which made it difficult for us to hear and follow him properly. It was a shame that this issue was only addressed on the next day.

Screen printing workshop using natural dyes with Michel Garcia

The afternoon workshop was conducted by Jagada Rajappa, who is an independent textile entrepreneur/consultant on natural dyes. She demonstrated dyeing silk yarn with kapila (mellotus Phllipinces) and lac (coccous Lacca), which resulted in vibrant red and yellow. The results revealed that naturally dyed colours are not dull and muted as many would expect.

Jagada Rajappa‘s workshop and ceremony

The next day, the workshops were restricted to those who had originally enrolled, which made more sense. The first workshop was conducted by Linda LaBelle, who is a weaver and natural dyer specialising in indigo. She also runs the website The Yarn Tree that sells fair-trade indigo and other natural dyed items. After yesterday’s observational workshops, I was longing to get my hands dirty. Finally, we got to do some doodling with natural indigo on some cotton fabric that has been pre-dyed in myrobalan. It was a fun session and we got to taste some indigo tea grown by Linda.

Indigo Doodles workshop with Linda LaBelle

The last session was the one I had been looking forward to since I signed up months ago. Buaisou was established in Tokushima by a collective of indigo farmers in 2015, and it is partly responsible for the revival of natural indigo worldwide in recent years. Not only it has over 44K followers on Instagram, it also collaborates frequently with other fashion and textiles companies to promote Japanese indigo and the colour ‘Japan Blue’. Buaisou is renowned for its indigo leaf farming – from cultivating the raw indigo, fermenting the indigo leaves (Sukumo), dyeing, and designing, all the way to production. Since the fermentation process takes around 10 days, Kyoko (the manager) had to arrive 2 weeks earlier to set up the vat.

Since I have previously tried katagami (making paper stencils for dyeing textiles) and katazome (the Japanese method of dyeing fabrics using a resist paste applied through a stencil) with Bryan Whitehead in Japan (see my earlier post), I was quite familiar with the process. This time, I didn’t need to design and cut my own stencils as there were many beautiful and complex precut designs to choose from. We were all given a cotton bandana to work on, and after applying the paste through the stencils, we all took turns to dip the fabric into the indigo vat with some guidance.

I would say this was a taster workshop, and would love to learn more from them when I next visit Tokushima (which was supposed to happen this year but it got cancelled because of COVID-19).

After the workshop, it was time to say goodbye to everyone. Over the four days, I made many new friends from around the world who share the same passion as me, and got the opportunity to chat to many experts in the field, hence the conference has exceeded all my expectations. The fact that it managed to take place just before COVID-19 became a pandemic was extremely lucky.

After exchanging contacts with many attendees, a few of us decided to walk back to town and have dinner together. It was a pleasant walk downhill and we had a fun girls’ night out – something that I haven’t done for a long time.

In the past few years, the pursue of natural dyeing has opened doors for me and enabled me to make new friends from around the world. This was completely unexpected, and it made me realise that I am on the right path.

Aranya Natural & Athulya at Srishti Welfare Centre in Munnar

Posted on April 20, 2020 by Toothpicker

Before visiting Munnar, I was not aware of the health issues related to tea plantation workers in India. Often foreign media would focus on the working conditions of garment factory workers, yet the problems related to tea plantation workers (primarily female) are largely ignored. Although they are not stuck inside cramped factories, tea plantation workers have to deal with other serious safety and health issues. Locals told me that workers not only have to work long hours at low wages, they also have to live together in communial dormitories with poor sanitation at the tea estates. Health awareness among the tea plantation workers is poor, and often they give births to children with various health conditions and disabilities, yet they receive hardly any government support.

In 1991, the Srishti Trust was formed, backed by Tata Tea Limited, to support differently-abled children of the estate workers. Founded by Ratna Krishna Kumar, the Trust launched two major projects: Aranya Natural and Athulya, aiming to rehabilitate local youngsters in a safe and fair environment. Later, Nisarga (the strawberry unit) and The Deli (a bakery and confectionery) were added to make preserves, breads and cookies using locally-grown ingredients.

Most visitors to Munnar would head to the main tourist attractions, but few would seek out the Srishti Welfare Centre. Well, they are really missing out. In 1996, the Srishti Welfare Centre moved to an abandoned shed in Tata Tea’s Nettimudi estate outside of the town centre. Their beautiful site is open to the public and visitors can meet many happy workers who are trained at natural dyeing and paper-making. What started out as an experiment has paid off for Ratna and her all-female team’, now even big corporations have employed the Trust to make paper and textiles-related products.

Aryana Natural is the natural dyeing department at Srishti. All the textiles here are created in a non-toxic environment and all the dyes are azo-free. Many dyes are locally sourced, like eucalyptus, Nilgiri kozha (eupatorium), tea waste, pine cones and other leaves, petals, roots and bark are harvested from the forest nearby. Some specific dyes are sourced elsewhere, like indigo from South India, lac from Jangir Champa, and myrobalan, from traditional medicine shops in Coimbatore. Only natural fabrics such as cotton and silk are used as they work best with natural dyes.

Every newcomer would receive training by volunteered trainers for about six months on skills particular to their aptitude and interests. Each artisan would specialise in at least one technique i.e. shibori or traditional block printing. World-renowned Japanese textile artist and researcher, Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, regularly visits and acts as mentor to the young learners. She introduced many traditional Japanese shibori techniques to the trainees, which enable them to develop the skills further. Most of the artisans I spoke to told me that they really enjoy their work, and it was amazing to watch them work – they are fast and very skilled.

Athulya is the handmade paper unit that creates handmade paper from recycle waste paper, cut boards and other stationery waste. It is committed to use only natural additives in their paper, most of them are found around Munnar like tea, eucalyptus leaves, lemon grass, pineapple leaves, onion peel, flower petals, elephant droppings and water hyacinth (which is a weed affecting our back waters).

Now around thirty people work in this unit and they produce over 52 eco-friendly, azo-free, biodegradable recycled paper products by hand. It is also encouraging to see Starbucks hiring the unit to produce their shopping bags.

At the back of the sheds, there are a line of greenhouses growing organic vegetables and plants. Seasonal vegetables are picked and used in the Srishti canteen where nearly two hundred employees have lunch every day. There is also a playground for the staff’s children to play, and an award-winning flower garden that features a wide variety of flowers.

One cannot come here without stopping at the shop. The Aranya Natural shop has to be the most beautiful shop in Munnar. It sells one-of-a-kind handdyed scarves, clothing and home accessories made by the artisans next door. The prices are extremely reasonable and you would not be able to find them elsewhere. If you purchase here, you are directly helping the centre and the artisans, thus making a bold statement supporting sustainable textiles and fashion.

The Srishti Welfare Centre is not only a beautiful site, it is also an inspiring organisation. Before my trip, I knew little about this place, and I am flabbergasted that few people outside of the textiles world have heard of it. If you have only one day in Munnar, make sure that you spare time to visit this centre because it is well worth it.

Aranya Natural’s “The sustainability of natural dyes” conference in Munnar

Posted on April 18, 2020 by Toothpicker

The purpose of my trip to India in February was to attend a natural dyeing conference. And it took place before COVID-19 changed our lives. Aranya Natural is a natural dyeing organisation under Srishti Trust in Munnar, supported by TATA Global Beverages Limited, which runs programs for the education training and rehabilitation of the differently abled children of Munnar’s tea plantation workers. Last year, it was the organisation’s 25th anniversary, and “The sustainability of natural dyes” conference was organised as part of the celebration. However, the conference was postponed by a year after a major flood in Kerala devasted many parts of the state. It was fortunate that the conference managed to take place before COVID-19 started to spread in India, otherwise it would have been cancelled for the second time.

Honestly, I am not a big fan of conference and would rarely volunteerily attend one. Yet this conference was like no other, and I felt that it would be beneficial if I want to continue my natural dyeing practice. To me, natural dyeing is not merely a hobby, it has become my passion and aspiration in recent years. Currently, we are seeing a revival of natural and indigo dyeing as many people realise the harmful effects of synthetic dyes on our bodies and environment.

Left: The conference schedule; Right: A local indigo farmer and conference attendee

The 2-day conference took place at Eastend Hotel in Munnar, bringing dyers, manufacturers, teachers, designers, farmers, and enthusiasts etc together from Indian and around the world. One huge draw for me was the list of speakers, which included experts like Yoshiko Wada, Jenny Balfour Paul, Michel Garcia, Charlotte Kwon (Maiwa), Dominique Cardon, Jagada Rajappa and Buaisou… these are all big names in the natural dyeing and textiles world, so it was a rare opportunity to meet them all in one room.

One factor differentiates Aranya Natural from other organisations – it is an all-women team led by a visionary founder, Ratna Krishnakumar. Since India is a patriarchal society, it is inspiring to see the empowerment of women here. The fact is women in India are likely to face more challenges than women in the West, so being able to run an all-female team here is highly commendable.

The conference also addressed the most important issue that we are facing in the textiles and fashion industry today – sustainability. The rise of fast fashion has done immense damage to our environment in the past decade or so, hence the conference aimed to increase the awareness of natural dyes, and discuss how the industry can shift from using synthetic dyes to more sustainable ones.

Until recently, sustainability has been fashion industry’s last concern. If you trace the path of your favourite item from Primark, then you might be in for a surprise. Your ‘bargain’ £10 shirt probably costs about £3-4 to make, meanwhile the garment factory worker in Bangladesh would receive less than £1 for a day’s work (14-16 hours). Aside from exploitation of these workers, the environmental damage caused by the chemicals used is unaccountable. Although India has had a long history with natural dyes, many garment manufacturers have now switched to synthetic dyes to cope with the high demand from the fast fashion sector. Natural dyes have been pushed aside due to higher costs. lower production rate and more labour intensive.

So, how can we re-introduce natural dyes back into the profit-driven industry? There are no easy answers, but I did meet some young Indian designers at the conference who are using natural dyes to create beautiful designs. I do hope that they will change the landscape of Indian fashion in the future.

Soham Dave and his sustainable collection

When I was still a student years ago, I bought my first shibori book, “Shibori: The Inventive Art Of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing” by artist, author, and curator, Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada. This is an important book to me and I never thought I would get the chance to meet Yoshiko in person, but I did – we even exchanged contacts, and later had dinner together, which all felt a bit surreal. Besides Yoshida, I also spoke to other speakers like Dominique Cardon, Michel Garcia, Axel Becker, Jagada Rajappa, William Ingram from Threads of Life, and Rashmi Bharti, the co-founder of Avani. The conference also enabled me to connect and make friends with attendees from around the world. Many of them are dyers, designers, textiles teachers, and shop owners etc, so I found the whole experience valuable and unforgettable.

The talks on both days covered a wide range of topics relating to sustainability and natural dyeing, but the word ‘indigo’ was a key term at the conference. Indigo is probably the most mysterious and complex natural dye of all. Indigofera is a flowering plant of over 750 species and belongs to the pea family, Fabaceae. It has been in cultivation in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide for many centuries, yet the characteristics of each specie varies and can yield different shades of blue. The world-renowned indigo expert writer, artist and curator, Jenny Balfour-Paul has published several indigo-related books, and she was the last speaker to give a talk on indigo. Not long ago, I read her novel “Deeper than Indigo: Tracing Thomas Machell, Forgotten Explorer“, hence it was interesting to hear her examine the colour ‘blue’ from many angles.

Talks and slides on indigo

On both evenings after the conference, there were entertainments including dance and music performances, violin recital, and fashion show. The fashion show featured natural dyed designs created by Riddhi Jain (Studio Medium), Sreejith Jeevan (Studio Rouka) and Sunita Shankar. Unlike other fashion shows, their show was modelled by workers at Srishti, which was more authentic and fun.

Based in New Dehli, Riddhi Jain is a rising star in India’s fashion world who has won the Elle Decor India Design Awards, International Craft Awards and India Story design awards amongst others. She told me that she employs a small team of artisans and designers to create beautiful hand-dyed and hand-stitched shibori pieces that are one of a kind. I love her designs, and honestly, I would rather spend my money on an unique handmade piece that supports a local craft community than a designer piece that supports its marketing campaigns and executives.

3rd row: Riddhi Jain and her collection; 4th row: Sunita Shankar and her collection; bottom row: Sreejith Jeevan and his collection.

I never knew that conferences could be so exhausting! Besides two full-day talks from 9am to 5pm, I did not anticipate two hours of evening entertainments, followed by dinners at 9 pm on both nights. Despite the lack of rest, I was still looking forward to attending two more days of workshops led by different experts. And I got to visit the beautiful site of Aranya Natural, which is located outside of the polluted town centre.

To be continued…

I loved my conference gift bag

Munnar: Greenland spice & Ayurvedic garden

Posted on April 14, 2020 by Toothpicker

Munnar is not only famous for tea, you can also find abundance of spices here, and prices are much cheaper than Kochi. I asked the driver to take me to a spice garden, and he said he knew just the place. Greenland spice and ayurvedic garden is located in Thekkady, and it is one of the few spice gardens that is approved by the government.

Out of all the places I visited on the day, this was my favourite. It was fascinating and educational – I highly recommend it. The entry price includes a guided tour (you will need someone to identify and explain all the spices and herbs here) of the garden, which resembles a mini jungle.

3rd row: Salvia; 4th row: Thunbergia mysorensis/ Mysore trumpetvine; Bottom left: Pink banana (Musa velutina); Bottom right: torch ginger flower

Many of the spices and herbs in the garden are used in ayurveda, which is considered by many scholars to be the oldest healing science. Ayurveda originated in India more than 5,000 years ago, and in sanskrit, it means ‘The Science of Life’. Plant-based treatments in ayurveda may be derived from roots, leaves, fruits, bark, or seeds. Aside from ayurveda, many spices are commonly used in South Indian cooking e.g. cardamon, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, ginger, cumin, turmeric and mint etc. Interestingly, many of the ayurvedic plants can also be used as natural dyes, so they are extremely versatile.

South India is world-renown for its ayurveda retreats and centres, and many Westerners would spend weeks or months getting detox and wellness treatments here. After I left Kochi, I spent a few days at a yoga and ayurveda retreat before heading to Munnar. Upon arrival, I had a doctor’s consultation, and was given some plant-based tonic twice a day along side with massage treatments daily to restore body balance. It was an interesting experience, and I particularly enjoyed the healthy and flavourful vegetarian/ayurvedic meals.

2nd row right: Jackfruits; 3rd row: peas; 4th right: black pepper/Piper nigrum; Bottom row: Murikooti – a wound healing plant with leaves that can be turned into a paste

The most exciting part of the tour was seeing cocoa trees and tasting cocoa pulp for the first time. I love eating dark chocolates but I have never seen a cocoa fruit (Theobroma cacao) before. Inside the fruit lies a cluster of cacao beans surrounded by a thin layer of white pulp. The guide opened the fruit and let me tast the white pulp, which was surprisingly juciy and sweet. While some cacao pulp is used in the fermentation process of cocoa beans, most is simply thrown out as waste. It was only recently that cacao pulp is being used as a substitute for refined white sugar. Not long ago, Nestle released a 70% dark chocolate bar in Japan under its KitKat brand that has been sweetened with cacao pulp instead of refined sugar. Yet historically, cacao pulp has always been drank as juice by cacao farmers, and their immediate communities around the world.

1st to 3rd rows: cocoa fruit, bean and pulp; Bottom left: nutmeg seed; Bottom right: cardamon

Like most tourist sites, there is a shop located by the exit to avoid you leaving empty-handed, Apart from different varieties of spices, there are also ayurvedic medicine and skincare range available. I went for the mixed spice packs as I think you can’t get much fresher spices than the ones being sold by the spice garden.

Munnar: KFDC Floriculture Centre & tea museum

Posted on April 11, 2020 by Toothpicker

In Munnar, there are many botanical gardens, and KFDC Floriculture Centre/Munnar rose garden is one of them. Run by Kerala Forest Developerment Centre, KFDC Floriculture Centre is built on a hill slope, and has a nice view of the nearby tea planation. I think the term ‘floriculture centre’ is appropriate because it is not really garden. There is, however, a lovely rose garden within the centre. It is rare to see rose gardens in Asia but here you can see a variety of species in shades of red and pink covering the hill. Besides roses, there are many beautiful dahlias and other native flowers, as well as herbs, medicinal plants, cacti and bonsai.

My advice is to come early as it can get quite crowded. Luckily, I arrived soon after it opened, so I was able to avoid the crowds.

Tea factory visits are on the itineraries of most day tours, and Kannan Devan Tea Factory is one of the most popular in Munnar. There are English guided tours throughout the day, but it does get very busy. Since I missed the tour and couldn’t be bothered to wait, I decided to visit the KDHP Tea Museum instead. Both tthe museum and factory are owned by the Kanan Devan Hills Plantations Company (KDHP), a plantation estate that dates back to the 1880s. It is under the Tata group, which seems to own everything related to tea in Munnar.

KDHP/Tata Tea Museum is a small museum that traces the history of tea-making in Munnar. It exhibits many old photographs, curiosities and machinery; visitors can also watch a short documentary on the Munnar’s tea history. In a larger room, visitors can learn about the various stages of the tea processing – Crush, tear, curl – and the production of Kerala black tea variants.

A mandatory tea shop awaits you at the end of your visit, so you can shop til you drop. There are many varieties of tea, including black, white and green; meanshile prices are very resaonable too. It is a good place to buy your souvenir here.

To be continued…

Kerala’s picturesque Hill station: Munnar

Posted on April 8, 2020 by Toothpicker

A view from the Top station in Munnar

Situated 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) above sea leverl, Munnar is a famous hill station in Kerala, and known as the ‘Kashmir of South India’. It is not only popular with foreign tourists but also with the locals. From 1880 onwards, Munnar flourished as a tea-producing region started by the British and Europeans, it is now the largest tea-growing region in South India, largely operated by corporate giant Tata.

I didn’t come to Munnar for sightseeing, but to attend a textiles conference on natural dyeing (see my future posts). The easiest way to reach Munnar is by road as there is no railway station nearby. It took me about 5 hours to reach Munnar by car from Thrissur (where I spent a few days at an Ayurveda and yoga retreat) including a lunch break.

After reading about Munnar’s natural beauty, I was horrified to see the chaotic, polluted and ugly Munnar town centre when we arrived. Essentially it is a dump. And the minute I saw the conference hotel, which stands right in the middle of town, my heart sank. For the next six nights, I had to endure the noise from both inside and outside of the hotel, crappy service, internet connection and breakfasts. It was baffling for us to understand why this hotel was chosen as the base of the conference except for its location.

Munnar’s town centre

Besides breakfasts, we also had lunches and dinners prepared by the hotel during the 3-day conference. As I get older, I have less tolerance for mediocre food and accommodation. It is not so much about the cost, but more to do with the quality and value for money. The room rate of the hotel is considered quite high in India, but I felt that the service and quality did not match the cost.

With very few decent restaurants in town, we found comfort and relief at the cheap and cheerful vegetarian restaurant Saravana Bhavan. I had breakfast and dinner there and I loved it. Their dosas are some of the best I have tried during my journey, and their staff are all very friendly. The food and service here is so much better than the hotel, yet the price is only a fraction – I highly recommended it.

Saravana Bhavan

On a positive note, I did enjoy the sunset view from my hotel room, though it was accompanied by noisy traffic and people’s various activities from dusk til dawn

Since I arrived 2 days before the conference, I had one full day to do some sightseeing in Munnar. Upon arrival, I tried to get some advice from the receptionist but the guy was very unhelpful, so I had to turn to the internet. I didn’t like the itineraries of the guided day tours available, and I spent hours online searching without much luck. Finally, at the last minute, I found a tuk tuk driver on Airbnb, and decided to book a day tour with him at a very reasonable price. Although the driver spoke little English, we managed to communicate without any issue. The best thing was that I could stop whenever I wanted to, which was more flexible than joining a group tour.

We started early in the morning to avoid the crowds, and that was a wise decision. The minute we left the town centre, my vision turned green… apart from the blue sky, everything was green! This was the Munnar I was hoping to see, and it is within 15 minutes’ drive from the town centre.

Besides the scenic tea planations covering the mountains, I also love the beautiful trees especially the tall native Eucalyptus trees. My driver/guide suggested to stop by a famous honey bee tree en route to Mattupetty dam. This tree has attracted many bees to built their hives here, and my driver said it is due to the smell of its fruits. Since this is the only tree that has many bee hives, someone has placed a small shrine under the tree treaing it as a ‘sacred’ tree.

Most guided tours would include a visit to the Mattupetty dam built in the 1950s. Honestly, I didn’t want to stop here, but since we took some time to reach here, I did get out for a short walk. It is very picturesque here, but I think you can easily take photos from the car/tuk tuk without getting out.

Mattupetty dam

Another popular sightseeing spot is Top station, located 32 km away from Munnar. It is the highest point (1700m above sea level) in Munnar where you can enjoy the panoramic view of Western Ghats and the valley of Theni district of Tamil Nadu. Top Station is, in fact, located in Tamil Nadu, but accessible only from Kerala. This area is also famous for the rare native Neelakurinji flowers (Strobilanthus) that bloom once every twelve years. Unfortunately, I missed the bloom of the monocarpic plants in 2018, so the next bloom will be 2030! You can learn more about this plant on the BBC website here.

Nonetheless, you can find some rather special flowers in Munnar without a 10-year wait. To my surprise, Poinsettia (also known as Christmas star) can be seen dotted around Munnar. It is believed that the plant (native to Mexico) was introduced to Munnar by British planters and was used to decorate their bungalows.

The journey continues…

Kerala Folklore Museum in Kochi

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Toothpicker

When I was doing my research on Kochi before my trip, I wasn’t too bothered about visiting the main attractions, but one museum was written on my to-go list. If you are interested in architecture, ethnology, history, folk arts and crafts, then don’t forgo the Kerala Folklore Museum.

Upon arrival, you are likely to be intrigued by the museum’s striking traditional architecture, which comprises the reconstruction of around 25 traditional, heritage buildings dismantled from different parts of Kerala. This huge architectural installation is based on 3 architectural schools of Kerala namely Malabar architecture, Cochin & Travancore architectural schools. The whole wooded structure was completed with the help of 62 traditional carpenters over a period of 7.5 years.

It is hard to believe that the 3-storey building houses an impressive private collection of only one art dealer, George J Thaliath (1961-2018). For 35 years, Thaliath traveled around the Indian sub continent to study traditional Indian art. During this period, he also started his collection, which eventually accumulated to over 5000 artifacts spanning 10 centuries and primarily from Kerala. The vast collection includes furniture, stone, wood and bronze sculptures, ancient terracotta, Stone Age objects, pottery, jewellery, paintings, textiles, oil lamps, swords, musical instruments, tribal and folk art, wood works, utensils, masks and puppets etc.

Opened in 2009, Thaliath and his wife created this treasure trove aiming to preserve the rich heritage and traditions of South Indian culture. It also includes a theatre, antique and textiles shops and cafe. The museum attracted much public attention when architecture-lover, Prince Charles and Camilla paid a visit in 2013.

As I wandered around the museum, I was quite overwhelmed (positively) by the array of the artifacts and craftsmanship. There was so much to see here, and it was hard to absorb everything in one visit. I didn’t feel like I was inside a museum, it felt more like a massive antique/vintage shop, which made me feel at ease.

Since this museum is located in Ernakulam and not near other tourist attractions, it is best to order a taxi/uber to get here. However, it is really worth the time and effort as you are unlikely to find a museum like this elsewhere in Kerala.

Broadway and Ernakulam market in Kochi

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Toothpicker

I love visiting local food markets when I travel, so I asked my homestay host to recommend one. She recommended Broadway and Ernakulam market, where there are fresh fruits and vegetable stalls, as well as shops selling spices, fashion, fabrics, and homeware etc. I took a ferry from Vypin island to Ernakulam, and then got a tuk tuk to bring me to the market one morning.

Surprisingly, the food market was fairly quiet when I arrived, and I didn’t see any tourists as I wandered along the streets. The food market is full of stalls selling all kinds of vegetables and fruits; the vendors were all very friendly and were happy to pose in front of the camera.

Besides from food, there are also many spice and nut shops as spices and chillies are crucial in South Indian cooking. Since I was at the beginning of my travel, I decided not to buy spices here, but I was really captivated by the pungent fresh spices being sold here.

Once I left the food market area, I came across many clothing shops, and even stumbled upon a fabric store selling silk fabrics. Most of the fabrics are pre-dyed for sarees, but I did manage to buy some plain ones (it was a struggle) for my natural dyeing.

As the temperature started to rise, I decided that it was time to head to my next destination… I think the market is worth a visit if you are a market-lover like me. Although I didn’t buy much, I still enjoyed the colours, smell and vibe of market.

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Category Archives: India