Magnificent Munnar

On this hot, sticky, Saturday afternoon, we have just returned from a short escape to the magnificent hill town of Munnar. For one glorious day and night, we escaped the hot, sticky weather that is common to most of Kerala to spend time breathing in the cool, clean air that you can only find up in Kerala's mountains. I was cold there, wishing I could sweat again. Now I'm sweating here, wishing I could feel cold again. Do we always want what we can't have?

I suppose we do, but some of the things I wouldn't trade for anything else are the precious moments we spent in such a beautiful part of India. Imagine a scene of rolling hills that are almost mountains, going on forever and ever, and covered with a soft, green blanket of tea bushes. Envision how that uninterrupted blanket of green rises up to meet a perfectly clear, blue sky. Can you see it? You are looking at Munnar.

It is a beautiful place, and the moments we spent there were moments of peace, moments of perfection. It was a place where we didn't have to do anything, a place where we could simply be, and we could not have been more happy.

There's more to tell about Munnar - about taking a crazy Jeep ride up a mountain at five in the morning, about touring the world's highest tea estate, about going back down the mountain worrying that our belongings (or even ourselves) might fly out of the open door. But those are all stories for another time. For now, I want you only to imagine those rolling hills that are almost mountains, going on forever and ever, and covered with a soft, green blanket of tea bushes. I want you only to see that uninterrupted blanket of green rising up to meet the perfectly clear, blue sky. I want you only to have the chance to see in your mind the beauty, the perfection, that we were lucky enough to see with our eyes.

That was Munnar.