the Western Ghats

Two hours west of Madurai by bus we approached the switchbacks that score the eastern escarpment of the Western Ghats, spurring onto the 49 extension to Munnar. Awaiting us were 17 ‘hairpin bends’, each one endeared with a handwritten tombstone signpost: H.P.B. No. 1/17, etc., so drivers could pace themselves for the marathon ascent. The heat and labor of it was met with the concession of cooling air as we rose through the turns, finally cresting the divide and leaving behind the brittle scrubland of the rainshadow for the lush woodlands and tea estates of the western slopes. The weather was perfect, like a spring day in the California foothills, so I’ll stay here for a few days.