Generally, seldom do people highlight their struggles, instead of blabbering non-stop about how wonderful their trip went. And it would be inappropriate and boring too if I'm only telling you the meaty portions, which were colourful and joyous. So, unlike that, let's dive into the share of struggles we had to face in the second leg of our journey.
All the places, as promised by our driver, were covered except the Biological Garden and the Rose Garden. By the time we arrived at the Biological Garden, we were feeling a bit tired, but the enthusiasm in us to explore drove us to take a walk through a small garden and a souvenir shop (just walk, not buy). We thought, That's it? Was that the Biological Garden?
We felt like complete idiots when we later found out about the huge biological garden hidden behind the souvenir shop. But visiting it came with a cost. We had to pay an entry fee of around ₹30 or ₹50 to experience the biological garden, filled with exotic plants and flowers.
But having already spent a fortune on food, and thinking about all the money we still had to spend further into the trip, we declined to visit it. We gave excuses to each other that it wasn't worth it and wondered who would spend money just to see some plants and flowers.
Well... people actually do.
Our fellow Telugu gang paid the price and walked right in without much thought. Meanwhile, we killed time talking utter nonsense about... (CENSORED).
About half an hour later, they came back and showed us the photos they had taken. They even spoke highly about how big and beautiful it was. They were only showing them out of courtesy, but it ignited an unspoken jealousy within us.
After that, with low spirits, we got back into our jeep and began the remainder of our journey. I don't know whether it was psychological or what, but even though the distance of the first and second legs of our journey was the same, the second leg felt like an eternity. I, especially, had two lengthy naps, and still we hadn't even covered another 20 kilometres. Later, I came to know that it had been unanimously agreed not to visit the Rose Garden, as it would consume more time and make us miss the bus to Ernakulam—the beginning of another long journey ahead.
Even if it felt like an eternity, we had to reach our destination at some point. And around 5:30 p.m., we reached Munnar, where we needed to board our bus. By then, we were definitely tired and wished for nothing more than to reach our destination, jump onto a bed, and sleep like a baby.
Later, after making a few enquiries, we found out that there was only one bus to Ernakulam, around 9:00 p.m. Was this some kind of endurance test or what?
Having done all the physical work of walking, trekking, and much more had made us famished once again. So, we once again broke our wallets for a proper meal—this time cheaper than the food we had at Echo Point, but definitely more expensive than what we would later eat in Ernakulam.
We had plenty of time to experience Munnar, but we lacked the energy and, especially, the patience to do it. So, without much hassle, we just stayed in front of a hotel near the bus stop, whiling away the time, cracking pointless jokes, and laughing hard through the struggles.
What more could we have done, anyways?
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