Day 12: MIT Make in India

Day 12: MIT Make in India

Ching-Ching and I woke up with the dragonfly at the other side of the room to a beautiful sunrise in the Backwaters. 

We all woke up and had breakfast, where everyone thought it was a great idea to take a picture of Manoj Kumar and Mallika Sherawat, two actors in Bollywood. 

We sadly had to get off the boat to go for the four hour drive to Munnar. About an hour on our way, the bus broke down in Kochi. The boys had to push the bus, and then Mala led us to the Crowne Plaza Kochi. It felt like we had walked in heaven. It was luxury. AC, great facilities, using the bathroom was an enlightening experience. We all sat in their restaurant and ordered a ton of food because the bus was taking quite some time. Kristin and I went to the pool and put our feet in the water and waded a bit. We also enjoyed the wifi they gave us and laid in the sun. We kind of never wanted to leave. 

Pushing the bus

Crowne Plaza Hotel in Kochi

Kristin and Me in the swimming pool

This is the life.

Unfortunately and fortunately the bus was now fixed and everyone was fed, so we again sat on the bus toward Munnar. We slowly climbed the mountains and went higher and higher. My mom had always told me about the bus rides to the mountains that were one lane with no shoulder or railing and big buses went on them. It was insane and beautiful. The scenery literally could not be captured on camera (though I took a ton of photos anyway). We kept going further and further up and saw the many tea plantations in the mountains as that is what Munnar is famous for. Raj told us that the weather (I put on a sweatshirt) was perfect for tea. 

Waterfall

Me, Deepika, and Aishwarya

My bus buddy Chingy!

Aishwarya and me representing MIT

Everyone!

Finally we reached Fort Munnar Hotel where we were greeted with haldi bindis and fantastic tea. Ching-Ching and I really wanted a room with a view, and we thought we were genius that we noticed some of the rooms with the view were odd numbers. We specially requested that we get an odd number, and turns out we just got the room right next to the front lobby and no view. 

The view from the hotel (that we didn't get)

After that disappointment (and that some of the guys had rooms with views), some of us decided to go on a walk close to the hotel for fun.   You could see the beautiful view of the mountains and the clouds that were below us. Also, Kristin pet a cow. She was very satisfied. 

Me, Kristin, Aishwarya, and Deepika

Aalim, Kristin, Deepika, and Aishwarya

We came back for a great dinner, and the hotel people had set up a bonfire and chairs for us outside. We all tried to dance (me and my awkward bobbing) while the DJ could not make up his mind at all. It was fun though, and enjoyed seeing how good (and bad—me) people were at dancing. 

After our dance party, we went to the game room and played carrom, ping pong, and pool (I remained undefeated that night). Finally we went to sleep after showering in bathrooms that were not growing mushrooms. The full moon and sky with stars was an amazing sight.