During these Pooja holidays, we made a 6-day trip to Munnar and Thekkady. This is to record the places we visited and the things we did, as these days I find that I tend to forget the details of a trip within a few months!
Overall itinerary-
28 Sep night - Left Bangalore by train (Coimbatore Express)
29 Sep morning - Reached Coimbatore early morning. Drove (hired vehicle+driver) to Munnar. Reached Munnar early evening after a leisurely and scenic drive with several stops.
30 Sep - Drove to Mattupetty, Top Station, Eravikulam National park
1 Oct - Drove to Kolukkumalai tea factory, P waterfall
2 Oct - Drove from Munnar to Thekkady, seeing some sights on the way
3 Oct - early morning boat ride in Periyar wildlife reserve
4 Oct - Drove back to Coimbatore; caught train back to Bangalore
Munnar
The drive from Coimbatore to Munnar was very enjoyable. We stopped at a nice waterfall point on the way. Another highlight was to see the Sandalwood forest, which is all fenced in by the government (for obvious reasons!). It was interesting to smell the wood of a broken stump just outside the fenced-off area.
Munnar was breathtakingly green and beautiful. One felt like one was travelling through a picture postcard all the time. The lush green tea plantations that look like carpets lain over the mountains have to be seen to be believed. Added to that were the numerous waterfalls at a multitude of places since it was just after the monsoons.
We stayed at the Westwood hotel. It's quite a nice place, and has a river flowing behind it. We were also lucky to get rooms that looked onto this serene view.
First day, when we drove to Mattupetty, we went boating in a speed boat which was a more adventurous experience than the usual paddle or row boat. We then drove up to the Top Station. The Top Station which is at the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu is a very scenic point, with a view of the mountains all around. The last part of the road reaching to it is quite bad. But the trek to the point was exhilarating and in fact, the kids ended up doing some extra trekking by taking a roundabout path back from the point.
We thought we were exhausted after that and a late lunch, but on the kids' insistence (since they were eager to see the much touted mountain goats - the Nilgiri Tahr), we then went to the Eravikulam National park. Here, one has to take one of the park buses to go up the mountain. The bus drops you at a point beyond which you can walk up the mountain and take a close look at the mountain goats that inhabit that area. All in all, a nice experience, what with the scenic green views all around, the waterfalls along the mountains, the clouds at the higher levels of the mountain, and of course, the peaceful mountain goats!
The next day, on the suggestion of our driver (who had good knowledge of the various places in the locality), we booked an all-wheel drive that takes you up a mountain that is the second highest peak in Tamil Nadu, where a private tea factory is located. After a stop at a waterfall, where we could dip our feet, we switched over to the all-wheel drive jeep. The drive in the jeep is very interesting and adventurous- after a while, you leave the tarred road behind and bump along on a road which has rocks all along. The kids had a very interesting ride at the back of the jeep! Pari commented that we would probably be broken to pieces by the time we reached back!! Once we reached the tea factory, we were served milk tea, and then escorted by a guide through the tea factory and walked through the entire process of tea production - from green leaves to the final product - a very educational experience. I was amazed at the relatively primitive nature of the equipment used in the factory in today's technologically advanced age. But in a way, it felt good to see things being done in a simple and straightforward way, rather than through a multitude of gadgets and gizmos. We learnt that by locating the tea factory at such a high altitude, no air conditioning is needed for the cooling processes. After the tour, we were served lemon tea, and of course could not resist buying some of the tea packets ourselves. And then, it was bumpity-bump in the jeep, back up to the point where we had left our vehicle. This sojourn was probably the highlight of our entire trip.
After another late lunch and a bit of rest at the hotel, we decided to try and visit one of the major waterfall sites that we had missed going to. We chose to go to the bottom of the waterfall rather than to the top viewing point, since the kids are always keen on dipping feet (and rest of their bodies, if permitted!) in the water. There was a major traffic jam at this place, and unfortunately, the water also was not too accessible. Nevertheless, it was a nice point. When coming back, we trekked up the mountain for a short distance, and this was a fun experience. Rani had been keen on doing some trekking and this gave her the satisfaction of at least having done some trekking. We also stopped off at a garden built next to a hydroelectric station, and again did a fairly long walk through the garden. The garden looked like it had seen better days, but was not being maintained well any more.
On the way back, we did a bit of shopping. Homemade chocolates and marshmallows are advertised at a number of points in Munnar. And, me and the girls were keen on getting the marshmallows. But the shop we tried at had run out of them. My mother got us a nice elephant (to add to our Golu collection), and the kids got some keychains as they are collecting them.
Thekkady
The next day we set off for Thekkady. On the way, we got to see tons of cinnamon plants (something we had also sampled on the way to the Kolukkumalai factory the previous day, but now we saw them in large numbers). We got to eat our first authentic Kerala lunch on the way, with warm pink water and the boiled rice with big grains. We reached Thekkady in the late afternoon, and could now feel the temperature difference between Munnar which is located at a much higher altitude and Thekkady.
At Thekkady, we stayed at the Hotel Tree Top. It was a really nice hotel. We had 2 cottages side by side. For the kids, the highlight was the games room which was also a big hall with a stage, so they could do mock dance shows, in addition to playing ping-pong and carrom. We reached the hotel late afternoon, and spent the rest of the day just relaxing - something we had hardly had time to do in Munnar.
Early morning (at 6am!) the next day we headed out to the boat ramp to try and get tickets to the early morning boat ride that starts at 7am. The crowd at that time was amazing. There was a long serpentine line to get tickets (the ticket counter hadn't opened yet). There were separate lines for men and women, and both H and I stood in the respective lines, since we didn't know how the lines were going to move (although the women's line was definitely shorter). After a long wait, we managed to get tickets on one of the last boats heading out at 7am.
This boat ride is reputed to be the prime highlight of visiting Thekkady and viewing the animals in the Periyar Wild Reserve. In some ways, it really was a beautiful ride, as the water winds through the forests, and in the early morning, everything looked calm and serene. However, the ride was an anticlimax with respect to spotting some interesting animals. The main thing we saw were birds. There was a fleeting glimpse of an otter and a sambhar, and the only other animals we saw were wild pigs. The ride started feeling long after a while, with nothing to do, and not much to spot. The children (and adults) were quite bored by the end of it.
After coming back from the boat ride, we again spent time relaxing at the hotel. THe children played in the games room, we napped or watched TV. I think the hectic sightseeing at Munnar had tired us all out, and we were all happy to just take it easy.
The next day, we had another early morning start, to drive all the way back to Coimbatore. The drive was uneventful. SInce we reached Coimbatore a little early, we made a visit to the local zoo, before we caught the train back to Bangalore. The highlight of the zoo visit was a peacock who had his full set of feathers opened out, and was almost dancing to attract a female who was showing no interest in him!
The peacock looked so beautiful... - it was a fitting end to a wonderful trip.
