CHENNAI - COIMBATORE - MUNNAR - TOPSTATION - VATTAVADA – KOVILOOR
Travelling to our favorite destination is still a dream for many, Travelling to our favorite destination for a Photography Trip was once my dream.
Munnar, which is also called as the "Kashmir of South India" is one of the most lovable destination for many people. During my visit to this place in 2012 for the first time I got my first addiction to Photography after viewing out the beautiful greenery landscapes throughout the hill. And then after 7 years after getting fully drowned into Photography I wanted to visit the same place to explore more of that through my third eye view. Hopefully I got one opportunity through my mentor and quickly started for the trip. Come, let me share my experiences with you on my trip to the Colorful Village - Koviloor nearby Munnar.
The easiest route for Munnar is from Ernakulam (a place in Kerala) which is just around 120km away. But, my fellow Photographer who is also one of the travel expert took us through Coimbatore (a place in Tamilnadu) which lot more in distance compared to Ernakulam. We started our trip from Chennai through Bus and got down at Coimbatore from where we started our journey in a comfortable SUV.
We started from Coimbatore through the highlighted wildlife reserves of Tamilnadu - Kerala border like Aanaimalai Sanctuary, Eravikulam Sanctuary and Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary. While crossing these reserves I kept my camera readily equipped with my Telephoto Zoom lens to capture atleast one animal which could either be an Elephant, Tiger or even a small reptile. Unfortunately we couldn't spot any of these faunas in any of these reserves. But atleast we were able to enjoy the lovely nature of the forest. The chill breeze, long distant chirping of the birds, sounds of the langurs kept us pleased on our journey. After crossing Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary we were out of the reserved forest range, so now we were allowed to stop our vehicle anywhere for a relaxation. But our motive was to not rest until we reach out to a spot where we could atleast get a good view for a good snap. While going up the hill to Munnar, we told our driver to stop on a particular place after spotting a breathtaking view. You wanna see it?? Then have a look at the image below,
Then, we started off to our checkpoint - Lakkam Falls. Elegant and Tranquil, this waterfall having a very smooth flow lies in between the dense forest full of rich flora and fauna. No wonder you will have monkeys around you anytime, but still that keeps you active all time. Here, have a look at how beautiful the Lakkam falls looks.
It was so cold out there and imagine how complicated it would be having very high fever and taking photos of waterfalls without a tripod standing in a water..! All these efforts only for few good images.
Outside the waterfall area you can find many food shops selling a variety of dishes like Bread Omelettes, Kaadai Muttais also known as Quail Eggs and much more tasty dishes. But be aware of the monkeys though..!
After having a good relaxation, we resumed to Munnar directly. Through the curvy roads you can view the beautiful tea plantations all over covering the whole town with a green crown. After finishing off our lunch we started off to the Top Station. In the course of the journey we can witness the tea factories and the elephant camps amid the calm roads. Also you can encounter huge bee hives on all the trees from a particular spot.
While we were just few miles away from the Top Station's entry we stopped our car and got down to capture the beautiful scenery of the hills with a vibrant background. Just look at the pictures on how amazing it looks like.
After a peaceful photo session we resumed our journey to Top Station and just a mile before the Top Station entry, our driver stopped the vehicle and told us to get a view from the turning spot. We went out to check the scene and to our surprise it was a jaw dropping view. A whole landscape with different shade backgrounds getting us the colors of travel. Do you wanna check out too..? Here it is,
So, to continue with our journey, after winding up with some good stuff there, we left to our hotel which is at the center of the Top Station. We checked in at Hotel Regency Casetta and had some leisure time. It was time for our dinner and one of our travel mate told us that there's a mess nearby but it's on the upper road which leads to the viewpoint. If we travel by our car then we need to go around a bend which is a waste of time, instead he suggested a short route where we can climb up the slope through a small path right opposite to our hotel entrance. It was really fun though, climbing up the slope after a tiresome journey and of course after a good climb, we do get a good meal to pay off.! The temperature outside was very low and cold but we got cozy enough with the warmth at the mess. We had a wonderful meal filling up our bellies so that we can have some good sleep to start up bright at morning to witness the sunrise.
The most important thing you need to remember before you plan out this trip is that to make sure you pack up with thick blankets and thick clothes to keep out yourself from the shivering temperature.
The next day morning we went out to view the sunrise from the Top Station Viewpoint. It was around 5:30 am and we carried our gears to capture some good shots of the dawn. Upon reaching the entrance we saw a board mentioning about the camping tents which is available there. I'm sure I need to try that out net time. We need to go down the slope from the entrance to reach the viewpoint, so be sure you don't run or do an crazy stunts and get leg cramps. Just slow and steady move holding out the side ropes will make a safer way to proceed.
After reaching the viewpoint, we were stunned by its beauty.. You can see a whole new world from there and start day dreaming. More than explaining the moment through words, let me show you through images.
How was it..? For me, like I told earlier, it cannot be described through words.. It depends on how you feel. Post the shoot, we started back to hotel.
While we reached the starting point of the camping site we found a tea shop where we were able to get some relaxation. Then, after reaching our hotels we quickly started to charge our cams again and refreshed as fast as we can so that we could start up early to explore the Koviloor Village.
After having our breakfast at the Casetta Hotel, we checked out and resumed our journey to our final point - Koviloor. The road leading the village passes through the most beautiful Vattavada. This destination is not known to many other than those who are from the southern regions. It is one of the most favorite destination for the Bikers to ride through the roads with the pines covered on both sides. Have a look the road leading to it.
Just imagine travelling on this road on a bike. Isn't it awesome..? Then have a try..!
After 20 minutes of ride you'll be reaching the Koviloor Village. Upon reaching Koviloor we first had a walk and explored the houses and streets of the village, the houses were of different color shades making the whole village glowed up with vibrance. Usually many people won't encourage someone to capture photos of them or their lifestyle so easily. Let it be rural or urban, people shout at us if we disturb them, but here it's something different. Even though we followed them with our cameras in hand to know their habits and lifestyle they didn't even speak in a harsh way to us. They were keen on knowing from which place we were from and for what purpose, we told them that we're just here for a photo tour. The reply was just a smile, surprisingly everyone gave us the same smile and just told us to go ahead.
While we were just crossing down a street, we came across one house where a boy was playing with his goat at the passage beside his home. We called him and told him to give out some cool poses. Without any hesitation he started giving some cool smiley faces, but then guess what....
Even his goat gave us a cool pose along with it's owner..! But I love those dudes..!
After that, an old man took me down the slope briefing me about the village and the varieties of plantations done here. Each field has a different plantation making it look beautiful from the top. Now, more than words I wanna show this journey in Koviloor completely through Photography. Have a look at this Colorful Village..!!
Beautiful, isn't it? Then have a visit to this aesthetic destination and have a peaceful vacation forgetting all your stress.
Through the streets of the village we met few friends and had some good moments which made us to get back to our childhood.
It was around mid noon, we all returned to our car and started back to Munnar again. On our way we stopped at the roads of Vattavada again to get some cool shots of the lovely wet road surrounded by the pine forest. The road was so magical that we couldn't resist taking some images of it. Here's one,
Post shoots, we started off to Munnar for lunch. That was quite a heavy meal though. After lunch, we headed to the road leading to Thekkady which is one of the neighboring hill to Munnar. While we were about to get down from our car to take some shots of the lush green plantations, it started to rain..! Man.. it was one severe rain though.. Yet, despite the heavy rain we got some good shots.
After capturing the beautiful places all over the town we started back to Coimbatore. Of course the return journey was super fast and you won't know how quick you reach to the destination. After having our dinner, we boarded the train to Chennai.
But for the next one week after returning Chennai, the only thing that ran through my mind is only about the memories of the trip. This was my first complete photography trip and the experience that I gained through this is completely outstanding. Travelling to a place as a photographer is completely different to as a normal tourist. When you're just a tourist, you just enjoy that specific place and it's specialities, but, when you travel as a photographer you just get attached with that place and capture each and every moment which a normal tourist fails to.
Now, I'm just waiting out for the next exciting trip and come up with more and more fun experiences. Until then, you'll be updated with my past travel experiences.
See you all..!!
For any personal guidelines, do reach me out either through my mail - gouthamphotography97@gmail.com or through instagram (gouthamkumarjanakiraman).