After having the delicious pongal on the festival day, the trip to "The Destination" began.
Things were packed and loaded into the car, it was around 12 o clock when we finally hit the road. The road till Pollachi was good with amazing scenary. It was around 4pm when we reached Aliyar dam (foot hills of Valparai). We proceeded towards the check-post. After the formalities and a short photo break we began our hill drive. It was a treat to eyes from the start, there were 40 hairpin bends with beautiful views. For about 20 kms we had an amazing view of the dam( though water was less!!) And for the remaining 20 kms it was tea plantation. Around 6 pm we reached Valparai and went to the hotel.
After dinner we had a small walk, the climate was pleasant with chill breeze.
We were ready by 8.15 am and after breakfast we headed towards Nallamudi view point. It was around 12 kms from the hotel. The route was through the tea plantations and with the morning mists the view was amazing. It was 500 mts trek to view point which was worth for the view it offered.
Next place for the day was Athirapalli falls. Athirapalli falls is 85 kms away from Valparai. We started from nallamudi around 10 am. It was again a good drive from Valparai to Sholayar dam through the tea plantations. The Kerala Tamilnadu border was 12kms from sholayar, where the time of entry was noted and we were given a time period of two hours to reach the next check post which was 45-50 kms away and we were instructed not to get down from the car and click pictures as we were going through the forest. It was one good drive, with lush green covering on one side and valley view on the other side. One has to trek for about 750 meters to reach the falls. The river was almost dry with only little water flowing. We spent around 15-20 mins taking pics and started our return trek. It was a bit steep which my father found it difficult. On the way back we saw lion tailed macaques(an endangered species). We were a little disappointed that we couldn't see any wild animals though we went through the forest. But to our surprise we saw 3 tuskers as we were nearing Valparai at a distance in the valley. We reached the hotel around 7 pm.
We were ready for the days trip by 9 and after breakfast we went to fill up the tank and the headed towards Nirar dam. It was 15 kms away from Valparai. The roads were good for about 5-6 kms after which it was very bad. We could barely see the tarmac which costed us a tough ride. But the dam was very located at a place in the middle of the forest which was green silent and had an amazing view.
After half an hour we started our return journey and on the way back we went to koolangal(pebbles) river and spent about 15 mins there. A good place but we were also advised not to get into the water as it was dangerous. One the way back we decided to go to the Balaji temple, which was 20 kms away from Valparai towards Pollachi. But it was closed by the time we went. We stopped at a tea shop in the waterfall estate on our way back. The tea which we had was very good and I would personally recommend to visit this place. We had a good drive then and reached Home around 7 pm. Thus a good trip came to an end.
Happy travelling.!