Munnar Diaries: Witnessing Neelakurinji Bloom- Kya pata, KalHoNaHo #westernghatsinphotos #bestof2018

Tripoto
15th Oct 2018
Photo of Munnar Diaries: Witnessing Neelakurinji Bloom- Kya pata, KalHoNaHo #westernghatsinphotos #bestof2018 by Tushar Gupta
Day 1

2018, the year that Kerala witnessed most catastrophic floods in its history, devastating life and livelihoods of many citizens. The floods in July caused a major halt for the tourism industry of the state, which was soon going to witness the Neelakurinji Bloom, the flowers that bloom once in every 12 years. I had plans to go to from Delhi to Bangalore around Dussehra festivities. The floods in Kerala were gone and life was slowly picking up the track there, so we decided to go to Munnar and witness this amazing phenomenon of our beautiful planet.

Day 2

It is around 11 hrs drive from Bangalore to Munnar. They say, its about the journey than the destination. After this trip I say, the journey is equally beautiful as the destination is. And remember, or read on Tripoto as well, Bangalore to Munnar road trip is a bucketlist item.We reached at around 6Pm to our prebooked hotel Tea Valley Resort.

Entering the National park area in Tamil Nadu

Photo of Munnar, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Welcome to Kerala

Photo of Munnar, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary welcomes you to the state

Photo of Munnar, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Road to Munnar ????????

Photo of Munnar, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

A waterfall straight from the heaven

Photo of Munnar, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta
Day 3

After dinner and rest, we got ready in the next morning for the expedition towards Kochi route and Thekkady route.

Mornings @ Tea Valley Resort

Photo of Tea Valley Resort, Munnar, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Tea Estates of the resort

Photo of Tea Valley Resort, Munnar, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

A mesmerizing view of the valley

Pothamedu View Point

Photo of Pothamedu View Point, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

View from Kochi highway

Headworks Dam

Photo of Munnar Headworks Dam, Moolakadai, Munnar, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

In the main town of Munnar, you can enjoy a ride on trained elephants. Don't misguide elephants with the wild ones. There are areas where traffic cautions are marked , stating "This is an Elephant Crossing Area, please go slow". We watching some of these beautiful beasts enjoying in the mud.

Enjoying ride with the friendly one

Photo of ELEPHANT COURTYARD, Munnar, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Dekho magar pyaar se.. Watching the wild one from up above

Photo of ELEPHANT COURTYARD, Munnar, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Some flora and a peak in the backdrop

Photo of ELEPHANT COURTYARD, Munnar, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

A tree loaded with honeycombs

Photo of ELEPHANT COURTYARD, Munnar, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Mattupetty Dam is one of the largest artificial water reservoirs in Munnar amd Kerala. The place is very charming and the panoramic view is really one of the best places in the town.

Dam Water Reservoir

Photo of Mattupetty, Munnar, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Posing at the bridge

Photo of Mattupetty, Munnar, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Mattupetty Dam

Photo of Mattupetty, Munnar, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

At the backside of the reservoir towards the Top Station road, a spot is what they call the Echo Point. One can stay and shout out loud to hear the voice back.

Tea estate in Munnar all around

Photo of Echo Point Stop, Mattupatti Dam to Top Station Road, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

A selfie at the Echo Point

Photo of Echo Point Stop, Mattupatti Dam to Top Station Road, Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

By the time we reached Ripple Waterfalls at around 4PM, it started raining heavily. And the authorities closed the entry near the waterfalls for the safety purpose. We only got a chance to view it from far away.

View from above the Ripple Waterfall

Photo of Ripple Waterfalls, Ellackal, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

A view of Ripple Waterfall from the road

Photo of Ripple Waterfalls, Ellackal, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Forward to the Ripple Waterfall, our next stop was The Hanging Bridge. It was slowly turing dark and rain wasn't stopping. So we turned back to our hotel after not spending much time at this place. Rain and time does played the spoilsport in capturing the photos at these beautiful places.

Hanging Bridge View

Photo of hanging bridge, Moolakadai, Munnar, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Waterfall below the bridge

Photo of hanging bridge, Moolakadai, Munnar, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta
Day 4

It was the day when we were going to visit and witnessed the talk of the town, The Neelakurinji Bloom. We had prebooked the tickets online for 8 AM to Eravikulam National Park from their website. Some of the areas of the park were still closed due to heavy rains. Go early, so that there is less crowd and you see the perfect morning views. My DSLR got loaded with the serene and exotic captures of the area. It was so refreshing that the words can't express.

Welcome Board

Photo of Eravikulam National Park, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

The guidelines that we must follow to save our nature

Photo of Eravikulam National Park, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Enormous Tea plantations

Photo of Eravikulam National Park, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Beautiful hills

Photo of Eravikulam National Park, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Magical views

Photo of Eravikulam National Park, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Witnessing Neelakurinji bloom

Photo of Eravikulam National Park, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Waterfall inside the National park area

Photo of Eravikulam National Park, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Information

Photo of Eravikulam National Park, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Nilgiri Tahr standing far away

Photo of Eravikulam National Park, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Neelakurinji, though an average blooming due to heavy rains

Photo of Eravikulam National Park, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

At around 11 Am, we left Munnar to reach Alleppey for some beach fun, and took the Munnar-Kochi Highway with a bag packed of beautiful memories. We also visiting some waterfalls en-route Kochi.

Valara Waterfalls

Photo of Valara Waterfalls, NH 49, Chillithodu, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Cheeyappara Waterfalls

Photo of Cheeyappara Waterfalls, Kochi-Madurai-Tondi Point Road, Chillithodu, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

We reached Alleppey at around 5PM and visited the lighthouse and sunset in the evening at the Alleppey Beach.

Alleppey Lighthouse

Photo of Alleppey, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Sunset at the beach

Photo of Alleppey, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

View from the Lighthouse

Photo of Alleppey, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta
Day 5

After some fun at the beach in the morning, we went straight for a ride in the Backwaters houseboats. It was a 6 hrs ride from 11 AM to 5 PM with lunch on the boat. Kerala Backwaters are beautiful and I covered another travel bucketlist item to visit in the Western Ghats of India.

Alleppey Beach

Photo of Alleppey Backwater Cruise, Punnamada, Finishing Point, Mullakkal, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Woah

Photo of Alleppey Backwater Cruise, Punnamada, Finishing Point, Mullakkal, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Clean Sands

Photo of Alleppey Backwater Cruise, Punnamada, Finishing Point, Mullakkal, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Backwaters

Photo of Alleppey Backwater Cruise, Punnamada, Finishing Point, Mullakkal, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Boathouse in the Backwaters

Photo of Alleppey Backwater Cruise, Punnamada, Finishing Point, Mullakkal, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Birdwatching

Photo of Alleppey Backwater Cruise, Punnamada, Finishing Point, Mullakkal, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Exotic flora

Photo of Alleppey Backwater Cruise, Punnamada, Finishing Point, Mullakkal, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

And Fauna, Her turquoise eyes

Photo of Alleppey Backwater Cruise, Punnamada, Finishing Point, Mullakkal, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Happy Me

Photo of Alleppey Backwater Cruise, Punnamada, Finishing Point, Mullakkal, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Water Snake

Photo of Alleppey Backwater Cruise, Punnamada, Finishing Point, Mullakkal, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Riding our Boat

Photo of Alleppey Backwater Cruise, Punnamada, Finishing Point, Mullakkal, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta

Our day ended with a spectacular view of the sunset at Marari Beach in Alleppey, after which we started our journey back to Bangalore. It was indeed the best trip of my life and of the year 2018. Not North or South, but our India is incredible. I uploaded here some 50 of my best photos. Do let me know about your view on my trip in the comments section.

Sunset at Marari Beach

Photo of Marari Beach, Alappuzha, Kerala, India by Tushar Gupta