Munnar & Kumarakom - Timeless Beauty – Better than Words

Tripoto
22nd Sep 2016
Photo of Munnar, Kerala, India by Sneha Gupta
Photo of Munnar, Kerala, India by Sneha Gupta
Photo of Munnar, Kerala, India by Sneha Gupta
Photo of Munnar, Kerala, India by Sneha Gupta
Photo of Munnar, Kerala, India by Sneha Gupta
Photo of Munnar, Kerala, India by Sneha Gupta
Photo of Munnar, Kerala, India by Sneha Gupta
Photo of Kumarakom, Kerala, India by Sneha Gupta
Photo of Kumarakom, Kerala, India by Sneha Gupta
Photo of Kumarakom, Kerala, India by Sneha Gupta
Photo of Kumarakom, Kerala, India by Sneha Gupta
Photo of Kumarakom, Kerala, India by Sneha Gupta
Day 1

“Kerala” whenever we heard the name first thought to strike in our mind Lush, Huge Coconut Trees,Scenic Beauty, Beautiful Lakes and Luxurious Houseboats. I also heard a lot about this and as a solo traveler and working in south, I took the advantage and started my journey to explore few places in Kerala. But I shared my plan to my friends and then suddenly my solo trip converted to Girls outing as my 3 girls decided to join me. I believe Kerala is the place for Honeymooners but trust me as adventurous junkies we had lots of fun.

My journey was stated from Hyderabad to Kochi, early in the morning in last September. Due to lack of time, booked flight ticket and skip the Kochi Tour for the next time and directly headed towards the Munnar.

How to reach Munnar :Munnar does not have an airport or a railhead, but is well connected by road to Kochi. Nearest airport is the Cochin Airport and nearest railway station is Kochi (Cochin)110Kms, Aluva 110kms, Ernakulam is 130kms and Madurai is 135kms. From Cochin Airport, Pre-paid taxi services as well as AC and non AC cabs or Buses are available. We pre-booked the cab for our entire journey for Munnar and Kumarakom.

Traverse Marvelous Munnar

We reached Kochi Airport in early morning and started our journey towards Blissful Munnar. After few hours, we reached Cheeyappara and Valara waterfalls, which are located between Neriamangalam and Adimali around 10 km on the Kochi - Madurai Highway. The Cheeyappara Waterfall cascades down in seven steps. Valara has a chain of waterfalls surrounded by thick green forests. The beauty of waterfalls are spell bound and when you had boiled eggs and cup of coffee in monsoon weather, you feel rejuvenated and forget all your tiredness.

After 4 hours of journey finally we reached our resort Deep Wood Resort. Our adventure trip started, as the resort is far from the city and located in middle of dense forest with no signal on phone. We managed to talk to our parents through hotel reception. It was heavy rain outside, and lush green beauty of forest is amazing. After sometime, we headed to the main town local market, and did lots of jewelries, homemade chocolates and spices (for my mum) shopping and had the best chicken soup, chicken and prawn dish in Green Ridge Restaurant. On the way you feel your way is surrounded by tea plantations, and you will find each and every place picture perfect. As a nature lover beginner of my photography passion, I took so many photographs. We came back, and after dinner crashed the cozy bed.(Thank God, it was not a solo trip otherwise I was not able to stay alone in this resort). On my first day Munnar greeted me with its endless tea plantations spread like carpets of velvet, which are partially hidden behind mists.

Day 2

I woke up early in the morning and view from my window is awesome. I was not able to wait to start my journey. The first point is Floriculture Center. Floriculture Center again paradise for photographer, it’s a flower museum. The green beauty against the hills set perfect background and peaceful environment will set you mood and clam your nerves. The next part was the elephant training center, which is the best part of the trip. We had elephant ride and saw some part of the jungle and also visited the place where elephants were enjoying being scrubbed and pampered. And the best part was selfie with elephants. The next stop was photo point, as name suggests perfect place to capture the nature beauty. A small place surrounded by woods and tea valleys at the back drop. Then we moved to Mattupetty dam, we didn’t spend much time here, clicked some photographs and then had coconut water, sweet and sour mangoes, pineapples and bhelpuri. After that we reached Eco Point, the perfect place for enjoyment. We screams our names and our voice returns reverberates to us. We enjoyed lot and did motor ride as well. Lake is beautiful filled with clear water and abundant green sceneries and mist covered hills and birds chirping. Our Day 2 was about to end, we enjoyed tasty buffer dinner in our resort and back to bed early for our next destination. Our Day 2 ended with very little rain shower and wished the same weather for next day.

Day 3

Our day started very early around 3.30 in morning and started journey with sleepy mind towards Kolukkumalai, highest tea plantation on the world.We heard about beauty of sunrises here and want to explore. The bumpy ride and roller coaster journey is enough to make you feel awake throughout the way. Remember you need to hire different jeep. If you don’t like bumpy rides, and having kids and old age people with you or spine problem, heart problem then, it’s better to avoid that part, because road condition is not good enough. Somehow, we reached, the place which is around 33 Km from Munnar and takes more than one hour to reach there. But once you reach this place aroma of freshly plucked tea leaves, gentle rolling tea gardensand floating clouds bowing down to kiss the misty mountain welcome you. We were lucky enough to see the sunrise. It was amazing sunrise in the peak of the mountain and you stand above the clouds. The organic tea plantation is amazing and we visited tea factory as well and as a tea lover I brought some packets of flavored tea. After an unforgettable experience, we were ready for another adventures point, Top station, again more than one hour journey. The journey up to the top station was twisted in every moment. At one twist we witnessed green fields of tea plants basking in the sunshine; and at another twist we saw mountain majestic mountains embellish with misty clouds. Tea gardens all around, at steep angles along the hill, the clouds climbing along the hills at great speed. We were lucky enough to see all the colors of nature in cloudy weather. Next and last destination was Kundala Lake, where we just walked on lakeside and enjoyed the weather. We came back to our resort and took the quick nap for while, packed our bag and hit the road for next destination Kumarakom. On the way we went paid spice garden, where our tourist guide showed the plantation of some spices and we also brought some of them. After 5 hours of sleepy journey we reached Kumarakom, we already booked homestay near the Vembanad Lake and fall asleep.

Day 4

Magical Kumarakom

Our day started with the beautiful morning, where sunrays peeping from our window and they kissed our face to wake us up. We had typical south Indian breakfast and shifted to House boat, most awaited stay for the entire trip. Our house boat was situated on the bed of Vembanad Lake. We greeted by exotic welcome drink and the journey of backwater begins. We enjoyed the steering wheel of the houseboat, rice fields, watching birds and listing their music, blue-green water, coconut trees, villages and the stunning sight. Lunch, evening snacks- coffee and dinner is also served in your trip. Delicious, spicy kerala chicken curry, Karimeen Pollichathu, Biryani and Unniyappam all laid out in the middle of the boat and our happy mind overjoyed. Our day finished and we finally to our place Hyderabad with lots of memories, pics and selfies.

Again, I want to visit God’s own country with my family to enjoy green valleys, misty mountains, backwaters and of course Kerala Dishes!!!