October 2009 Trip - Munnar & Thekkady I

For my first blog I should be writing something pretty interesting. Well I am writing about a trip I had in October 2009. In fact a very good and memorable trip. When one of my friends from office asked me whether I was interested to come with them on a holiday to munnar & thekady, places I sooooo wanted to visit, little did I know what to expect. Well I did my part of the planning (and the toughest) i.e. to pay for the trip and that my friends, I sincerely did!

We left on 1st October from the company GH at 2100 IST. Indian stretchable time did exist at that moment and we were only 1 hour late. Then we got stuck in the traffic but still we did manage to reach the foot of the hill by day break. Kudos to the driver for that. Once the climb started it was truly breathtaking, we were still in TN and hadn't crossed into Kerala, there was a slight drizzle and we could see the clouds as we climbed, as well as Mahesh's friends on a three wheeler. Well they didn't bray when they saw him but one of them seem to recognize Sandesh and Saurab ;). Well who can say why?

By the time we reached the forest department/excise outpost, we had to stop for the officer to check our Tavera. We did mention to him that we are going for a fun trip. He also let us know that he is checking for the fun ingredient called 'Ganja'. It was pouring at that time and it continued till we reached Munnar.
On the way to Munnar we came across the Power House Waterfalls which is beautiful!!! I would have rated it as amazing if we were allowed to have bath under it but because it is a source of water supply it has been conveniently fenced by the government. We spent some time there and started once again to Munnar. The scenery is breath taking and a delight to watch. Hold-on!!!

Bang!!!! Some of us banged our heads on the sides of the Tavera as the driver jammed the breaks. Right in front of us was a biker who skidded and fell in front of the vehicle. Lucky for him otherwise he would have had a nice free fall! That's when we met 2 amazing bikers from Pune who had travelled on their bikes all the way to the Nilgiris via Bangalore for a nice trip. Hats off to these guys who are travelling by bikes all the way here.

We finally reached munnar in the afternoon and found a place that provided lodging for 7 of us. We freshened up, had our lunch and went off sight seeing in the rains.

Echo Point

Eucalyptus Trees near the Dam

View from the Dam

Munnar was awesome and the weather was cold and wet with a slight drizzle. We couldn't have asked for anything else. We then visited several tourist spots around Munnar and since it was the begining of the tourist season it was all crowded. So we just visited a few of the touristy places around Munnar like Echo Point, Top Station and the dam. We then went for a drive around Munnar. It was awesome!!! Just driving around Munnar we managed to see Small waterfalls in the rains, clouds breaking on the mountains... These were some sights we don't get to see in our usual city lives. We also visited a park/garden with amazing variety of plants and flowers from the Nilgiris.

We returned to our room in Munnar and rested for the day. The next day we planned a trip to Rajamala or Eravikulam National Park but it was impossible to enter the park and to skip the crowd we decided to go for another drive around Munnar. We then decided to move on to Thekady and visit Periyar tiger reserve. We took regular breaks to click snaps throughout the trip and that's when we stopped at this place because of the amazing beauty.

We also had a chance to meet Hutch dog, the pug. We saw these endless never ending tea gardens. After a while Manish and I convinced Sandesh that we had to stop and climb up one of these tea gardens (read as trespassing :D). As soon as we climbed the tea garden hill, we felt the strong breeze that was being blocked by these hills. It was the best part of the trip till then, but the following day had a lot in store for us. We had no clue about the adventure of the next day.

A stream

The hill with tea plantation

View from the top

Waterfall from a distance

Can you see a small Tavera next to Jaideep's shoulder?

As soon as we reached Thekkady, we realised that due to the tragic boat accident the reserve has been closed and no one was allowed in. While some of us were reviewing our options and thinking of going back to Munnar or going to Kumarakom backwaters, others visited a Kathakali Kalashetram to have a look at a Kathakali recital.

By the time they returned we found out that there is another place called Gavi about 30-30 kilometers from Kumily. We also found out that we would be able to trek into the forests. Little did we know that these guys at Kumily were trying to take us for a ride and make us pay extra. Anyways, we agreed for some 1050 per person for this trip.

So we woke up early in the morning and got into the open jeep that had been waiting for us. And off we went for the trip!!! AWESOME!!! That's the one word we can describe the entire trip and experience and I shall let you know the fun we had in the next blog. Until then ciao folks!