Mun-aaah-r

I had been to Munnar 10 years back ... After having spent 2 nights at Thekkady, we had then decided to go for a day excursion to Munnar . Today, after having visited and spent more time there, I realise why i didn't fall in love with this place the first time. Also, we were stuck en route in a jam due to a rally the last time... so it was quite an ordeal .

This time we made no mistakes and it was undoubtedly one of my best experiences.
We left Cochin at 6:30 am by a KSRTC bus to Munnar .The drive was pleasant as we passed through some amazing landscapes. Soon there were cardamom plantations and streams springing from everywhere. The weather was perfect .. it must have rained a few hours back .

A little more than 4 hours and we were there in the main town area.. We stepped into the first cafe that we saw called " Cafe Au lait " and we were very amused by the creative menu on display .. One thing that i realised in kerala is words are spelled as pronounced. For starters we had Lazzy ( lassi) . Some water Melan Juice, chocklate, egg fruit ( wonder what that is ) and for the adventerous soul in you - But butter !!!





We met Mohan, my contact in Munnar who took us by surprise with his amazing hospitality. After having a good meal at rapsy's we went to Eravikulam National park . The park ticket cost us about 80 rupees and we were taken in a bus around the park . we stopped after a while and we were allowed to walk around. We went past a huge waterfall and also saw the Anaimudi peak from a distance , which happens to be the highest peak in South India. Eravikulam Park happens to be the the home of the endangered Nilgiri Tahr. Our group managed to spot a few Tahrs...



After spending an hour there we were back on our to Munnar. We were lucky to spot a a herd of elephants. We could just stand there and admire the pachyderms for ever until a group of Punju uncles landed there and completely ruined the tranquility there.



Back to the base we were all set for a trek . The driver dropped off us at a point from where we were to begin our trek. The trek was through a tata owned tea plantation. Leaches on the way were not very kind to some of us , while some of us were lucky to have made it without donating a drop of blood.
our camp site was thick with vegetation which meant more leaches...It was freezing up there and we had fire to warm us ... Dinner was served at the glass house which was used in case of emergency or if campers weren't comfortable spending the night in the tents. The glasshouse also had a little kitchen and a room.After Dinner, we decided to zip ourselves in our sleeping bags and call it a day as we were exhausted after all the trekking.The skyline was absolutely breathtaking with the stars shining above us ... and we could see a lit up town called Theni far far away.
We woke up before the break of the dawn and viewed one of the most spectacular sunrises .. The sun hiding in between the hills and slowly changing from crimson to red.




The sun was out .. we were all set for short trek to a hill nearby which would give us a 360 degree view of the mountains. And it did .... we managed to trek through despite being attacked by different sizes of leaches.. we had entered their territory and they were hell bent on destroying the invaders.But then it was battle of size and they succumbed to our might.



The view from the top was great . After spending some time, we were back in the battlefield. We had few more strategies this time or perhaps the leaches were quite disappointed with the adulterated blood that they let us go quite easily.
Aloo Poori followed by chaya .. and we were ready to trek down with bag and baggage. we came across a number of tea plantation labourers and had some funny moments on the way back down ..



We were dropped to the Kundala lake where we went on a boat ride. The place was unusually touristy with loads of shops around and that was a bit disappointing but we nevertheless had a great time paddling and clicking ourselves.... We caught a local bus back to the town from there..





We were lucky to find a nice quaint place on top of a hillock for the second night and it turned to be quite cheap too. We were all totally knocked out so we decided to chill and take it easy . Next day we left at 11 for Cochin.. It was a close call as out train departed from Ernakulam at 5 . We just about made it on time and as we entered the railway station, we realised we were at the wrong station and it was 10 minutes to 5. More drama .. we caught an auto and rushed to the other station which was 4 kms away.

Watch this space to know if we did manage to get on the train the same evening ......................................