Trip – Munnar, Nature Revisited!

Prequels to this post :

• Summary of my trip
• The Train Journey

After the aching early-morning adventure at the train garage, we were happy to be in the bus, starting off towards Munnar. The sensation of traveling in the train was still fresh in my nerves and it sort of made me drowsy as soon as i got into the bus. I thought that the lack of sleep experienced can be covered up to some extent in the bus-ride. Its a pity that i was proved wrong and how! Due to a weak claustrophobic trait, I was feeling uncomfortable inside the apparently cramped bus. I was dying for fresh air to hit my face, but the cold ghat winds were playing spoilsport outside.

Ah! At last, there was a respite! On the way to Munnar, the healing effect of nature showed on all the faces, when everyone were admiring the beauty of the landscapes 🙂 ! The photo session started again. let me provide you a few visual excerpts. 🙂

Driving into what?

That was taken from inside the bus and so appears a little bit hazy. But i don’t think it diminishes the purpose of signifying the weather.

First rays of the sun from atop the canopy!

I was left speechless! Are you?

This is one pic which makes me regret living in a concrete jungle!

After being introduced to bliss, or heaven, or whatever!, there was a pit stop. All were wondering about the unexpected halt, and before long, we got the answer! There was a waterfall beside the road, and a wonderful one at that! Traveling without anyone to command us, the child out of every person came to the fore and the blank stares of appreciating God’s taste of sculpting landscapes was evident in everyone’s eyes!

This was my wallpaper for almost a fortnight! 😉

A worthy attempt to quench my thirst 😉

The fatigue of the train journey and the sickness of traveling in a bus had their effects. We reached the hotel at Munnar by late morning and had less than 20 hrs to hop around the place. Everyone had forgotten that breakfast time had passed long before. Within an hour, we were ready to be going out for lunch and then for sight-seeing. A guide was arranged and we set off after havin lunch.

(Searching for food made with refined oil and NOT COCONUT OIL was the first job at hand. 😛 This prolly is the only thing we have to be annoyed of while traveling through Kerala)

The places we visited were a Tea Estate view-point (my header image), Munnar Dam, Lake beside the dam and Echo Point. Not much to write about them because, its best seen than being explained about.

Tata Tea company owns almost all the hills of Munnar. Here is a part.

The tea estate Crusader! 😉

Next up is the visit to the Dam and lake.

This lake is on one side of the dam.

Shout from this side and u'll be able to hear voice ringing through the hills!

Like all good things, the wonderful day came to an end. On the way back, we shopped for spices, tea and home-made chocolates, the specialties of Munnar. All had dinner according to their need and taste. I settled with parottas at a roadside stall and some biryani. All were ready to call it a night.

If you’re thinking that not sleeping properly for the previous night had taken its toll, then think again! The spirits were high and a small group decided to go on a midnight walk. Leaving the room by 11 in the night, we braved through the cold and returned to bed by 1.30 am.

My close friend had a function at his place and couldn’t make it to Munnar on the first day. But he joined us by reaching the room early next morning, at around 3.30 am. So, my <i>Long</i> sleep was over. 3.30 in the morning is not a time for roaming. But, we were back to the roads. After a walk for half an hour and covering about 2kms, we found a tea stall. To our amazement, it was busy with packed crowd at such early hours!!

In the Early Morning, after tea 🙂

This pic was taken when we were enacting a virtual camp-fire scenario 😛

We could have made a camp-fire, but it was late in the evening when the idea actually hit the brain. So, tht was missed, dearly! 😦

The time scheduled for the bus to leave to leave for Allepey was 6.30 am. The promptness of the group was such that, we left Munnar only at 8 am 😀 . So, See you people at Allepey 🙂

Catch the rest of the story here :

Trip – Allepey and Trivandrum