God's own Green!

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Ssshhh…it’s calm, it’s serene, it’s green, it’s blue, it’s purple, it’s ‘sinfully colonial’ (phrase courtesy: K G Kumar). Ssshhh…didn’t you hear it, it’s the Malabar whistling thrush, it’s the sound of the streams down the hills, it’s the sound of rain amidst the Tall Trees. Mmm…it’s the soft grilled trout, it’s the heady aroma of tea, it’s the smell of ripe oranges and gooseberries. Ahh…it’s the violet of neelkrunji, blues, whites and scarlet of hydrangeas, lilies, and anthurium …how many millions of colors can you conceive Mr. Gates! Sometimes these do happen when you can smell the colors and eye the flavors. When it makes you feel; “surrealism” is something; not only for Salvador Dali; it can belong to you also; when you are in Munnar!

Nestled amidst the Western Ghats and the greenest of tea plantations; this quaint little plantation town is Kerala’s best-kept secret until recent times. Munnar derived its name from ‘mun-ar’, which means ‘three rivers’ in Malayalam. Located at an altitude of 5250 feet above msl it makes for an ideal tea county. Today it’s coming up, and coming up fast as a hot-spot hill station full of moony eyed honeymooners, tea-tasters and the backpackers!

The hoteliers have grabbed the opportunity and the cash is flowing thick and fast. The mist covered hills, the verdant slopes, the old feel of Raj are being taken over by the weekenders from Trivandrum and Bangalore. But it still retains its aura of serenity and serendipity is one word you can feel at every turn of the road.

This was my second trip to Munnar and took the less traveled route from Alleppy instead of the usual Thrissur-Anagamali-Munnar Road. Finding a resting place that suits your pocket and your soul is not much of a problem in Munnar but this time around all the hotels were heavily booked due to the ongoing Doctors’ Conference. But on a trip such a beautiful as this; the most unexpected happens when you least expect it!

How many times have you lived in a place where you wake up to see a Malabar whistling thrush or a spotted dove in your own courtyard? How many times you have sipped on early morning sun while walking through abundance of hydrangeas? Have you ever sat on the wet grasses and sipped on a hot cup of coffee on a misty - hilly morning? The cottage offered them all and a lot of tranquility which couldn’t be broken even by the shrills of cicadas!

Waking up early on a leisure holiday is strictly a matter of choice. It’s a pretty bad fight against your own will but what you get in return is something you take back to the plains. A brisk stroll along the cobbled way, through the half-dark half-lit woods or through a lush green tea garden with leaves wet with early morning dews….they spell magic! Come back from a walk and watch the morning coming to life across the hills while you sip on a cup of hot leaf tea, sitting with your legs stretched on a comfy sofa at the cottage verandah.

In the day time; travel all the way to Eravikulam NP or Rajamalai to catch a few glimpses of the endangered Nilgiri Tahrs and the amazing valley views across the tea gardens. It was a bright morning but as the day progressed it got cloudy. By the time we reached the waterfall from where the road takes a sharp left turn towards Rajamalai it started raining.

The fog and the low cloud were approaching very fast and we lost our way. The range of visibility came down to barely 15 feet and sub-terrain chilly wind with mists soaked us to the heels. After traveling for quite some time with fog lights on; through the darkness of fog; we realized that we were heading nowhere. A truck going towards Chinnar showed us the way and we retraced our way back towards Munnar. Reached the exact location where we got diverted as the cloud cover started fading away. The clear view of the huge rock faces beyond the tea plantations helped us finding our way to Eravikulam.

The Eravikulam NP is the cleanest of all the parks in India and the home to the endangered Nilgiri Tahrs. Thanks to the aggressive protectionism of the forest officials around. Sometime it’s really irritating, the over protective attitude! The park is divided in three different zones; core, buffer and the tourist zone. You are only allowed to roam around in the tourist zone, which is a really small area. The occasional sightings of the Tahrs are not very rare although. The shola grassland on the upper ridges is the breeding ground for the Tahrs. A very old and remote tribal village is said to be located on the high hills inside the forest which you may never be able to reach without connections at the top. The core zone of the park is inhabited by elephants, giant Malabar squirrels and tigers, as they say! View from the top is amazing and truly challenges your material senses. The drizzling had stopped but a thick cloud cover was descending heavily on the upper ridges and we could smell the rains on the distant hills.

The road that takes you back to the lower hills of Munnar is narrow and winding. It goes through the endless tiers of tea plantations and gives you the perfect photo ops. So grab on the opportunities as we did. Have a walk through the tea gardens on the slopes of Rajamalai. They will give you some unforgettable memories which you can cherish a lifetime.

Small trek routes are aplenty around Munnar. Trips to Top Station, Lockheart gap or to Kundala Lake can offer you some fascinating vistas and a ‘good life’. For serious trekkers Anaimudi (8842 feet), south India’s highest peak, could be a challenging option. While you are in Munnar it’s always advisable that you go for a visit inside the tea factories around and buy some fresh leaves. A walk through spices and rubber plantations can give you some more oxygen. But keep in mind, that usually the plantation visits require prior permissions from the concerned authorities. The Mattupetty Lake and the nearby Indo-Swiss Cattle Firm are reasons good enough for a visit to old Munnar. A speed boat ride in the lake is really enjoyable with the views of the forests and misty hills around.

Next day we woke up to a bright morning after a chilly night. A trip to Devikulam was in our mind but nothing had been scheduled. But thank God, we decided for it right on time.
Devikulam is 7 Km off Munnar on the Munnar-Madurai Road. The Sita Devi Lake is located inside an estate that belongs to Tata Tea and it requires prior permission to enter the estate. We didn’t have any and decided to travel a few kilometers on the Thekkady Road. What we got back was an experience of a life time…I had been to quite a few hill stations and had seen different sorts of cloud formations. But what we saw here can only be experienced from the window seat of an airplane! It was literally ‘Cloud Nine’ and the resort nearby could really justify its name.

…And then it happened. The vehicle took a sharp turn on the winding road and it was before our eyes! The endless green, tanned high hills, soft white clouds and the turquoise blue water of the lake. The word ‘panorama’ got re-defined just before our eyes. Before such splendor you are bound to get spellbound. So see it and feel it. Or else close your eyes, feel it and again see it. Go down the slopes of plantations to reach the edge of the water and do whatever! Wish I could live there forever. But it won’t remain a surprise then, my brain told me from the back of my mind. Some new day, some new turn, ‘panorama’ gets refined once again!

Epilogue:

The shadows of distant hills and the countless rows of windmills are our companion now as we race along the Coimbatore high way. The home made chocolates of Munnar, the sandal wood forest at Chinnar, the eerie jungles of Indira Gandhi NP are the things well settled in the memory. The journey that began four days back from Mysore is coming to a full circle, with some content and more than happy souls!

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